Innholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2022 i Australian Geographic

IT’S QUITE incredible to think that of the 100 years the Country Women’s Association (CWA) has been a force to be reckoned with in rural Australia, the late Queen Elizabeth II was head of state for 70 of them. CWA members swear an oath of loyalty to the reigning monarch at each meeting, and there would be few members still active today who could recall a time when there wasn’t a photo of the Queen hanging on the branch wall. Qualities such as service and fortitude that characterised Queen Elizabeth’s long and distinguished reign are closely interwoven with those of the CWA. It’s the largest women’s organisation in Australia, and despite the challenges faced by all such entities reliant on volunteers to stay afloat, the CWA remains a reflection of…

Designed by the late Malcolm Wallhead, a fibreglasser based in Tasmania, Igloo Satellite Cabins were first acquired by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) in 1982. These dome-shaped, colourful cabins – nicknamed “apples” – had an aerodynamic design that allowed fully assembled igloos to be flown in by helicopter. The first igloo was used for penguin research on Antarctica’s Magnetic Island. The AAD purchased another 49 cabins for use as communication centres, mess huts, laboratories, bedrooms, non-magnetic instrument rooms and bathrooms. Over the years, these Australian-made igloos have been sold in 20 countries. They have found homes all over the world, from balmy tropics, the remote poles, and even for Google offices in Zurich, Switzerland.…

TEN YEARS AGO, CSIRO released a landmark report looking at “global megatrends” that would shape people around the world in the years that followed. Many had an environmental bent. AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC travelled nationwide, probing the challenges and opportunities, and meeting Australians riding the crest of change (Trendsetters, AG 117). In July 2022, CSIRO revisited the idea. In a report dubbed Our Future World, the organisation crowned seven new megatrends that will affect the direction of our lives. Some of the projections have predictably come to pass: biodiversity is ever-dwindling; we are more reliant on the virtual world to communicate; populations in developed countries are rapidly ageing; and the focus of the world economy is shifting from west to east. But others could barely have been guessed at in 2012: geopolitical…

THIS YEAR it was feared eastern Australia’s legendary white whale, Migaloo, had died. But it turned out to be another (smaller) white whale that had washed up on a Tassie beach. The name Migaloo comes from the Mayi-Kutuna Aboriginal language of north-western Queensland’s Leichhardt River area. Originally migaloo referred to people – a migaloo was a whitefella. In The Other Side of the Frontier, historian Henry Reynolds wrote, “She looked at me not as an individual, or as a male, or as a well-meaning academic, but as a white man, a ‘migaloo’.” The rare albino humpback – first seen in 1991 off Byron Bay, then yearly as it migrated along the Aussie coastline – was given the name Migaloo, a creative use of an Indigenous word. GOT A QUESTION ABOUT…

SOPHIE MATTERSON Hear Sophie, this year’s AGS Spirit of Adventurer awardee, share the epic story of her 5000km trek across Australia during the global pandemic with only her beloved camel team. MAL LEYLAND In the 1970s, Mal and brother Mike hosted Ask the Leyland Brothers TV series, pulling in 2.5 million viewers a week. Mal, AGS 2019 Lifetime of Adventure awardee, reveals the darker side of stardom. ALBERT WIGGAN A Traditional Owner and Bardi-Kija-Nyul Nyul man, Albert received our 2019 Conservationist of the Year Award for his campaign to protect the Kimberley region from developers. JIMMY ASHBY Hear of Jimmy’s remarkable adventure when he cycled 39,000km across 32 countries in four continents. He was our 2019 Young Adventurer of the Year. Listen Other inspiring podcast guests include aviator Ryan Campbell…

Now is not the best time to observe the Milky Way in the evenings. But under a dark sky with a low horizon all around, you might see our galaxy surrounding you as a nearly closed ring! Look up for an uninterrupted view of the southern universe. For those under suburban skies, here’s your evening treat. Look for seven of the 10 brightest stars. High in the south is the ninth brightest, Achernar. To the left (south-east) is the second, Canopus. Further east is the most brilliant, Sirius. The north-east has a real gathering of these beauties. Orion has two members: the seventh is Rigel and 10th is Betelgeuse. Lower down is number eight, Procyon, and close to the northern horizon is the sixth-brightest star, Capella. TUESDAY 8 NOVEMBER Total…

