Quentin Chester

There Goes the Neighbourhood

2010-05-18T15:06:00.002+09:30

Adelaide's very first mob of Grey-headed Flying Foxes - AKA Fruit Bats - have moved into the eastern suburbs. It started with an advance party of 50 or so. Two weeks later the 'camp' numbered more than a 1000. Stay tuned for the 'reaction' of local residents!

The Simpson Re-Loaded

2010-05-14T10:21:00.002+09:30

If you didn't catch up with the Australian Geographic story about last year's flood event in Simpson Desert, it's now available in online form here thanks to AG's new website.

More research into the bleedin' obvious . . .

2010-05-05T07:20:00.002+09:30

Amazing - who would have thought getting among trees and green things would be a good idea?

"There is growing evidence that combining activities such as walking or cycling with nature boosts well-being. In the latest analysis, UK researchers looked at evidence from 1,250 people in 10 studies and found fast improvements in mood and self-esteem." See the full news story here.

In Praise of Narrow Leaves

2010-04-10T11:47:00.002+09:30

They are the trees of Kangaroo Island, the Narrow-leaf Mallee - Eucalyptus cneorifolia. As ubiquitous as they may seem, less than 11% of their original cover remains on the island, often in thin wind breaks like these. For all their apparent mop-headed vigour, they and their understorey plants are at risk - often from senescence. See here for more info. The trees will be a feature in an exhibition by Janine Mackintosh and other KI artists at the National Wine Centre 27 July - 29 August.

VALE CHRIS BAXTER 1946 - 2010

2010-03-19T15:50:00.004+10:30

Australia's wild places lost a stout-hearted friend with the recent passing of Chris Baxter. A prolific rock climber and life-long bushwalker, Chris is best known for his work as co-founder of Wild and Rock magazines. But he was much more than a climbing legend turned self-made publisher. His passion for the bush whirled from deep within. He took nature seriously and was fearless in defending its freedoms. Yet for all his imposing presence Chris was also a steadfast and encouraging spirit. For nearly 30 years - and through thick and thin - he remained a loyal supporter of my writing. I owe him a lot and I'll miss the phone calls out of the blue - calls full of news, declarations, gossip, flights of rhetoric and that wonderful booming voice on the other end of the line.

Chris Baxter at Hanging Rock in 2006 - with the kind of sign that inflames the ire of free spirits everywhere.

HERE COMES THE COOPER

2010-03-16T06:39:00.002+10:30

Floodwaters passing Innamincka on March 10.

HANSON SANDS

2010-03-15T14:29:00.003+10:30

Every year the dunes of Hanson Bay on KI's south coast edge further across the boardwalk. Another little reminder of restless nature - not to mention Mother N's habit of eclipsing our efforts to protect it.

MY (NEW) ISLAND HOME

2010-02-07T09:50:00.005+10:30

Looking northwest to Cape St Albans, Kangaroo Island

Two months into a very different life perched on the eastern end of Kangaroo Island. Day by day we are drawn closer to what's happening around us. And not just the views across Backstairs Passage, or the sudden sightings of wildlife. What seems to be happening is like a sixth sense. How the different waves sound on either side of the Cape. The draw and heave of the tides. Varied scents and textures in the sea breezes. The messaging of the clouds. The shape of waves on Scraper Shoal. Patterns of movement by kangaroo mobs, galah flocks, finch families and goanna young. Day by day the rhythm of the place grows within.

for more about the new home see:
pinkbayblog.blogspot.com
www.seadragonlodge.com.au

ARKAROOLA & THE MYTH OF BALANCE

2009-11-18T09:50:00.013+10:30

In an attempt to dress up its decision to allow mining exploration to proceed in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary the SA Government has produced a glossy document 'Seeking a Balance.'

It makes for depressing reading.

Not only is the document afflicted with bureacratic waffle - "the need to further refine the existing management and regulatory framework for ongoing resource activities" - its core premise is also deeply flawed. The notion that there is some happy point of balance to be found between uranium mining and conservation within a Wilderness Sanctuary, reflects a profund misunderstanding of wilderness concepts and practise.

