Innholdsfortegnelse for January - February 2022 i Australian Geographic

Not many kookaburras live high enough to be snowed on, but these members of a small blizzard-struck family were an exception and their cuteness has captured people’s hearts. Photographed in Kosciuszko National Park by Charles Davis, this image has been crowned the People’s Choice winner in the South Australian Museum’s exhibition of Australian Geographic’s annual nature photography competition finalists. This is not the first time Charles has pulled at the heartstrings through his signature snow snaps, having won People’s Choice in both 2017 and 2019 for his photos of wombats. “To win a category is a great feeling on the night, but to receive People’s Choice is its own special feeling – in some ways it is the greatest prize on offer,” Charles said of his third People’s Choice accolade.…

JOIN HUNDREDS of thousands of Aussies and show you care on Clean Up Australia Day, Sunday 6 March 2022. The past two years of lockdowns and restrictions have resulted in litter in the environment reaching an all-time high. “The pandemic has had a brutal impact on the environment,” said Pip Kiernan, Chair of Clean Up Australia. “There was a huge surge in single-use plastics and now we’re seeing unprecedented numbers of face masks, takeaway coffee cups and food packaging littering our footpaths, parks and beaches. “Our latest Clean Up Australia Rubbish Report revealed that half of all single items reported in 2020 were either plastic or contained plastic, and packaging overall continues to dominate, representing close to 50 per cent of all reported rubbish during the year.” • Clean Up…

IN 1932THE beginnings of Australia’s conservation movement were forming in the steep gullies and rocky outcrops of the New SouthWales Blue Mountains. Myles Dunphy, bushwalker extraordinaire and founder of the Colong Foundation forWilderness, was implementing a revolutionary vision to make a series of detailed maps that delineated a proposed Greater Blue Mountains National Park. In these maps, Myles marked a remote section north of Lithgow that he believed needed protection for its unique natural values. That place was the Gardens of Stone. Now Myles’s 89-year-old vision has at last been completed. A new national park will protect 30,000ha of ancient sandstone pagodas and rich eucalypt forests, important cultural heritage and an array of threatened species and ecological communities. The park will be created by transferring state forest and Crown Land…

A MISSION TO retrieve 27 seismometers from the rugged ocean floor near Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean in November 2021 hopes to unlock secrets from Earth’s inner layers – notably what triggers underwater earthquakes and tsunamis. The instruments, originally deployed in October 2020, point to Earth’s centre to collect vital information about some of the most violent underwater earthquakes. They could help scientists understand future earthquakes and tsunamis that might affect coastal populations in Australia and New Zealand. The groundbreaking voyage traversed some of the world’s steepest underwater mountain ranges, in a remote area between Antarctica and New Zealand called Macquarie Ridge, where the slopes are steeper than those of the Himalayas. The New Zealand research vessel Tangaroa was contracted by the CSIRO Marine National Facility for the expedition,…

SPACE LAUNCHES HAVE become commonplace. On average there’s now about one every three days. But once in a while there’s a really special one, and the October 2021 launch of a spacecraft named Lucy was just such an event. Lucy is on a NASA mission to explore Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, which are themselves particularly special. The JupiterTrojans are two clouds of asteroids, totalling more than 9000, that cluster around stable points in the orbit of the giant planet – 60 degrees ahead of and behind it. Known as Lagrange points, these are places where the gravity of the Sun and Jupiter combine with the centrifugal acceleration of Jupiter’s motion to cancel out gravity, and produce stable points in space, around which the Trojans circulate. Astronomers believe these objects are remnants…

ANDREW ‘TWIGGY’ FORREST stands on a stage in front of a crowd of scientists, politicians, Traditional Owners, and the local community from the small town of Exmouth, Western Australia. Behind him is his gleaming new marine science facility, the Minderoo Foundation Exmouth Research Laboratory (MERL). Proudly, he declares it open. Although Andrew was raised on the vast Minderoo Station in the Pilbara’s red dust, the billionaire iron ore miner and founder of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has always had an affinity for the ocean. When I first meet him, he slaps a couple of books down in front of me. One, by Michael Shellenberger, is entitled Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All. The US bestseller claims that climate change is real but nothing to be alarmed about. Andrew…

