Innholdsfortegnelse for September - October 2022 i Australian Geographic

AFTER A FEW years of being confined to home, we’ve come to know our neighbourhoods better, and are maybe more aware of the creatures that share these precious green spaces with us. Nature on our doorstep is celebrated in the new category Urban Animals in this year’s AG Nature Photographer of the Year competition, for which this image by Sam Oster was shortlisted. For all the winning entries see page 76. Family Portrait, 2021 Photo by Sam Oster, South Australia European fox (Vulpes vulpes) Macclesfield, South Australia “We moved to the Adelaide Hills recently, and surveillance cameras revealed a fox den under the house,” Sam said. “I set up an outdoor camera to help us problem-solve. We discovered that our garden was their playground and pantry – a vixen and…

The Wilderness Society has launched its new Karajia Award for Children’s Literature, celebrating First Nations children’s authors and illustrators across Australia. In Mirning Country, Karajia is a holder and teller of ancient stories, carried from when the world was young. The shortlisted titles explore connection to Country and tell stories about land, language, culture and community. One of the inaugural judges of this new award is Uncle Bunna Lawrie, Senior Elder of the Mirning people and a Karajia. The winners of the Karajia Award will be announced during Nature Book Week, 5–11 September 2022.…

QLD Find dugongs, Moreton Bay The dugong, one of few herbivorous marine mammals, is shy and elusive. But that doesn’t mean they’re impossible to spot. One of the best ways to see them is on an organised tour in Moreton Bay Marine Park, near Brisbane, which is home to hundreds of them. They’re found here year-round, but September–October is calving season. MORE INFO: dolphinwild.com.au or call 07 3880 4444. TAS Whale watch, Bruny Island In September–October see humpback and southern right whales off Tassie’s east coast, as they migrate south to summer feeding grounds. Bruny Island’s Adventure Bay is one place to see both species from land, but joining a wilderness cruise led by Robert Pennicott can off er a closer look. MORE INFO: brunycruises.com.au or call 03 6234 4270.…

Loose unit During the 2022 federal election, the expression “loose unit” was bandied about by political enemies. To my delight this turns out to be an Australian coinage – first recorded in 2009 (and applied that year to Pauline Hanson). It’s clearly from the earlier “loose cannon”, meaning “an unpredictable or uncontrollable person or thing”. This seems to come from the days of sailing ships, when having a cannon sliding across a deck in a storm would be unpredictably dangerous. Yet it only becomes common long after the era of sail; despite mentions in 1889 and 1946, it only seems to catch on from the 1970s. How was “cannon” replaced by “unit”? I suspect legendary Sydney radio announcer Ward ‘Pally’ Austin sparked the use of “unit” for “human being”: one…

THE ULURU STATEMENT from the Heart is a sacred First Nations’ invitation to the Australian people. It was conceived on 26 May 2017 from the collective experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples during an unprecedented process of dialogue and consensus building. Forged from more than two centuries of hardship and struggle, the Uluru Statement gives hope to a nation born from many nations, that we may find our collective heart. The eloquent words of the Uluru Statement make an affirmation that the first sovereign nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands have never ceded sovereignty – not when first colonised by the British, and not with the enactment of the Australian Constitution in 1901. The words remind us that neither colonisation nor the federation of those…

WHEN VICKI LANGLEY finished a hairdressing course at Adelaide TAFE in 1986, she headed overseas with friends and landed a hairdressing job in London. On her return to Adelaide in the spring of 1987, she naturally fell back into the company of Tim Kernick, with whom she’d become acquainted before her departure. “I knew Tim previously through overlapping social circles,” Vicki reminisces as she stands in the sodden interior of Marree Racetrack, recalling the couple’s tentative teenage mutual attraction. But in early 1988 Tim left Adelaide for a round-Australia trip. “I jumped into my old Pontiac, threw in the microwave and bike and was off,” he recalls. By mid-year he was based in Alice Springs, more than 1300km from Adelaide, working as a mechanic, but he would sometimes return to…