In the case of Arkaroola this mythical balance point is magically created by fragmenting the landscape into four different categories of 'access zones.' Of these there are more than 30 different zones marked on the map. The zones don't correspond to any natural or cultural divisions in the landscape. In truth they are simply a device to allow the discredited Marathon Resources to set up shop in the very heart of Arkaroola's spectacular highlands. By splodging some bright colours on a map to represent the various zones, the Government would have us believe they are simply trying to be 'balanced.'

This, of course, is rubbish. The reality is that the eventual mine site would be smack bang on the path of Arkaroola's acclaimed Ridgetop Tour. It would destroy the vistor experience and the integrity of the region as a declared wilderness sanctuary - a status it has enjoyed for more than 40 years. Wilderness, by it's very nature is an entity; something that can't be hacked into little pieces. To do so would be like saying 'here's the MCG - we'll just take away this back pocket and that forward flank and give you the rest."

Any argument that, because mining exploration has happened here deep in the past it should be allowed to continue, ignores the many changes of recent decades. Not just the changing attitudes to conservation. Or even the hard-won efforts of the Sprigg family - and others - to protect Arkaroola. But most of all the changing community involvement with this landscape, it's history and culture, the way it has been embraced as a region to explore and cherish.

Not that 'Seeking a Balance' gives much weight to the richness of the experiences enjoyed by thousands of overseas and Australian visitors. There's no mention of people as such or campers or bushwalkers or families. Instead, the document reduces the discussion to souless, dehumanising terminology like "landscape values."

Even on economic grounds, it can be argued that the long-term benefit of preserving Arkaroola as tourism destination, community employer, scientific resource and wilderness drawcard far outweigh any short-term gains from yet another mine. SA already has two uranium mines and many others soon to start - but there will only ever be one Arkaroola.

Now is the time to have your say. Public comment is required by 19 December and can be addressed to: jason.irving@sa.gov.au

And here's the plea from Marg & Doug Sprigg:

"We are appealing to all Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary friends and supporters to please examine this document very closely and to note that whilst some areas of the northern Flinders Ranges, in particular Mawson Plateau, are being afforded total protection, the majority of important Arkaroola sites are not.
We only have until 19 December 2009 by which to submit objections / suggestions to this proposal. This could be our last chance to save the Arkaroola Sanctuary from mining and we ask everyone to carefully consider the matter and to please make written submissions in accordance with page 18 of this report."

THE LANDS OF PLENTY

2009-11-14T06:26:00.006+10:30

Huge skies, endless space, rocks and granite ranges - the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands abound in many things. Among all the other reports we hear about this northwestern chunk of SA, it's worth noting the place is achingly beautiful, in that vivid, arid kind of way. One of the bumps on this horizon is Ngarutjara, the State's highest peak and just one crest on the mighty Musgrave Ranges.

ONE IN A MILLION

2009-11-06T06:48:00.009+10:30

Meet Sang, one of the 19 camels who were with me in the Simpson Desert in July. Unlike the other camels - who held their heads upright when 'hooshed' down - Sang would rest his head quietly on the ground at the end of each walking day. This made it especially easy for us to give him a rub down. He seemed appreciative of the attention, which, in turn, made him a favourite among our party.
Unfortunately at the end of this year's trekking season, (his 11th in the Simpson), a vet diagonosed an inoperable tumor that had spread across Sang's jaw. Sadly, he had to be put down a couple of weeks ago.
Even though it's nearly four months since I was in the Simpson, the memories of the trip and the the special experience of sharing the desert with the camels still stop me in my tracks. Like the needle-sharp burs I inadvertently collected in the soles of my Croc sandals - and that still jab me in the foot when I walk on gravel - some of of these flashbacks feel particularly pointed.
None more so than trying to reconcile the unforced communal feeling that presided between us and each of the camels, with the knowledge that- for sound ecological reasons - a million of their wild kind need to be 'culled' from Central Australia.
In this context it seems lopsided to single out Sang's passing as noteworthy. Yet, as we all have to discover, everything can change when we come to know and respect our fellow travellers.

(For more on the Simpson experience see my stories in the latest Australian Geographic [Issue 96] and next month's issue of Wild [Issue 115].)

