Davydd Shaw's happy place

In the bush, magic comes to you when you slow down and embrace the quiet. This can be the calm that sets in from listening to the breeze’s gentle whoosh through the casuarina, the connection sparked while observing a curious fairy-wren, or the cheeky laughter that stirs when catching an unperturbed wombat waddle.

From a young age, I quickly recognised the power held by protected areas of bush.

I grew up in a country town in northern Victoria, one that was surrounded by irrigated orchards and farms. It was after visits to our nearest national park, which brimmed with various eucalypt and acacia, that I was struck by the difference in my experience between the landscapes.

Arriving at my happy place, I'm reminded of this feeling. The winding road slows you down, as you transition from the rolling farmland, to coastal heath and tall eucalypt forest. Located three hours from Melbourne, on the ancestral lands of the Gunaikurnai and Boon Wurrung people, is Wilsons Prom National Park (The Prom), the continent’s southernmost point and my happy place.

I’m lucky enough to have spent over 50 years visiting ‘The Prom’ and it never fails to enliven and inspire me.

In my younger years, I spent many nights camping under canvas in The Prom’s remote coves and beaches. Now though, the walk to Tidal Overlook is my pick of choice. At its vantage points you can catch views that stretch along the western coast, where granite headlands wrap around bays of turquoise water and sandy beaches.

It’s a fantastic and largely intact environment to be in. A place where animals and nature can flow without obstruction. Bush Heritage’s dedication to linking up our continent’s fragmented areas of protected bush and whole-of-landscape approach, are the key reasons I became a supporter and will leave a gift in my Will to the organisation.

Supporting Bush Heritage is a safe bet to allow the bush’s magic to connect and continue.