EVERY SUBSCRIBER to this journal automatically becomes a member of the not-for-profit AG Society. Your subscription helps us fund Australia’s scientists, conservationists, adventurers and explorers. To subscribe, call 1300 555 176 Who are the Australian Geographic Society? Patron: Dick Smith AC Chair: David Haslingden Secretary: Caroline Fitzgerald Directors: Peter Anderson, Nick Croydon, Page Henty Advisory Committees: Chrissie Goldrick (chair), Chris Bray, John Leece AM, Tim Jarvis AM, Robert Purves AM, Anna Rose, Heather Swan, Todd Tai THE SOCIETY runs sponsorship rounds in April and November each year, during which it considers applications and disburses grants. The Australian Geographic business donates 10 per cent of its annual profits to the AG Society, which in turn supports worthy causes in the areas of conservation, the environment and adventure exploration. AG SOCIETY FUNDRAISER…

JOHN WAMSLEY OAM LIFETIME OF CONSERVATION UTTER THE NAME John Wamslehese days and you’ll barely raise an eyebrow. Mention instead the man in the cat-hat and the penny invariably drops. John’s infamous fashion statement was made at the 1991 South Australian Tourism awards, where he wore the pelt of a feral cat on his head. His native animal sanctuary, Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary, was up for an award, and John and his wife, Proo Geddes, saw a golden opportunity to make a powerful statement about one of the chief causes of biodiversity loss in Australia – feral invasive species. John has never shied away from any fight where the welfare of Australia’s native floral or faunal species is at stake. Now in his mid-80s, he can still be found on most…

Why travel with us? ACCESS Travelling with Australian Geographic inspires people to care about the planet by providing meaningful opportunities to explore it. Our experiences are rich in nature and adventure, and our travel partners specialise in small-group experiences. EXPERTISE Australian Geographic’s adventurers, scientists, historians and photographers have brought the world to you for more than 36 years. Now you’re invited to join them in the country’s most intriguing places, from the Great Barrier Reef to the red heart. SUSTAINABILITY Australian Geographic is committed to sustaining the environment, culture and heritage of each place we visit, from addressing climate change to promoting awareness of the world’s oldest-living continuous culture and revealing the country’s countless treasures. GIVING BACK All of the travel experiences offered raise funds for our Society. As our not-for-profit…

TEN KILOMETRES south of Darwin, in the Northern Territory, the natural beauty of Channel Island and its surrounds belies its tragic past. From 1931 to 1955, this island was a leper colony, and though some buildings were dismantled after its abandonment, others fell into ruins, which remain today. The surviving hospital foundations, collapsed huts, partial wall structures and rusting sheets of galvanised iron provide a sombre reminder of the neglected patients who were once confined here. Leprosy arrived on Australian shores during the goldrush migration boom, and in the NT, the first cases were observed in Chinese immigrants in 1882. The disease quickly spread to Indigenous communities; authorities ignored the situation and leprosy went untreated for decades. From 1889, anyone suffering from leprosy was isolated on Mud Island in a…

With less than 120 remaining in the wild, Gilbert’s potoroo is critically endangered and at serious risk of extinction. It was previously thought to be extinct, until a tiny population was discovered in 1994 at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia. Because of its sensitive nature and extremely restricted diet of native truffles, Gilbert’s potoroos don’t do well in captivity. So the creation of safe haven populations is the only way to increase their numbers. They’re threatened by fire, feral predators, inadequate gene flow between the populations and climate change. Your donation will help the Gilbert’s Potoroo Action Group support critical recovery actions undertaken by scientists and volunteers to help this species survive. Please donate today via our website, or scan the QR code to go directly to our…