SUNRISE GIVES THE imperceptibly curved eastern face of kunanyi / Mt Wellington an orange glow. Even when the mountain is topped with snow its dolerite columns remain exposed, their sheerness accentuated. Despite kunanyi’s proximity to nipaluna/Hobart, Australia’s second-driest capital city, the mountain often performs the important act of catching and shedding fresh water. Millions of years ago, a hotspot in the Earth’s mantle allowed magma to penetrate a surface of silt, sand and mud. Faulting lifted the dolerite intrusion and, over aeons, erosion crafted kunanyi. A particular cluster of tors (rocky outcrops) on the summit contains basalt – evidence of lava flow. And one of the mountain’s countless boulder fields is the state’s most well developed periglacial terrain – an area that’s subjected to repeated freezing and thawing. While there…

The Irukadndji jellyfish could have sprung from the fertile imagination of a sci-fi horror writer. It looks deceptively insignificant and benign, but its entire body is a biological booby trap. In most jellyfish it’s only the tentacles that are studded with the minuscule harpoon-like, venom-loaded stinging cells known as nematocysts. But in Irukandji the bell is also armed with these toxic weapons – as many as 5000 per square centimetre. An encounter with an Irukandji can have an adult human soon fighting for their life. Like most jellyfish, the Irukandji is transparent, but it’s tiny – no more than 2.5cm wide - so you’re unlikely to see it coming and stay out of its way. And even if you did, those tentacles are extendable, reaching out to four times their…

Know before you go Markings, in the form of small red triangles, are sparse, sometimes destroyed by bushfire or nonexistent. MMWT is a challenging walking route, on par with the famed Australian Alps Walking Track (although it’s shorter). “It’s a wilderness track – it’s not everybody’s cup of tea,” warns Joe van Beek, a member of the Ben Cruachan Walking Club and enthusiastic champion of MMWT. “It’s for the adventurer; you need to have navigation skills. In some places it’s totally unmarked and you need to be able to find your own way.” Those who decide to tackle MMWT need experience, navigation skills, and a good level of fitness. But the rewards are plentiful: the satisfaction of overcoming a challenge; a moving wilderness experience; getting to walk some of the…

Initially, the British press trivialised the role of women in the expedition. “Far from playing a purely decorative, or even domestic, role…[they] were highly accomplished in their respective fields, and did not shy away from any of the hard work, either scientific or practical,” Australian press journalist Charles Barrett responded. “We are not ornamental,” one of the women told Barrett. “We have come here to work.” Background image: First day on the reef at Low Isles.…

SET SAIL ABOARD state-of-the-art expedition ship Coral Geographer on this Australian Geographic partner voyage into the wild nature, rich history and unique food experiences of Australia’s southern coast. Here, sweeping beaches and idyllic seaside towns merge into remote national parks harbouring some of the world’s rarest species of flora and fauna. This immersive voyage will delight all your senses, as you embark on a once-in-a-lifetime crossing of the Great Australian Bight. Departures & fares 14 nights Melbourne to Fremantle – Departs 1 March 2022 From $8920pp twin share Expedition highlights • Shuck your own delicious oysters fresh from the waters of Coffin Bay.• Taste locally harvested wild abalone at Streaky Bay.• Visit Augusta’s Jewel Cave and learn about its formation over thousands of years.• Enjoy sunset drinks on the beach…

THE HIGH COUNTRY’S rugged beauty – its lakes, wildflowers, rivers and creeks – has to be seen to be believed. Combine this with the region’s fascinating history, geology and vegetation with long walks, rewarding climbs, cycling, kayaking and swimming and you’re assured of a wonderful tour. Led by Trisha Dixon, founding editor and publisher of the first photographic journal of the High Country, Snowy River Country, the tour incorporates ample opportunities to capture this unique landscape, and much more, in all its glory. Departures & fares 5 days, 4 nights 21–25 February; 21–25 March 2022 From $2160pp twin share From $625 single supplement Expedition highlights Stay at Crackenback Resort – set among the Snowy Mountains – adjacent to Kosciuszko National Park. Accommodation is in a one-bedroom chalet. Gain a memorable…