THE WALTER BURLEY BIO

2009-11-01T12:36:00.003+10:30

For those who may not of caught up with the news, mild-mannered author Alasdair McGregor - seen here 'at large' in the Gammon Ranges - recently published his bio of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. Certainly worth a look for anyone interested in Canberra's troubled birth, political intrigues and a life-long creative partnership with few equals. To catch Alasdair and ye olde Phillip Adams yacking about "Grand Obsessions" visit here.

LOCO VINO

2009-08-26T12:59:00.005+09:30

Among the rewards of our Adelaide Hills are the tasty treats grown/made hereabouts. Crunchy apples. Gooey goaty cheese. Wunderbar wursty things. And some rather agreeable wines. As well as being eminently slurpable, these local brews allow one to purchase direct from the grower - and that's always a good thing. The canny grower/maker returns the favour with exceptional value wines. No one does this better than Mike Press. A former senior plonkie at the Mildara Blass Behemoth, Mike's been making wine for decades. For the past four years or so he's been turning a range of straight varietals from his own vines under his very own label - to the delight of hardened cheapskates and picky wine buffs in equal measure. His Cab Savvie and Shiraz are extraordinary for the price. Worth tracking down.

THE DESERT GREEN

2009-07-24T09:24:00.018+09:30

The biggest floods - in terms of extent and duration - since 1974 have wrought dramatic changes along the floodplain corridors of the eastern Simpson Desert. It was a rare privilege to witness the flush of new growth and animal life. The just completed Eyre Creek Ornithological Trek recorded 100 bird species in its 11 day camel odyssey. Organised by Australian Desert Expeditions, our party covered more than 150km, crossing high dunes to reach Eyre Creek and neighbouring billabongs. Walking the long floodplains carpeted with fragrant native cammomile and the shrubby forests of tall verbine more than 2m high was a ravishing experience for camels and humans alike - and another reminder of this mighty desert's mercurial powers.
Photos: (top) Cameleer extraordinaire Andrew Harper leading TC and the other camels on the Eyre Creek Ornithological Trek. (centre) The eastern-most of the floodplains graced by the 2009 flows. (below) Much-travelled Morgan treats the Simpson to another of his morning serenades.

EVERY CLOUD

2009-06-29T13:51:00.011+09:30

Wet trees. Mist-heavy cloud. Showers spattering into the gorges. So much water - so many reflections.
It's more than a decade since the Flinders Ranges had an average year of rainfall. And it's been especially bad in the north.
Now, after a few good falls in recent months, the country is rebounding. A week of walking in the Vulkathunha-Gammons Ranges NP revealed lots of handy waterholes and new growth everywhere. A reminder that boom and bust- a natural form of climate change - is a fact of life in arid parts.

A WINTERY WILD

2009-06-17T19:41:00.009+09:30

Perhaps it marks a new age of austerity. Or maybe just a sudden retro vibe. Anyway, for the first time ever Wild magazine features a black and white cover. In fact issue 113 features one of the better recent upfront pics - a shot that manages to capture that stirring, rueful 'what-am-I-doing-here' feeling you get in the back of beyond. Inside is equally provocative, with thoughtful pieces about the Victorian fires and other stories that go to the heart of being in distant - and often difficult - places. For my 'The Wild Life' column I've strayed into the delicate subject of the things we souvenir from nature.

THE OTHER ECHIDNA

2009-06-10T08:48:00.010+09:30

pic courtesy Auscape International

Spikey but gentle monotremes seem to be turning up everywhere just lately. I've seen them in various places on each of my past three trips to Kangaroo Island. A week ago there was a phone message from a friend who'd met one wandering along a track in his olive grove. The other day I also spotted another sauntering among the stringybarks across the valley from our place. Then this morning in the New York Times, of all places, there's the rather different looking character you see above. It's worth checking out the story - and KI's very own echidna emissary Peggy Rismiller even gets in a good word or two on their behalf.

KEZZA'S COASTAL RUN

2009-06-08T10:09:00.004+09:30

Having snapped up Balquhidder Station in 2007, it was always on the cards that billionaire businessman Kerry Stokes would top the bids for neighbouring Mt Scrub. As well as a few extra paddocks for his cattle to munch on, Kez is now the laird of an 11km stretch of beaches and headlands along the Fleurieu Peninsula's south coast. See the story here. Fingers crossed Kezza - one of Australia's most noted art buffs and philanthropists - will see fit to add these 'hidden' shores to the walking trail that honours the vision of painter extraordinaire, Sir Hans Heysen.