WELCOME TO the results of the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition for 2022. This is the 10th year of our partnership with the South Australian Museum to present this contest and its public exhibitions, and it’s very gratifying to see it flourish with a record year for entries. We also welcome two new categories – Astrophotography and Urban Animals. Photography is critical to how we communicate ideas and information at Australian Geographic. The power of images to tell stories or focus on issues transcends traditional linguistic and cultural barriers. Images can act as attention grabbers that allow us to follow up with more complex ideas and information. They have the power to pull us in, whet our appetite and stimulate our curiosity. They can also shock us…

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. This journey is hosted by David Haslingden, owner of Australian Geographic and chair of the Australian Geographic Society. Join us and enjoy exclusives only available to Australian Geographic and Hurtigruten Expeditions guests. Departures & fares 16 days Departs 21 November 2022 aboard the state-of-the-art, world’s first hybridpowered ship, MS Roald Amundsen. From $12,317pp twin share Expedition highlights • Hosted by David Haslingden, owner of Australian Geographic and chair of the Australian Geographic Society. • Inclusions and exclusives for Australian Geographic travellers. • Escorted landings with small expedition boats while…

JOIN US ON this once-in-a-lifetime exclusive Top End adventure and immerse yourself in an extraordinary trip across World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land to experience the world’s oldest-living continuous culture. Stay at two award-winning properties. The first is Bamurru Plains, an exclusive safari lodge with exclusive access to 300km of floodplains and savannah woodland on the Mary River. Then travel to Davidson’s Arnhemland Safaris at Mount Borradaile, a registered Aboriginal sacred site in a remote 70,000ha exclusively leased area nestled against the Arnhem Land escarpment. Departures & fares 5 days, 4 nights 8–12 October 2022 19–23 May 2023 More dates to come for 2023 We can tailor dates to your needs, including private tours. From $7995pp twin share Single supplements on request Group size Four guests Trip highlights…

This epic 15-day exploration traverses record-breaking canyons and gorges, national parks and World Heritage sites. It’s nature writ large – no wonder television and movie directors find inspiration here (as you will too). And then there are the cities, from multicultural Adelaide and the world-famous wine country nearby, to steamy Darwin, where sunsets are as brash as the characters that call it home. You can save up to $800 per couple* with Australian Geographic’s exclusive offer on selected AAT Kings tours when you sign up to the AAT Kings newsletter. * See website for terms and conditions. Dates and prices Select departure dates 13 and 20 June, 11 and 18 July, 8 and 15 August 2023 From $7855pp twin share Contact us today aatkings.com/ausgeo Phone 1300 228 546…

8 When did Australia become a federation? 9 Leadbeater’s possum is the faunal emblem of which state or territory? 10 In the 19th century, which European explorer traced the courses of the Macquarie, Bogan and Castlereagh rivers, and followed the Murray River to Lake Alexandrina on the South Australian coast? 11 Which group of islands are separated by the Apsley Strait, connecting Saint Asaph Bay in the north and Shoal Bay in the south? 12 What year was the cane toad introduced to Australia? 13 What was the name of the first ship to circumnavigate Australia? 14 What land masses does Bass Strait separate? 15 Petaurus breviceps, an omnivorous, arboreal and nocturnal gliding possum, is more commonly known by what name? 16 Which iconic Australian bird is among the largest…

Researchers at Melbourne’s La Trobe University have detected a record number of critically endangered plains-wanderers in the Northern Plains of Victoria. The small, quail-like bird has an estimated population of just 250–1000. The survey, conducted by PhD student Dan Nugent, detected 60 adults and 41 chicks – more than double the previous best result of 30 adults and 17 chicks in 2018. More than 85 per cent of monitoring sites in the study now support plains-wanderers, the highest percentage since surveys began in 2010. Ecologists believe this population boost is the result of both human intervention and a change in natural conditions. Habitat management and other protection measures, such as conservation covenants, have helped safeguard the endangered species. But also, a.er years of drought, the La Niña climate cycle has…

Get involved in the Aussie Backyard Bird Count, Australia’s largest citizen-science event. Simply spend 20 minutes during the week of 17–23 October in your favourite outdoor space and observe and count the number of birds there. Log your results with the Aussie Bird Count app or web form at aussiebirdcount.org.au/submit-a-count to help BirdLife Australia better understand bird population distributions and concentrations across Australia.…