I ALWAYS LOOK forward to receiving my favourite magazine and there is always something of special interest. AG 164 was no exception because the Snapshot story concerning the 1968 Meckering earthquake brought back memories. My working career was with the mutual life insurance company AMP Society. As stated in the article, the quake occurred on a public holiday, but it so happened I was at work that day. At that time, I was head of a department that provided information for our sales representatives and I was also involved with the training of new appointees. A decision had been made to continue a training program during the public holiday and my contribution was to operate a film projector. You needed a licence to do so in those days. At the…

SEABIRDS ARE among Earth’s most vulnerable creatures when it comes to plastic pollution. They ingest plastic items circulating in ocean water or become entangled in discarded fishing nets and other detritus. This image (above) by Doug Gimesy shows a gannet caught in a Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) weather balloon. The BOM releases 56 such balloons into the atmosphere daily to collect vital data. It hopes to replace the material they’re made of with more environmentally sustainable materials in 2022.…

NEW RESEARCH by Flinders and Griffith university archaeologists has described rare shell artefacts uncovered at Calperum Station and Murrawong (Glen Lossie) on the River Murray in South Australia. The objects were recovered from shell middens during field trips run in collaboration with the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation and the Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporation. Two of the modified freshwater mussel shells are perforated, while the other is serrated. The researchers say the finely serrated shell is a very rare artefact with few close examples in Australia known to exist. The items discovered range in age from 6000–600 years old and are more than double the age of other examples of such artefacts from this region. Project lead Professor Amy Roberts of Flinders University says that while midden sites are common,…

THE AG SOCIETY Nancy-Bird Walton sponsorship recipient in 2020, Sophie Matterson, has completed her epic traverse of the continent. She arrived to welcoming crowds in Byron Bay on 10 December 2021 after walking 4600km with her five camel companions from Shark Bay inWestern Australia to Byron Bay, the most easterly point of New South Wales. Sophie took a break in October 2020 when conditions in the arid desert regions of South Australia became too hot. With the welfare of her camels a priority, she rested them in the Flinders Ranges for a few months. She was back on the road by May 2021 and has now completed the journey. Well done, Sophie! You are a worthy recipient of the Nancy-Bird Walton sponsorship and an inspiration to us all. Nancy-Bird Walton…

IT WAS A BAKING mid-January day in 2019 and police officers were shadowing their suspect through Melbourne’s CBD. Moving carefully to avoid detection, the officers watched as smuggler Jeng Chiang made his way to his hostel in the city, where he’d been living after he entered Australia on a visitor’s visa in late 2018. After waiting a few moments for Chiang to clear the foyer and go to his room, the officers descended on the hostel and arrested the 28-year-old man. Inside Chiang’s shared dorm room, the officers found rolls of duct tape and aluminium foil, disassembled rice cookers and deep fryers, and empty mailing boxes with shipping slips indicating they were destined for Hong Kong. It was enough to connect Chiang to six suspicious packages already intercepted by the…

Recreational use of the mountain is encouraged and facilitated by a gradually expanding network of hiking and biking trails, many of which extend from or cross Pinnacle Road. Clearly marked trails and tracks range from shared use, for walking and bike riding, to those designated specifically for one or the other. Although biking access is increasing, there are still far more bushwalking routes and currently the only way to reach the summit via off-road tracks is on foot. Bicycles are permitted on the roads, most Wellington Park fire trails and on certain tracks, including some gnarly purpose-built singletrack. LEARN MORE about lutruwita First Nations peoples at the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre tacinc.com.au For Pinnacle Road status and to organise free use of the TrailRider (rough-terrain power-assisted wheelchair), visit hobartcity.com.au For maps…