RITA HALL & THE HEART OF ART

2009-06-04T07:47:00.027+09:30

"Azure Kingfishers" Oil on Canvas 77 x 84cm, 2007

Anyone with an eye for nature, painterly wonders, things creatural and the life of art has no choice but to visit the exhibition Rita Hall Museum Studies 1969 - 2009 that's just opened at the SA Museum.
Retrospectives are always among the most fascinating of shows and this one is no exception. The range of work on display, the mastery in so many different mediums, and the lineaments of style and subject are all there enjoy.
Rita's great gift is to reveal the 'innerness' and 'otherness' of things that are everywhere around us - be they birds, stones or even blow flies. She doesn't do birds cutely perched or jaunty on the wing. Instead they are lifted into the orbit of art by graphic and compositional verve. At one level, the birds simply are what they are, rendered with fidelity to their characteristics and circumstance. In her most recent paintings they are humble bird 'skins' exhumed from drawers in the museum collection and presented singly and in groups.
At the same time however, the birds serve as meditative objects, poised in their anonymous pictorial space. Thus the paintings present formal arrangements but with many teasing twists. 'It's still-life Jim - but not as we know it.'
Tenderly realised, bright and beautiful - but somehow also shadowy and quirkily disturbing, these birds are always goading us with questions about mortality and the way we see things and 'collect' the world around us as we go. In their purity and sense of purpose the paintings carry echoes of the great Italian modernist Giorgio Morandi.
To be able to view Rita's works arrayed together - and with so many of their antecedents - is a rare thrill. The other moving aspect to the exhibition is the opportunity to bear witness to a lifetime of devoted work. Morandi said "Nothing is more abstract than reality." For more than 40 years Rita has been helping us celebrate this exquisite truth.

"White Browed Wood Swallow"  2006 Oil on Canvas 55 x 60cm

OLIVE HARVEST

2009-06-01T17:11:00.008+09:30

Five days picking olives under big skies in the late Autumn sun might just be the ultimate cure-all - especially if you happen to be in the southern Flinders Ranges. The Beetaloo Valley is a lost world kind of place, tucked away in the ranges above Laura and Crystal Brook. One of my most favourite places of all. Here the olive groves, orchards and farm paddocks are interspersed with bushland and scrub-lined creeks. It's part of an appealing - and productive - stretch of country along the eastern flanks of the ranges to Melrose. The olives and olive oils from this neck of the woods are very special. It's also worth checking out the Wirrabara Farmer's Market (third Sunday of the month).

KI CIRCUMAMBULATION

2009-05-22T13:43:00.003+09:30

Two brothers, one island and 500km of coastline. Well, it started as two brothers, but Jake Giles had to pull out because of illness. Follow the final stages here as brother Tom becomes the first person to complete a lap of KI on foot.

THE MELTDOWN'S UPSIDE

2009-05-20T11:15:00.006+09:30

No, not the stockmarket meltdown. We're talking the real thing. Glaciers and the like. Only in the land that brought you Sarah Palin would evidence of looming global eco-trauma become a story about new golf course opportunities. The New York Times has the story.

GREAT SOUTHERN - GONE SOUTH

2009-05-18T16:45:00.009+09:30

Now we know for sure: money doesn't grow on trees. As foreshadowed last week, the receivers moved in yesterday to try to sort out the mess that is Great Southern. The company's debt stands at $826 million. The environmental costs to us all are probably incalculable. And another 240,000 hectares of Blue Gum plantation ends up . . . going nowhere?

UPDATE: Here's a Kangaroo Island perspective. And then there's this prescient Stateline KI report from 2006. No doubt there will be a lot more fallout nation-wide. But, in the confined spaces of KI, the long-term loss of good farm country and the sorry tale of such schemes are starkly revealed.