LIKE ANCIENT HIEROGLYPHS on old temple walls, the names Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon became firmly etched in the public imagination during the Roaring Twenties. Carter, a British archaeologist funded by the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, discovered the entrance to King Tutankhamun’s tomb on 4 November 1922, unleashing a worldwide sensation that still fascinates a century later. Suddenly Egypt was all the rage, influencing fashion, jewellery, hairstyles and furniture. It inspired songs and dances, and its motifs can still be recognised today in the Art Deco style that came to define the era. Carnarvon was a keen, wealthy amateur Egyptologist who was underwriting Carter’s work in the Valley of the Kings on the Nile’s west bank across from the old city of Ipet, now called Luxor. Ancient Egyptians believed in…

THE PANDEMIC clipped the wings of Australia’s adventurers and conservationists, limiting their movements both within Australia and internationally. But borders have opened, and previously postponed expeditions are underway once more. From Sarah Davis paddling the entire length of the Nile to Sophie Matterson completing her trek with camels 5000km across Australia, our most courageous adventurers remain determined and dedicated to push themselves to the limits of their abilities. Conservationists across the country have continued to work tirelessly throughout the pandemic. Photographer Doug Gimesy’s advocacy has overseen the banning of enclosed yabby traps in Victoria to protect platypus populations, while palaeontologist Mike Archer has been on the frontline of the mountain pygmy possum breeding program. Nigel Sharp’s Odonata Foundation continues its great work investing in “nature-first” companies, so that sustainable practices…

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the creation. According to the common law, from time immemorial. And according to science more than 60,000 years ago. This sovereignty is a spiritual notion. The ancestral tie between the land or Mother Nature, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished. And it coexists with the sovereignty…

THE MOUNTAIN RANGES of Grampians National Park rise in silencing grandeur from the arid Wimmera Plains as a pulse-line of peaks and troughs. This is the most south-western point of Australia’s Great Dividing Range: 1672sq.km of rocky plateaus and rugged bushland, three hours drive from Melbourne. At Hollow Mountain car park my climbing partner and I gaze in awe at towering, cornflake-orange escarpments. We walk the track towards them, then at the cliff-line take a faint path through the scrub, guided by a 2015 edition of Neil Monteith’s book Grampians Climbing. An hour later, I lead my first outdoor sport climb, warm sandstone beneath my fingers and joy in my heart. It’s 2018 and I’m experiencing one of the world’s best places to climb for the first time. About 500…

1 Giant Cuttlefish and the Winter Garden Giant cuttlefish (Sepia apama) Alejandro Trevino, New South Wales Giant cuttlefish are often seen and approached by swimmers and divers along the southern coast of Australia in late winter. This is the largest of all cuttlefish species, and despite being colourblind, they are masters of camouflage with the ability to change their size, shape, colour and even texture of their bodies. Sydney, New South Wales Sony A7 III, Sony FE 28–70mm f/3.5–5.6 OSS, 1/200, f/3.5, ISO 250, handheld while freediving, Seafrogs underwater housing with 6" dome port 2 Mating Octopus Common Sydney octopus (Octopus tetricus) Alejandro Trevino, New South Wales Common Sydney octopuses enter their reproductive cycle in September. This photo shows a female resting inside her den (sunken tyre) while a male…

Are you brave enough to explore a rainforest at night? I’m not talking any old rainforest, but the ancient one surviving in Queensland’s Lamington National Park. As one of the last few remaining extensive areas of subtropical Gondwanan rainforest anywhere in the world, Lamington is revered for its rainforest bushwalking experiences. I’ve hiked many trails inside this 21,176ha World Heritage wilderness, but never at night. But on this chilly Sunday evening in late May I’m waiting at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat – a family-owned ecotourism operation on the western side of Lamington Plateau, in the Green Mountains section of the park. The temperature is hovering around 7°C and the crisp air feels even fresher as the last of the sun’s warmth retreats and night falls. I’m about to take my first…