OUR CONVOY OF “troopies” and more traditional four-wheel-drives hit the corrugated Gibb River Road north of Derby, Western Australia. This route is renowned not only as the gateway to the wilderness frontier of the Kimberley, but as a graveyard of tyres, trailers and caravans claimed every tourist season. It’s also the way to Wilinggin country, the traditional lands of Ngarinyin people, on the northern Kimberley plateau. Their connection to Country dates back 60,000 years and their Native Title area (the Wanjina Wunggurr Wilinggin Native Title) spans some 63,000sq.km – roughly the size of Tasmania. About an hour into the journey it gets very bumpy and so noisy that you give up making conversation. Then suddenly from the back seat Renita Bidd bellows, “We got a flat tyre!” Her trained ear…

FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND is a wildlife enthusiast’s paradise. This small group tour explores the rainforest habitat, concentrating on the endemic wildlife found within, and includes a unique, behind-the-scenes visit to research locations not accessible to the public to observe the endangered spotted-tailed quoll. Our expert guides have been carefully studying these mysterious creatures for several years. Join them in the rainforest! Departures & fares 4 days, 3 nights 12–15 July & 9–12 August 2022 From $2875pp twin share From $500 single supplement Expedition highlights Our tours have a major focus on observing and photographing wildlife. It’s not uncommon for you to observe a southern cassowary, tree kangaroo and platypus on a single tour! The trails and boardwalks we access are the longest and most immersive compared with other commercial operators.…

AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC and Hurtigruten Expeditions have partnered to offer you this once in-a-lifetime experience. Explore Antarctica during its summer, touring icebergs and visiting penguin colonies ashore. You’ll also go to the Falkland Islands, visit its capital, Stanley, and see penguins and seals. Hosted by David Haslingden, owner of Australian Geographic and chair of the Australian Geographic Society, join us on this journey and enjoy exclusives only available to Australian Geographic and Hurtigruten Expeditions guests. Departures & fares 16 days Departs 21 November 2022 aboard state-of-the-art, world’s first hybridpowered ship, MS Roald Amundsen From $12,317pp twin share Expedition highlights • Hosted by David Haslingden, chair of the Australian Geographic Society and owner of Australian Geographic. • Additional inclusions and exclusives available for Australian Geographic travellers. • Escorted landings with small expedition…

Five-day Tasmanian Wildlife Encounter Explore Australia’s island state as part of a small group, visiting iconic destinations such as Maria Island, Freycinet Peninsula, Bay of Fires and Cataract Gorge. You’ll enjoy interpretation from expert guides and premium hospitality, as well as a wildlife cruise at Wineglass Bay, a behind-the-scenes night tour of Bonorong Sanctuary, a walking tour of Maria Island and a little penguin experience on a private coastal property. Wildlife highlights include wombats, pademelons, fur-seals, dolphins, penguins, quolls and endemic birdlife. Departures & fares 5 days, 4 nights Departs Sundays from Hobart From $2899pp twin share Contact us today travel@premiertasmania.com Phone 03 6231 4214 See Antarctica in a day with Antarctica Flights Fly to Antarctica in a day! Become one of the privileged few to witness the desolate beauty…

ON 27 JANUARY 1967, a fire during a preflight test in the command module of what was to have been the first crewed Apollo mission claimed the lives of three American astronauts. Edward White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee died at Cape Kennedy’s Launch Complex 34, Florida, during what became known as the Apollo 1 Astronauts Tragedy, and is observed during NASA’s annual Day of Remembrance as one of the USA’s worst space race disasters. Australia, too, experienced a significant tragedy during those early days of space exploration. On 31 July 1961, four Australians working in Western Australia as part of a simulation team in support of NASA died when their Dakota C-47 crashed. The aircraft and its crew were stationed at RAAF Base Edinburgh in South Australia and at…

