I dont own a television or radio and 2020/2021 has been a year of I wont say covid Ill say the year of online courses for me when I havent been able to train in martial arts or other courses in person and had to cancel many. Ive been questioned by a few people as to is it relevant in Australia. The course starts out in different seasons to Australia which made it difficult for me, on top of being dyslexic and on pain killers, much of the way through the course, but I persisted. Id have to say I got behind due to lock downs and being stuck in areas with no internet reception and has taken a while to catch up, which I think was a blessing is disguise. Ive had to cram more and have had to work my way backwards through webinars and thats given me a greater appreciation for plant ID.

In the Eastern states which is where I am at the moment Ive came across very few European Trees or plants but back home where there were a lot of German settlers there are trees from Europe every where. The reason I did the course although Im in Australia and it may not be as relevant here, is that I want to take my Bushcraft Skills to another level. UK vs USA vs AUD bushcraft each being very different. I take bits and pieces from every where. Preferring US styles but I grab a lot from the UK too. The main difference being Aussies. Its a tree Its in the area Im in can I use it if not can I do something different with it. In the UK and US whatever trees are in that area have a specific use and theyre straight. No straight trees in Australia, atleast very few. Ive gotten a lot out of the course even though its not designed for dyslexics and Ive had to learn by then re-researching the topics and making cheat sheets to get the information into my head.

How relevant is it to Australia. If you expect to go out and find half the species talked about then not. However if you want to learn the basics of Identifying trees and plants then its very much worth it. What sort of bushcrafter are you and Im beginning to realize theres many different forms of bushcraft. Its what ever you make it. I want to take my skills to a different level and the more I learn about bushcraft the more I realize just how much more I have left to learn.

Im trying to adapt everything I learn from UK and US courses to apply to australia. An example are Feather sticks, not something youll ever use in Australia due to the type of timber here. More oil in the plants and harder grain timber for fire starting. However feathering sticks (Pine here) is a great way to develop knife skills and I may never get a chance to travel overseas but its nice to know Im developing the skills that if I ever get that chance I havent just thrown away a skill set by saying it doesnt apply here.

There are no courses like this in OZ that go into the amount of detail especially from a bushcraft point of view. The skills you leave with in plant identification are well worth the months and months of study. I have developed a new appreciation of latin which is something I never thought Id say. Let me ask what do you want to get out of the skills your learning and what level do you wish to reach. Youll certainly never look at trees the same way again. Youll learn how to identify trees and plants not only by the overall look but by the bark, flowers, sepels, stems, cones, leaves, buds, colours of stems, etc etc. On top of uses and poisonous plants. A Highly recommended course, worth looking into.Im am constantly looking around trying to identify the family and genus names of trees and plants now. The course has given me much confidence when it comes to furthering my studies on Australian Bush foods next year.