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Australian Geographic, embark on an immersive scientific expedition aboard Coral Discoverer, exploring the outer reefs and unique marine ecosystems of the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef. Travel with a community of conservation-minded explorers and onboard special guest lecturer Dr Adam Smith of Reef Ecologic, who will share his extensive scientific and ecological knowledge along the way. Gain access to remote and rarely visited atolls while contributing to conservation programs, including species surveys, wildlife rehabilitation and coral science. Departures & fares 14 nights Cairns to Cairns Departs 23 October 2023 From $12,130pp twin share Expedition highlights • Venture to the remote cays, islands and reefs on the outer edges of the Great Barrier Reef in a rare opportunity to participate in scientific and conservation efforts to monitor…

JOIN US ON an extraordinary island adventure as we journey through the rarely explored islands of Micronesia. Aboard Coral Adventurer, sail from Manila through the Philippines, Palau and around the remote islands of the Federated States of Micronesia. Share in the spirit of local islanders and partake in centuries-old cultural traditions including dance, weaving and carving. Visit historical sites with expert historian guide and experienced seafarer Alasdair McGregor. Across the archipelago, learn about the endeavours of early Portuguese explorers and the Austronesian peoples and their seafaring culture. Departures & fares 25 nights Manila to Kavieng Departs 9 November 2023 From $21,250pp twin share Trip highlights • Explore the remote and rarely visited Sohoton Cove, with its limestone karst island hills and lakes of harmless golden jelly fish. • Visit all…

JOIN OUR GUIDES on a journey to discover the culture, incredible wildlife and ecology of the Murray River. You’ll be welcomed to Country by Erawirung Elder Eric Cook, who will take you on a cultural walk along an ancient river oxbow. Your guides will lead you through the forests, creeks, billabongs and outback lakes, sharing knowledge of vital conservation work. See the benefits of environmental flows to restore red gum forests and protect wetland species, including the vulnerable southern bell frog. Explore diverse landscapes in search of wildlife, including red kangaroos, emus, koalas, goannas and many of the 180 bird species found in this region. Departures & fares 4 days, 3 nights 7–10 November 2022 More dates to come We can tailor dates to your needs, including private tours. From…

Experience one of the world’s greatest full-day oceanic expeditions departing from Bremer Bay in Western Australia. Led by expert marine biologists, the tour includes encounters with killer whales, with behaviours likely to be witnessed ranging from hunting to socialising in family groups. Highlights also include spotting a spectacular mix of pelagic birds, Australian sea lions, dolphins and long-finned pilot whales. Dates and prices Departure dates 2 January – 24 April 2023 From $385pp Contact us today info@whales-australia.com.au Phone 08 9750 5500…

LOCATED AT THE western end of the famed Great Ocean Road, Warrnambool is a charming coastal city perched on Lady Bay between the Merri and Hopkins rivers. It’s known for safe, sheltered beaches, a moderate climate, parks and gardens, and Logans Beach, where southern right whales arrive between June and September each year to calve. Surf, rock, sea and river fishing are popular, particularly at Levys and Killarney beaches and on the Hopkins and Merri rivers. The Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village, which has more than 40 historic buildings, is an outstanding opportunity to experience life in a 19th-century Victorian coastal village. It offers a unique insight into the state’s infamous Shipwreck Coast, with artefacts from more than 200 ships wrecked along the coastline that extends from here. While…

AUSTRALIA’S HISTORY has many tragic chapters, and we commemorate these events with monuments, exhibitions and public services. Perhaps the strangest memorial in Australia is the Three Lost Children Walk, located on the outskirts of Daylesford, a historic goldmining town 108km drive north-west of Melbourne, Victoria. The 30km return walking trail follows the approximate route of three young boys who wandered from their homes in 1867 and perished in the bush. The Graham brothers William, 6, and Thomas, 4, and their friend Alfred Burman, 5, went missing on Sunday 30 June. That morning, the three children left their homes in Connells Gully, Daylesford, crossing Wombat Creek in search of wild goats. The boys didn’t return. Concerned, their fathers and a group of neighbours spent the afternoon searching the junction of Wombat,…

