Speewah and Crooked Mick yarns have been told since Europeans started getting lost in the Australian bush. Created to poke fun at the incredibly harsh and alien landscape, the Speewah downplayed reality by exaggerating itself.

It is said that the Speewah lies west of the sunset. Where the crows fly backwards, to keep the dust out of their eyes. Dust storms are so thick on the Speewah, that you can walk over them. The trees are so big, that the tops are hinged, so as to let the sun go past. It gets so hot on the Speewah, that freezing point is set at 99 degrees. Folk on the Speewah only consider they are through a drought when they can start putting water in their tea again and at dusk, the temperature drops so quickly, even the mirages freeze over!.

Crooked Mick lived on the Speewah. He was the best at everything. He is literally larger than life – needing to go outside, just to turn around. He eats two sheep every lunchtime and uses small trees for toothpicks. When he was born, he started growing so fast that his father tried to slow his growth by ring-barking his legs. It didn't work, but it did give him a nasty limp - and the name Crooked Mick!

'If ever you come across anyone who claims to have spent time on the Speewah or met Crooked Mick, listen to them with deep respect, for they will be a prodigious liar'. -Bill Wannan

In modern times, these wonderful fireside yarns have all but disappeared. With so many other options for entertainment (radio, film, television.) and the impossibility of realising such absurd tales, most people are unfamiliar with Crooked Mick or the Speewah. These wonderful, truly Australian fairytales were almost lost.

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