AUSSIE BREWERY Young Henrys and University of Technology Sydney Climate Change Cluster have commenced the second phase of a joint CO2-fighting Algae Project in conjunction with Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA). Its aim is to help secure a sustainable future for the brewing and livestock industries. The project hopes to determine how algal species, when included as part of a balanced diet, can reduce the methane output of livestock. The beer-making process leaves behind spent grain, which is then sent out to farms across the country for cattle feed, providing a nutritious supplement, especially in times of drought. Henrys has developed a way of using CO2, a by-product of the brewing process, to feed algae housed in bioreactors on the brew floor as a way of reducing its own carbon…

A SIMPLE first aid technique could help avoid fatalities from shark attacks, according to a new study by the Australian National University (ANU). Lead author, surfer, emergency physician and Associate Dean of the ANU Medical School Dr NicholasTaylor said the method reliably stops or reduces blood loss by using readily available resources to treat lowerlimb haemorrhage. “In shark attacks, most people don’t actually get bitten twice and they can make it back to the shore,” Nicholas said. “I thought, if you make it to the beach with a friend and they’re bleeding from the leg, what would be the best thing you could do? “I knew from my background in emergency medicine that if people have massive bleeding from their leg, you can push very hard on the femoral artery…

VICTORIA STATE RECIPIENT As a teenager, Dylan Alcott hated being in a wheelchair because he didn’t see anyone like him in mainstream media. Then sport changed everything. A gold medal at the Paralympic Games in wheelchair basketball preceded three more in Paralympic competition after a cross-code switch to tennis. Now, with 23 quad wheelchair Grand Slam titles and a Newcombe Medal, Dylan recently became the first man in history, in any form of tennis, to win the Golden Slam – all four majors and Olympic gold in the same year. Amid his training and competition load as a world-class athlete, Dylan notes that his most profound impact has come from beyond sport. He founded the Dylan Alcott Foundation to provide scholarships and grant funding to marginalised Australians with disabilities. He’s…

NSW STATE RECIPIENT A materials scientist, engineer and inventor, Professor Veena Sahajwalla pioneers research into waste – turning it into a new generation of green materials and products. She does this as the founding director of the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology at the University of New South Wales and is well known for her invention of Polymer Injection Technology, or ‘Green Steel’. Veena leads the ARC Microrecycling Research Hub, as well as the National Environmental Science Program Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub. She collaborates with leading universities and institutions, along with industry and community groups, to develop and apply new recycling science into real-world environmental and economic benefits. Veena has been particularly instrumental in raising the profile of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) in Australia, enhancing…

EVER SINCE EARLY 20th-century gold prospector Harold Bell Lasseter publicly and vaguely claimed that an enormous gold-bearing quartz reef existed somewhere west of the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, hundreds of treasure hunters have scoured the area in vain. Now Australian explorer Bill Decarli believes he’s found the fabled gold deposit, to the east of the ranges near the Northern Territory–Queensland border. While watching the 1979 documentary The Legend of Lasseter, presented by Mike Willesee, Bill had a mind-blowing epiphany. A Vietnam veteran with wellhoned navigational skills, he realised Lasseter certainly knew about the reef’s existence but somehow got his bearings muddled. “The army uses a technique known as a reverse or reciprocal bearing,” Bill explains. “When something or someone needs to remain hidden or safe, its actual location is…

Whale population question In September 2020 one of the largest humpback whale groups ever recorded in Australia was sighted near Merimbula in NSW. Between 100 and 200 individuals were feeding in the region for several days. AGS-sponsored Dr Jan-Olaf Meynecke, project lead of an international research program on whale movements and climate, is seeking to determine whether so-called supergroups are forming in Australia and if such events are triggered by certain oceanographic conditions or anomalies. Supergroups have previously only been observed in South Africa. It remains unclear what’s causing the formations in Australia. It may be related to large-scale oceanographic shifts caused by climate change, or could be a response to a population increase. The humpback is Australia’s top whalewatching attraction and engenders much community interest. In recent years, changes…

