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Since its first publication in 1956, the words Rum Doodle and Rumdoodle have been taken by people around the world (many of them fans of the book) and used for a variety of purposes.
There is a sleeping bag called a Rumdoodle, a climbing company, a horse, and even a Rock Band! Many years ago my father received a copy of a Rum Doodle puzzle, climbing a mountain by means of a two-pronged fork!
There are at least four separate mountains or parts of mountains named after the book.
The first Rumdoodle to be named after the book was a peak in Antarctica, near Mawson station (67 degrees 42’54" south 62 degrees 48’18" east), so named by the 1959 or 1960 Australian expedition. There is an Automatic Weather station and an airstrip there.
These photos of the mountain and hut are copyright Tim Labrum:
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| Rumdoodle Peak - it can only be climbed safely with ropes. | The original green Rumdoodle Hut (now in state of disrepair) | The Traverse Van now used for accommodation at Rumdoodle Hut |
The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE)
telegraphic code for Rumdoodle is YIWYA. Find out more about
ANARE Telegraphic codes at:
http://www.suburbia.com.au/~anarensw/archives/wyssa.htm
(Rumdoodle airstrip is at the bottom of the page in the section titled PLACES OF INTEREST - CAMPING GROUNDS)
Find out more about the weather station at:
http://www-bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu/paca/2000australian.html
See more pictures of the Rumdoodle hut at:
http://www.geocities.com/mawson_antarctica/landscape2.html
Secondly, a part of the Kloof Gorge near Durban in
South Africa is called Rumdoodle:
http://www.mountain.org.za/kzn/rumdoodle/rum-gen.shtml
Thirdly, there's a Rumdoodle ridge on Pike's Peak, Colorado, USA: http://www.gorp.com/gorp/publishers/fulcrum/pik_ap2.htm
The most recent I've heard of is a crag in the Stone Valley Crags near Loch Maree in Wester Ross, Scotland. Interestingly this is near Loch Torridon, where my father stayed when writing the book. There's a good description of the climbs (including Totter's Slab!) at: http://www24.brinkster.com/jacobites/Crag_of_month/com_oct_02.htm
The Rumdoodle Retreat is on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. It's run by Ray McMahon, who spent 1963 in charge of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) at Mawson Station in MacRobertsons Land (see above). His website features pictures of Antarctic wildlife and one of Rumdoodle Peak itself!
Why is it called the Rumdoodle Retreat? Ray wrote:
"The reason for naming our Bed & Breakfast Rumdoodle Retreat relates to the small insulated caravan that we had up on the glacier beneath Rumdoodle Peak... in the North Masson Range. The caravan was primarily a refuge from blizzards and other nasty weather, such as the dreaded white out. Secondly it was a place I would send my men who were in need of a little R&R, they would spend a couple of days at Rumdoodle Retreat before returning refreshed to their, sometimes very monotonous duties at the station, and this philosophy prevails with the B&B, it is a place to rejuvenate the mind and body."
Perhaps the most famous use of the word is the Rum Doodle restaurant in Kathmandu, Nepal. Established in 1980, the restaurant is known to climbers, walkers and backpackers from all over the world. Behind the bar are wooden boxes with the signatures of hundreds of Everest summiteers, including Sir Edmund Hillary. Visit it at:
If you know of a Rum Doodle not mentioned here, please contact us