Silver Lake Operations #2 Lake Lefroy, WA, 2007 Photo by Edward Burtynsky THE EPIC IMAGES BY renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky bear witness to the true cost of modern society. For 39 years he’s documented the largest examples of human endeavour, shooting in high resolution on large-format cameras: Edward describes it as nature transformed by industry. He’s travelled the world in search of colossal open-pit mines, huge quarries, mega factories, deforested landscapes and more, shooting from above and exhibiting them at scale. Australia’s extractive industries have been the focus of Burtynsky’s work on numerous occasions. His scenes, such as this one, are confronting yet beautiful, and tell a story of our influence on this planet. They urge us to rethink our legacy and challenge us to seek a more sustainable…

THE BLACK BARNACLE-ENCRUSTED wedge as the tide rises and falls, a sand shadow below protruding from the white sand at Carnot Bay on Western Australia’s Kimberley coast is being swallowed by time. It disappears daily diamond ripples of water. Few would know this remnant of one of Australia’s great legends is even there – the corroded wing tip of an aeroplane that held great treasure and tragedy. Carnot Bay’s Smirnoff Beach is far from anywhere, along a rough four-wheel-drive track north of Broome on a potholed and washed-out road. There are no signposts to direct you through the dense and overgrown bush. If you make it there, you’ll find a memorial to the victims of a plane crash standing sentinel over the beach and silhouetted against the sheer translucent blue…

IN 1884, AFTER debilitating droughts, the Victorian government began investigating large-scale irrigation. Future prime minister Alfred Deakin was appointed Chairman of the Royal Commission on Water Supply and travelled overseas to research existing irrigation systems. On an 1885 trip to western USA he met the Chaffey brothers, Canadian entrepreneurs who’d created an “irrigation colony” on the Cucamonga Plains near Los Angeles. Enticed by Deakin’s Australian irrigation potential, George Chaffey travelled to Melbourne in February 1886. He explored the Murray River valley and recognised its potential. Deakin, who believed irrigation was the key to Australia’s agricultural future, assured him the government would make 250,000 acres (1012sq.km) available for sale to the brothers. George contacted his brother, William, and convinced him to sell their US interests and join him in Australia. George…

THE TRIALS OF LIFE By David Attenborough The Trials of Life is the dramatic conclusion to world-leading naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough’s iconic Life trilogy. Inspired by the classic ’90s documentary of the same name, The Trials of Life delves into the wondrous science of animal behaviour. Readers travel across the globe as Attenborough discusses how trials such as hunting, courting and homemaking have manifested in a multitude of bizarre and intriguing behaviours in the animal kingdom. Meet the Indian tailorbird that sews its nest from spider silk, the killer whale that flings its food into the sky before eating it and the howler monkeys that sing in chorus to claim their territory. This new edition has been fully revised and updated by Attenborough and a team of expert scientists…

TRANS-AUSTRALIA trekker Sophie Matterson is this year’s winner of the Australian Geographic Society Spirit of Adventure award. Sophie joined six other outstanding Australians at this year’s Australian Geographic Society Gala Awards on 28 October in Sydney to receive her gold medallion for her epic crossing of the continent with only her camels for company. It has been three years since the Society last held the event, and despite the limitations imposed by COVID, there were many worthy contenders for the seven awards across conservation and adventure. Turn to page 82 to discover the identity of our 2022 Adventurer of the Year, and keep reading to meet the rest of this year’s winners. They are a truly inspiring group of Aussie achievers of whom we can all feel proud. THE AUSTRALIAN…

Valued at $34.95, Australasian Nature Photography 2020 is a 120-page hardcover book featuring a collection of award-winning and shortlisted entries received in 2020 for the 17th annual competition. As a subscriber you automatically become a member of our charitable foundation, the Australian Geographic Society, which supports conservation, scientific and environmental research, community projects and Australian adventurers. CHOOSE YOUR OFFER OFFERS WITH THE GIFT $71.99 for 6 issues via annual automatic renewal (credit card or direct debit)  SAVE OVER $17 – 20% discount every 6 issues OR $139.99 for 12 issues  SAVE OVER $39 – 22% discount OFFERS WITHOUT THE GIFT $62.99 for 6 issues via annual automatic renewal (credit card or direct debit) SAVE OVER $26 – 30% discount every 6 issues OR $67.50 for 6 issues SAVE OVER $22…