THE CABIN NET

2009-05-14T12:22:00.008+09:30

The whole 'cabin in the woods' thing is very American, very ye olde frontier spirit. But if you're into the simple verities of solitude, nature and escape it can still be a compelling fantasy - wherever you live. All those timber interiors, the cosy wood fire and a big wild world just beyond the door . . .
Boston-based journalism teacher Lou Ureneck has an interesting blog running in the New York Times about a place in Stoneham, Maine he's building with the help of his brother. They've nearly got the roof on so you'll have to backtrack to see the progress.
On the subject of cabins, you might want to check out this one on Martha's Vineyard used by Livingston Taylor (brother of James).

MAYBE NOT SO GREAT AFTER ALL

2009-05-12T16:21:00.006+09:30

In WA they've got a Great Southern wine region. Here in SA there is a Great Southern Railway. And there's another mob called Great Southern who look after investment schemes in assorted corners of 'rural' Australia. The schemes include timber plantations that have gobbled up big chunks country everywhere from WA to NSW and the Tiwi Islands to Kangaroo Island. According to some observers the fate of some of these tax minimisation cum investment outfits doesn't look too flash. Businesses come and go. Nothing new there. But if these schemes fail, what happens to the trees in the ground? What about the productive land covered in Blue Gums busily sucking the water table dry? On what balance sheet do the losses to nature and the community appear?

HOLLOWMAN HOLLOWAY?

2009-04-29T11:53:00.012+09:30

For the latest non-news in the unconscionable treatment of Arkaroola and its natural wonders see here. That the SA Government and it's Minister for Mineral Resources should dither around for so long betrays a crippling failure of leadership, vision and basic logic.
Paul Holloway talks legal argy bargy when what's needed is a clear decision to protect one of the State's most significant environmental and tourism assets. Not just that but he also goes for a gold medal in duck shoving: "The challenge for Marathon Resources—in fact, for all explorers in this region—is to show how the mineral and energy resources can be extracted from this region in a manner that preserves the environmental and scenic values."
No, sorry Minister, the real challenge here is for the SA Government is to carry out its duty to defend a properly established and internationally acclaimed wilderness santuary. The idea that any mine could be put within Arkaroola's highlands without affecting their integrity is simply laughable. And besides, don't we in SA already have more than enough mines, alternative uranium deposits, geothermal projects etc, etc to be going on with?
For more on the whole fandango see Bill Doyle's site.

Doug & Marg Sprigg, operators of Arkaroola Sanctuary with a geological mosaic put together by their father and sanctuary founder, the late Reg Sprigg.

THE ART OF TREES

2009-04-21T10:35:00.012+09:30

Cliff-top Sugar Gums, Cape Torrens Wilderness Protection Area

Every visit to Kangaroo Island adds another twist to my sense of the place. Out west near Cape Torrens we were confronted by a gutsy coastline. Giant cliffs. A vastness of sea and sky. Waves bashing onto the rocks below. But all I wanted to look at were the trees. In most parts of the island the shoreline is wind-blasted and shrubby at best. Here, just metres from the cliff edge, there were stately gums and broad bushy sheoaks. By some quirk of topography these trees are sheltered from the worst of the winds from the south and west, though the prevailing breezes have nevertheless done some fine sculpting. (Above)
This alertness to things arboral was perhaps prompted a friend's win in the Penneshaw Easter Art Show. Michele Lane's painting of Pink Bay is as much a study of passing light as anything else. But the other star of the picture is the dense canopy of narrow-leafed mallee, a species that covers many parts of the island like plush rug. How rich and wondrous are the island's diverse native habitats. With every passing year these expanses of native veg grow in significance. Meanwhile the dreary local tassie blue gum plantations seem more and more problematic.

Evening light, Island Beach

IRRESISTIBLE FORCE MEETS IMMOVABLE OBJECT?

2009-04-02T15:13:00.005+10:30

FANCY A PLACE ON THE COAST?

2009-03-19T20:43:00.011+10:30

How about 660 hectares on the southern side of the Fleurieu Peninsula? There's some impressive creeks and scrub, your own stretch of the Heysen Trail, plus a couple of k's of coastline in the backyard. All this, just an hour and a bit's drive south of Adelaide. We're talking here about the western chunk of Mt Scrub, a grazing property that last changed hands in 1895. If you have a few mill' lying around, it could all be yours.