Does Australia need the dog fence? DR JUSTINE PHILIP is entitled to her opinion (The Dog Fence, AG 168). However, if such an opinion has repercussions that could affect thousands of lives and rural enterprises, careful consideration must be given to the facts, rather than a presentation that may suit the whim of a few. I offer my views based on many years as an employee on the Dog Fence in South Australia. From day one of sheep farming, stock losses to wild dogs have been a serious problem. Many early landholders built vermin-control fences to keep wild dogs out of their flocks. By the late 1800s there were approximately 54,000km of such fences in SA. Despite this, in 1893 high stock losses through wild dog predation were reported in…

FOR THE first time, scientists have discovered stingrays can communicate through sound. A paper in the journal Ecology has reported that mangrove whiprays and cowtail stingrays produce a series of short, loud clicks that are likely to be for defence or as a warning response. Although they have yet to discover exactly how the sound is produced, researchers believe it’s caused by rapid movement of the head or jaw and spiracles (openings behind the eyes used during respiration). Until this discovery, it was thought cartilaginous fishes – sharks, rays and skates – were mute. Now it’s likely that many of the more than 1000 species of shark and ray can produce sound. Research organisation Sharks and Rays Australia is encouraging citizen scientists and other researchers with recordings to contact them.…

ALTHOUGH THEY’VE been around for millennia, atmospheric rivers were only discovered by humans during the past 25 years. In February 2022, one dumped cubic kilometres of water onto the city of Brisbane. An atmospheric river is a narrow, fast-flowing stream of moist air. It can be many thousands of kilometres long, and a few hundred wide. It’s a giant and invisible conveyor belt of water in the sky, moving above and across the planet. At any given moment, there are about a dozen of these atmospheric phenomena across the globe – most of them over water. But, unlike a land-based river, they are not fixed in location. Instead, they continually form, fade, reform and evolve. So they come and go. Atmospheric rivers are essential to the water cycle. They shift…

AS THIS ISSUE goes to press, space scientists everywhere are following the final movements of a little craft in deep space on a mission that could profoundly affect humankind’s future. The mission is called DART (the Double Asteroid Redirection Test), which spells out exactly what it’s hoped it will achieve – test whether we can redirect an asteroid. Why a double asteroid? That’s what makes this ambitious project so clever. To explain, let me begin with the basics. Our planet’s space environment is quite busy with rocks, and astronomers are constantly on alert for potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), which have orbits that might one day bring them into contact with Earth. Typically, astronomers are on the look-out for objects 140m or so in size because these are capable of causing…

In May 1990, when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced plans to replace Caroline Chisholm with the Queen on a new $5 note, the decision stoked growing republican sentiment and unleashed a fiery backlash about the representation of Australian women on banknotes. Paul Keating called the decision a “national disgrace”. Historian Manning Clark described it as “deplorable” and “retrograde”. The mauve-coloured fiver was the first of a series of new polymer banknotes to be issued between 1992 and 1996 and there were concerns about what it might mean for the designs of the remaining notes, which had yet to be revealed. The initial series of decimal currency, featuring 11 men and the Queen, was released in 1966, followed by a $5 note in 1967 depicting Caroline Chisholm, a 19th-century humanitarian,…

ALMOST 600KM NORTH of Adelaide, where the famed Oodnadatta and Birdsville tracks meet, John Simpson and Renee Ormesher are frantically working their phones. Perched on stools in the front bar of the historic Marree Hotel, they’ve set up a temporary office to coordinate the logistics of bumping in the Curdimurka Outback Ball. This once-legendary annual outback event hasn’t been held for 18 years, but it’s about to be revived. Moves for its resurrection began one day a few years back, when John and Renee were having lunch in the Marree Roadhouse and were asked by locals: “Why don’t you start it back up again?” As collaborators in Revive the Regions with Music, a touring company supporting regional South Australia and its musicians through remote festivals, they had the credentials. And…