WHEN THE GREATER glider was listed nationally as endangered in mid-2022 it joined 90 Australian mammals that were either already extinct or at high risk of extinction. For more than a decade there’d been strident calls for the species to be protected, yet logging of the forests where it lives continues. The glider’s listing means almost a third of the 320 land-based mammal species present at the time of European colonisation are now gone forever or are perilously close to disappearing. In two decades, the glider’s numbers in some regions had fallen by 80 per cent and it had gone regionally extinct in others, with destruction of its habitat a key factor. Extraordinarily, the koala – arguably the most recognisable symbol internationally of Australian wildlife – joined that same inauspicious…

THE ENCHANTINGLY RAW nature of the Southern Ocean has challenged sailors for generations. Subjected to unrelenting storms and filled by waves of liquid mountains, you sail through testing waters containing snow and ice, and latitudes with names like the roaring forties, furious fifties and screaming sixties. It’s a place where not many sailors have dared to journey, and scarcely any challenge these waters alone. It’s the ultimate endurance test for any sailor and there are few who have the strength and determination to succeed on these waters. And yet it’s a place that calls to my heart. I never really knew what that would mean for me. And I never understood the power of fear or the after-effects of a traumatic event until I was forced to survive one in…

ALASDAIR MCGREGOR might be based in Sydney, but he thrives on any chance to escape the city and venture into the wild. The writer, historian, artist and one-time architect has spent the last 17 years working as a field guide and lecturer on expedition cruises to Antarctica, the islands of the Southern Ocean, and Western Australia’s Kimberley coastline. He is one of Australia’s foremost writers on the history of Antarctica, having penned Antarctica: That Sweep of Savage Splendour, Mawson’s Huts: An Antarctic Expedition Journal and the landmark biography of the polar adventurer/photographer Frank Hurley. Since Alasdair’s first visit to Antarctica in 1983, he has spent summers at Cape Denison working on the conservation of the historic huts from Douglas Mawson’s 1911–14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition and undertaken mountaineering expeditions to Heard…

DENMARK is one of the main tourist towns on Western Australia’s magnificent south coast. It’s surrounded by landscapes that are richly diverse, ranging from a rugged coastline with pristine beaches to a forested hinterland. The town itself is characterised by tasteful, low-key development, making it an attractive alternative to more highly developed destinations on the west coast. Among Denmark’s major attractions is Greens Pool – arguably Australia’s most beautiful beach location. It’s on the eastern edge of William Bay National Park and features a natural rock swimming pool, boulders and white sand. Just as impressive is the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk, where visitors can walk above the forest canopy in the majestic Walpole Wilderness. The ancient landscape here is known for its beautiful bushwalks through impressive stands…

WHILE ON ASSIGNMENT for this issue (see page 60), Max Mason-Hubers broke his cardinal rule as a photographer – stay out of the story. After capturing the scientists hard at work, Max laid aside his camera to try his hand at the “geological roulette” of the fossil dig. “By lunchtime on the second day, the harsh midday light was making shooting difficult. I felt like I’d shot every conceivable angle of people splitting rocks and peering through hand lenses at fragments of rock,” Max says. “So I picked up a hammer and chisel, and grabbed a rock from the discard pile. ‘Does anyone mind if I have a go on this one?’ I asked the lead palaeontologist. He encouraged me and off I went. I quickly found myself addicted to…