Parsons Beach, looking west towards Mt Scrub

THE McGREGORSPHERE

2009-03-10T20:01:00.038+10:30

Artist, writer, photographer, Antarctician, friend, comrade-in-authorship and all-round polymath Alasdair McGregor has just launched his own website. It gives a quick sample of his endeavours in many disciplines. Those who admire Alasdair's preternatural gifts as a painter will be especially interested to see a cross-section of major works on show. A computer screen doesn't really do justice to his big, radiant oil paintings - but it's great to have the opportunity to see so many of them again and reconnect with their scope and verve. Later in 2009 Penguin will be publishing Alasdair's next biographical opus: Grand Obsessions: The life and work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, as well as bringing out a paperback edition of his acclaimed earlier biography: Frank Hurley: A photographer's life.

Alasdair McGregor: Grass Trees Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia, oil and acrylic on canvas, 107 x 91cms

IS THERE NO ESCAPE?

2009-03-04T14:10:00.011+10:30

I would never admit it publicly, of course, but given my vocation there are times when going bush can begin to feel like work. So where does a fresh-air fiend go to frolic? In my case it's occasionally onto the water. And to be specific - given an aversion to getting wet - onto a boat on the water. Accordingly, four day's sailing on Boston Bay at Port Lincoln comes very close to being a holiday. It was race week in Lincoln, which meant my contribution was as moveable ballast. In between all the leaping about there were stints on the gunwale when I could enjoy the scenery.

The bay is a terrific place to sail - four times the size of Sydney Harbour - and though we never left its surrounds I was reminded of the times past when I'd sailed out of the bay to cruise the gulf beyond. On the longer beats to windward I had time to stare down into the deep green waters of the bay and dream innocent, carbon-neutral dreams about sailing to the distant islands.

However, even in sunny, far-flung Port Lincoln, there are reminders of the world we have created and the kind of thoughts that, for me at least, begin to feel like work. In our races we were often passed by large fishing boats ferrying pallet-loads of frozen pilchards to the tuna farms beyond the bay. A fellow crew member reckons that 5,000 tonnes of pilchards a week are used here fatten up the tuna ready for export. 5,000 tonnes every week. And I couldn't help thinking to myself that a downturn in the Japanese economy and a little less demand for our tuna might not be such a bad thing for the planet.

WHILE ADELAIDE BROILED . . .

2009-02-16T18:28:00.006+10:30

It just so happens that as my hometown recently endured day after day of 40 degree temperatures, photographer Warren Field and I slunk down to the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. The beaches and headlands were great, but the thing that I'll never forget is the afternoon arrival of the south-easterly ocean breeze. Some days it was a gentle but persistent waft of cool air weaving up the gullies. Other times it arrived with a big roll of moist cloud that unfurled through the scrub and snagged in the old ridgetop pine trees - much to the delight of the yellow-tailed black cockatoos. I doubt that the temperature ever got above the high 20's the whole week, and by nightfall, after the ocean had done its thing, I guess was maybe 17 or 18 degrees. Often we were out on a ridge when the southerly airs turned up and after a few days we started to look for the breezes riffling in across the surface of sea, and we waited as the coolness brushed over us, all salty and dank, and tinged with that hint of wet straw, and every time it felt like the best thing ever and for that moment there was nowhere else we'd rather be.

photo Warren Field

VALE JOHN UPDIKE

2009-02-15T15:51:00.005+10:30

Even though I profess no special acquaintence with the fiction of the recently late, and long-time great, American writer John Updike, I did enjoy his literary presence and his collections of reviews and essays like Hugging the Shore and Odd Jobs. I liked the idea of his durability as a writer and that famously precise prose style. Two essays - 'At War with My Skin' and 'Getting the Words Out' - from his memoirs Self-Consciousness are wonderful examples of his probing, confessional brilliance.

MARATHON FARCE

2009-02-12T12:13:00.008+10:30

You've got to wonder what kind of Kool-Aid they serve in the Marathon Resources lunch room. As if the cack-handed attempts to explore for uranium - and dump exploration waste - at Mt Gee were not bad enough, this mob are now trying to bumble their way back into Arkaroola on various pretexts, sending out assorted notices , press releases etc. The whole sorry saga is shaping as a text book case of how not to conduct yourself professionally with Governments, Ministers of the Crown, Government agencies, the mining industry, landholders, the media, conservation groups, shareholders and members of the public. For the full story visit Bill Doyle's extensive summary at UnknownSA or Mike Parnell's site.