BITING DOWN ON A flickering torch, with a dust-encrusted clay tobacco pipe in one hand and his camera in the other, Thomas Wielecki hauls himself up through a trapdoor at the historic Berrima Vault House. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when you told me we were going to drive the old Hume from Sydney to Melbourne,” the photographer says, as he plucks cobwebs from his hair. After leaving Sydney this morning, the first couple of hours of our road trip unfolded like clockwork. We stopped to admire the exquisite workmanship of the heritage-listed Lansdowne Bridge near Fairfield, in south-western Sydney. Opened in 1836, the bridge features a sandstone arch with the largest span of any surviving masonry bridge in Australia. We then checked out the white concrete…

Behind the Derrick VC Rest Area, between Marulan and Goulburn, is an 1839 convict-built sandstone bridge, one of the most impressive remnants of the Great South Road, the forerunner to the Hume Highway. It’s best accessed via a two-minute walk from the signboard at the rest area. Like many bridges in this era, it’s thought to have been designed by master stonemason David Lennox. However, the Towrang Stockade across the road is the real treasure here. From 1833 to 1843, the stockade was home to chain gangs of convicts who built the sandstone bridge by hand as well as many kilometres of the original road both north and south of it. Life on the chain gang at the Towrang Stockade was tough. Convicts were subjected to rigid daily routines and…

JOIN US ON an epic crossing of the Great Australian Bight aboard Coral Geographer, exploring the hard-to-reach islands and iconic national parks along the rugged shorelines of Australia’s south coast. Discover remote breeding grounds of sea lions among scattered islands and outcrops as we venture across the Archipelago of the Recherche and follow Shearwater Bay’s snorkel trail in search of the elusive leafy sea dragon. Along the way, your Australian Geographic Society host Micheline-Nicole Jenner will share her extensive scientific and conservation knowledge and passion for whales. Departures & fares 13 nights Adelaide to Fremantle Departs 16 November 2022 From $8540pp twin share Expedition highlights • Our crossing of the Great Australian Bight is an exciting moment for those who love the sea. This iconic marine area includes the Great…

THIS COMPREHENSIVE NINE-DAY wildlife and conservation tour beautifully illustrates just what a special place Tasmania is – its pristine natural environment is one of the best places to observe animals in their natural habitat. During this tour you’ll be treated to a goldmine of unique opportunities to learn about conservation efforts to save marine life, rare species of bird and other native Tasmanian animals. Combine this with spectacular wilderness, great food and the well-known and friendly hospitality of the locals, and you’re sure to collect memories that will last a lifetime. Departures & fares 5 days, 4 nights 1–5 September 2022 From $5135pp twin share Single supplement available Group size Minimum four, maximum six guests Trip highlights • Take a scenic flight to the remote area of Melaleuca and meet…

Gum Swamp attracts many different species of birdlife all year round; it’s a very popular location for the birdlife – and the enthusiasts who wish to observe them. It can be found just a few kilometres south of the town of Forbes, just off the Newell Highway, and features four hides, allowing guests the opportunity to view the birds in their habitat. Gum Swamp is also home to a magnificent goanna (gugaa) sculpture, part of the amazing Sculpture Down the Lachlan public art trail. Information Always open Best visited at sunrise and sunset Cost FREE Bookings No booking required More information amazingforbesnsw.com Phone 02 6852 4155 (Forbes Visitor Information Centre)…

1 FLAGSTAFF HILL MARITIME MUSEUM AND VILLAGE This popular attraction is a re-creation of a late 19th-century coastal port, complete with cobblestone streets. Each building represents an important aspect of port life during the Victorian era. The hill was named in 1854 when a flagstaff was placed there as a navigational aid after an international flag-signalling code was devised. Fortifications were completed in 1887 to defend against a possible Russian attack after Anglo-Russian tensions rose due to rivalry over Afghanistan. The more than 40 buildings, all re-created using authentic materials, include: St Nicholas Seamen’s Church, the Steampacket Inn, Bank of Australasia, a brass foundry, newspaper office, ship chandler’s office, slipway, steam-powered workshop, shipping agent, Masonic lodge, jail, sailmaker’s loft, cooper’s workshop, armoury, officers’ huts, port medical officer’s surgery and more.…