Norfolk Island locals speak both English and a type of creole language known as Norfuk – a blend of 18th-century English with some Tahitian words and grammar. It results in some delightful Norfolk Island placenames that were originally designed as directions for finding a place. For example, “up sticks” means “up in the mountainous wooded area in the north”; “down a town” is the local name for Kingston; “round country” means the area around the airport; and, in the north of the island, you’ll find “out yenna”, meaning “out yonder”. According to Joshua Nash from the University of New England, “Specific descriptions of location and place in Norfolk were historically more practical for way-finding, [creating] its own colloquial system unique to this island.” It all makes our names for Sydney…

From 11 to 20 November, join citizen scientists across the country in Australia’s biggest frog count. By downloading the FrogID app and recording frog calls, you can provide scientists with a unique, time-stamped and georeferenced audio recording. The data collected through this annual frog count will help measure frog health and distribution across Australia, to assist us to better understand how frogs and their ecosystems are responding to change. For a companion guide, consult A Complete Guide To Frog’s of Australia, by Simon Clulow and Mike Swan.…

Tom Robinson Since leaving Peru on 2 July, the first leg of Tom Robinson’s expedition involved a cool and windy trip northward under the benign influence of the Humboldt Current and the south-east trade winds. Within a few hundred kilometres of the Galápagos Islands, Tom turned west to harness the South Equatorial Current. This change of direction was not without its challenges; Tom had to steer clear of the Jumbo Squid fishing fleet, comprising hundreds of ships that extend some 350km long and 170km wide. Tom continues to make good progress in his journey, despite the La Niñainduced strength of the trade winds that continually push him closer to the equator than he would like. He is now less than 1000km from his first stop at the Marquesas Islands. Discover…

PALAEONTOLOGIST DR MATTHEW MCCURRY apologises that the remote paddock in central New South Wales where we’re standing on this cloudless winter’s morning is so visually uninspiring. The site, which is accessed by a dirt road and protected by locked gates, looks surprisingly ordinary, despite having been the focus of recent worldwide attention. “It’s dry and it’s flat, with a few sporadic trees spread across a landscape that’s mostly parched grass with occasional thistles – a typical farmscape you’d expect in this part of NSW,” Matt says. Yet this particular nondescript location is being kept top secret, despite attracting international scientific attention and producing clues that may prove invaluable as Australia and the world grapple with unprecedented global warming. “Fifteen million years ago [mya], based on the fossils we’ve found here,…

DAY 1 Lisa left Albany, WA, on 21 February 2022, for her second attempt at circumnavigating Antarctica. On Day 6 she crossed onto the official track for her race against the record previously set by Russian sailor Fedor Konyukhov. Lisa took the lead from Fedor on Day 28 and never looked back. DAY 32 She sailed through Point Nemo – the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility. On the next day, Day 33, she experienced the first massive storm of her trip – a force 12 gale, with winds at 68 knots (125.9km/h) and a swell of more than 10m. Extreme storm conditions persisted for the next five days. ON DAY 45, in a gap between storms, Lisa safely sailed around Cape Horn. And on Day 51, after five days of sailing…

COMING SOON: • WA’s Margaret River region • VIC’s Great South West Walk • In praise of bogs • Accidental activists • Miles Franklin’s Brindabellas SUBSCRIBE TO AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC australiangeographic.com.au or call 1300 555 176 WHILE WAITING FOR YOUR NEXT ISSUE, GET YOUR DAILY HIT OF FASCINATING AG STORIES AND STUNNING PHOTOGRAPHY AT: australiangeographic.com.au…

• Before European settlement, the Albany and Denmark areas were inhabited by the Minang Noongar First Nations people. • The first European to explore the area was Dr Thomas Braidwood Wilson (right) in 1829. • In 1831 Captain Thomas Bannister observed it would take “great physical and moral courage” to farm the area. • In 1884 Edwin and Charles Millar started cutting timber, having taken out leases. • In 1895 the Millar brothers secured private leases for 20,000 acres (8094ha) of old-growth karri forest and built timber mills on the banks of the Denmark River. By 1905 local timber was exhausted. • By 1907 few families remained until the WA government bought the town from the Millars for £5000 after many negotiations. • By 1911 dairying was the major rural…