New Wings Over Waitpinga

2009-02-11T21:01:00.012+10:30

Walking the Heysen Trail along the Waitpinga Cliffs -see new pic at top - a couple of weekends back, I was surprised to see a young sea eagle on the wing. (Unlike the adult bird shown above the fledgling is a mottled brown with white 'windows' on its wings) It turns out this fledgling is the first in six years to the only breeding pair of these endangered sea eagles on the mainland coast between Eyre Peninsula and Central Victoria. Hard to believe I spent so much of my youth wandering nearby - mostly about Kings Head and then rock climbing at Waitpinga - without having a clue what was really happening here. And there's a whole story about the efforts to protect this strip of coastal habitat and it's birdlife. For more info about the work to lend the eagles a hand you could send an email to seawings@waitpingacliffs.com

A CHANGE IS GONNA TO COME

2009-02-10T09:25:00.005+10:30

Last week, in the midst of Adelaide's record heatwave, I spent a day with a south coast farmer whose family have worked their patch of country for three or four generations. Over the years they've seen pretty much everything - droughts, floods, fires, the works. But after the experience of the past 5 years they are having to radically rethink how they look after the farm and how they keep water up to their stock. They will need - at considerable cost - to install a whole new regime to secure their water supply and keep the farm going.
One of the key points about climate change is not just the computer predications about gradual global warming by a degree here or there, or sea level rises over decade or three. The other dimension to climate change is that our seasons will turn ever more unpredictable. So even when farmers get a year of 'average rainfall', the rains come in a brief flurry, followed by several dry months which means there's no decent growing season for crops or pastures.
At the same time, this more erratic climate hits us with more frequent and severe events like floods and storms and sudden bursts of wild weather - including extreme temperatures and winds, akin to those that drove the current fires in Victoria.
Everyone suddenly wants answers to questions about natural catastrophes. People want to know how we can learn from what has happened. All the usual responses are there - who to blame, what went wrong, why did this happen and so on.
No one can say for certain that the severity of the weather that fuelled what happened in Victoria was due to man-made climate change - although some commentators are ready to beat that drum. Given the huge grief process that's unfolding - with all the natural numbness, anger, despair etc - trying to fit in a public argument about the role of climate change does seem premature.
That said, you have to wonder, at least in private.

THE BOOBOOK'S LOOK

2009-01-10T06:43:00.006+10:30

A week ago I was pulling up some weeds in our garden when I had a sensation that something was behind me - that I was being watched. I turned around and looked up into one of our apple trees to see a very plump owl, a Boobook and staring at me with the stern expression perfected by hawk owls. It is yet another instance of the way birds have inveigled their way into my life. As I've mentioned before ("Away with the Birds") I am not a bird watcher, but year by year I seem to be noticing birds more and more. They seem to be always there, catching me unawares, jolting me out of other tasks to wonder about their lives. Like the white-faced heron I glimpsed stabbing at gold fish in our pond by the back door. Or looking up from my lounge chair to see a red-browed finch flying into our patio wisteria with long threads of grass for a spot of nest weaving. Who needs TV when you've got such unbidden sights to behold and such stories to follow.

WANNA SEE SOME PHOTOS?

2008-12-19T06:04:00.006+10:30

It's a few days before Christmas and you've got nothing better to do than look through some Flinders Ranges pics - right? Well here's you chance - a motley selection of 147 shots of rocky lumps in the north. A little hard to see the point of a 'scenic survey', but at least you can try guessing which peak is what. The only catch is today is the last day!
Also, DEH is looking at rejigging the walks around Wilpena - see the draft plan here. So, if you have ever wondered how to write 96 pages of mumbo jumbo about changing a few walking tracks, this is for you. There's no panic on this one - you've got till the end of Feb to have your say.