“The mountain makes the weather interesting, and we like interesting weather at the Bureau.” ON THE EVENING OF 10 May 2018, a complex low-pressure system collided with kunanyi. Strong winds smashed against the eastern face and further enhanced already heavy rainfall. Fat droplets fell, alpine catchments overflowed, creek heights shot up, and water poured off the mountain. Through the CBD the Hobart Rivulet broke its banks and main streets ran like rivers. Ann Conroy, the regional hydrologist and surface water expert with the Bureau of Meteorology, describes the weather system, which developed along the East Coast and came almost to a standstill above the mountain, as “trains of storms”. She says the Bureau issued a severe weather warning that night given the magnitude of what is now recorded in their…

AS OUR SMALL INFLATABLE boat pulls up to the pristine white sands of uninhabited Pipon Island, off the coast of far north Queensland, Dr Jeff Kelleway is first to jump out. Wearing gumboots and a floppy hat, and with a compass hanging around his neck, he is hardly the picture of a typical weekend visitor to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Following Jeff, a research fellow in the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences at the University of Wollongong (UOW), is Associate Professor Dr Sarah Hamylton, a marine geographer at UOW, and PhD students Zachary Nagel-Tynan and Oxana Repina. They are here to map and investigate the Howick Group National Park (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land), a remote collection of 19 continental islands and sand cays located in the…

CAPTURING THE SPIRIT of adventure, 28 intrepid travellers from around Australia travelled from Horn Island in the Torres Strait, and south to Cairns through the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef over 10 days and nights aboard Coral Expeditions’ ship Coral Explorer in November 2021. In partnership with the Australian Geographic Society, the expedition explored some of Australia’s most remote and beautiful landscapes, delving into Cape York and the Torres Strait’s ecology, history and cultures, as well as meeting some of the real characters of the far north. Three guest lecturers provided talks, myself included, with 10 years of experience in the region as a journalist and author, and as official host for the Australian Geographic Society. Also aboard was wildlife biologist Dr Martin Cohen – with three decades…

AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC and Hurtigruten Expeditions have partnered to offer you this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Join us on a journey of ecological discovery as we go from Quito, Ecuador, in Charles Darwin’s footsteps to experience the natural wonders of the Galápagos Islands. All Hurtigruten Expeditions cruises to the Galápagos are carbon neutral; guests will contribute directly to the protection of biodiverse forests in north-western Ecuador, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Hosted by Chrissie Goldrick, Editor-in-chief of Australian Geographic. Departures & fares 10 days Departs 31 August 2022 aboard small ship MS Santa Cruz II From $9989pp twin share Expedition highlights • Hosted by Chrissie Goldrick, Editor-in-chief of AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC and member of the Advisory Council of the Australian Geographic Society. • Additional inclusions and exclusives for Australian Geographic travellers. • Full-day nature tour…

TAKE A JOURNEY to the Red Centre and immerse yourself in the extraordinary desert landscapes, mountain ranges and some of Australia’s most sacred sites, including Uluru and KataTjuta. Australia’s pioneering heart beats in Alice Springs – you’ll get a glimpse into the unique history of the OldTelegraph Station, marvel at the efforts of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and learn about Indigenous culture. Travel through the stunning West MacDonnell Ranges, visit the Aboriginal settlement of Hermannsburg and walk in PalmValley, a truly extraordinary oasis. Departures & fares 8 nights 15–22 March; 19–26 May; 3–10 July; 11–18 October 2022 From $3775pp twin share From $720 single supplement Expedition highlights • Enjoy the Sounds of Silence dinner. As the sun sets, listen to a didgeridoo being played and enjoy a freshly prepared,…

8 In which island group is Whitehaven Beach? 9 For which state or territory is the southern brushtailed rock-wallaby the mammal emblem? 10 A fossil of which bird of prey was recently discovered in the South Australian outback and is considered among the oldest in the world? 11 Found within mountain ash and snow-gum forests in Victoria, what animal is about 40cm from nose to tail tip, breeds twice a year (late spring/early summer and late autumn/early winter) and produces one to two young in a litter? 12 Which external territory in the Indian Ocean is Australia’s smallest at just over 200ha? 13 In which city is the National Museum of Australia? 14 What is a male wallaby called? 15 What was the world-first achievement of adventurer Dick Smith in…