Sadly if you’re a serious tramper there’s not an enormous amount of really satisfying trips that can be done in a weekend. With a few exceptions, two-day walks just feel like you’re turning around as soon as you get into the good stuff. In reality you need at least three days… four or five if possible.

This condemns the average tramper to a life of begging for time off, using up all their annual leave to head into the hills (and often their sick leave too). Once these run out, it’s a matter of negotiating – or more accurately; begging, blackmailing and bribing – for unpaid leave wherever you can.

In truth, mastering these Machiavellian manoeuvrings needed to get time off is the most important skill for any committed outdoors-person. Lesser skills like navigation and first aid you can figure out later – once you’re out of the office.

With that in mind, this month’s Wild Cuisine, isn’t tramping food per-se. It’s more a currency with which to bribe your co-workers to say, “I’m sorry they’re in a meeting all afternoon. Can I take a message?”

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Serves: Four
Calories: 4600
Cost: about $9.50
Preparation time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups scroggin*
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ¾ cup Milo
• ½ cup sesame seeds
• ½ cup liquid honey
• ½ cup raw sugar
• 125g margarine
• Icing sugar (optional)

Special utensils

• 30 x 20cm baking tray
• Potato masher

Method
Combine the honey, sugar and margarine in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. After five minutes add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the baking tray then, using a potato masher, press down firmly to remove any air spaces.
Cook for ten minutes at 180 degrees, remove and press down again using the masher. Pop it back in the oven for a further ten minutes or until golden brown.
Allow it to cool to room temperature then slice with a sharp knife. Sprinkle a little bit of icing sugar over the top to make it look nice – especially if it’s for the marketing department, they need everything to be sugar coated!

*Also known as gorp or just trail mix, scroggin is traditionally constituted of sultanas, chocolate, raisins, orange peel, ginger, glucose (lollies), improvisation and nuts – hence the eponymous acronym.