AND NOW THE GOOD NEWS

2008-12-17T10:31:00.004+10:30

Two bits of good news - both long overdue - for Arkaroola in the far northern Flinders Ranges:

Firstly from their website: Great news! Since 14 November, a total of 100.8mm (about 4 inches or 400 points) of rain has fallen over Arkaroola. As at today (12 December), the Arkaroola Creek is still running 0.5 metre deep and young seedlings are coming up everywhere - Marg reports that if you concentrate, you can even see a slight tinge of green!

Secondly, it's reported the mining exploration waste dumped in Arkaroola by Marathon Roesources is now 'cleaned up' - see story. Now all that's required is for the government to put the kybosh on any further exploration or mining in the sanctuary.

ON THE COORONG

2008-12-09T11:03:00.017+10:30

Spending a day looking at the Coorong always gives food for thought. It was a year or so since I'd been there and in that time the news media has been running hot with stories about the 'fate of the Murray' and the 'plight of the Coorong and Lower Lakes.' And it's true, a lack of water coming down the river has put the screws on this place. But this problem has been brewing for decades. Just ask Dr David Paton at Adelaide Uni.
Anyway, if all you ever knew about the Coorong came from the media, you might imagine the place had gone to the dogs and the only thing left was toxic mud and rotting fish. But as I sat there looking across the lagoon to the peninsula, staring into the breeze coming straight off the Southern Ocean, I must say the sly - and sometimes odd - fascination of the place seemed as strong as ever.
One of the things I like about the Coorong is its unapproachable quality. Lots of people drive past and see it but you can't really get into it that easily - unless you go to the trouble of tackling the ocean beach in a 4WD or poking about the lagoon in a boat. Even then, the heart of the peninsula lies there pretty much untouched.
So what you’re left with is this horizon of scrub and dunes, the distant boom of the surf beach and a strip of dark, rippling lagoon that's empty of people most of the time. I like the fact that it gets to me, that it has this stillness and air of mystery that can't be dispelled simply by going to a lookout or taking a' scenic drive'.
It gets to other people too. A few weeks back ABC radio's David Bevan sounded bewildered when he asked Allan Holmes of the Department of Environment & Heritage why the place seemed so deserted. Nor did Allan have a terribly convincing explanation.
Now, suddenly, the region is part of an 'environmental crisis.' I think it’s a pity it took the lakes to start shrinking dramatically and for farmer’s livelihoods to be threatened before people started taking notice. It would be great if, as well as via the calculus of science and economic worth, we could value these places for their intrinsic quality, their mystery and the kind of beauty and poetry Colin Thiele gave us in Storm Boy. I guess my point is that, crisis notwithstanding, a lot of that poetry is still there and should be remembered. Then again, I run into the perennial problem for us self-confessed, tree-hugging wilderness aesthetes everywhere: what happens if too many of people start running around ‘valuing’ the place? Will not some of the mystery vanish, and those wordless questions the long, lonely Coorong seems to ask of us slip though our fingers like dry sand?

AUSSIE, AUSSIE, I SEE!

2008-11-26T12:34:00.012+10:30

As someone who lives on the semi-rural outskirts of a provincial town on the opposite side of the world I seem to pay a disproportionate amount of attention to what happens in The New Yorker. Among my private pleasures is trying to sort out the message - if any - behind the illustrations that adorn their cover every week. The issue I've just found in my letter box (November 24 - The Food Issue) shows what looks like shelves in a fruit and veg shop.

It's a bright, cheerful display but there seems to be a subtext. The trays on the middle shelf have labels from parts foreign and sunny. So this is either a wistful comment on the onset of winter in the US. Or a subtle reminder of the town's reliance on food grown in other parts of the world and therefore the 'food miles' issue.
Either way, given that the tray at the centre of the cover is branded "AUSSIE LAND" I boldly suggest this is the first time the word Aussie - or possibly anything Australian - has appeared on a New Yorker Cover.

THE POLAR BROTHER

2008-11-20T13:14:00.009+10:30

After a spell of downtime to have a bionic knee installed, my brother Jonathan has returned to the photographic fray. For a person of polar obsession and peripatetic instincts, living in suburban exile in Kansas City with a bung leg has been a steep ask. So it's heartening to report he's regained his liberty. And this time he's in northern Canada hot on the trail of polar bears. There were days not that long ago when the Earth's Poles and the creatures that lived there seemed unbelievably remote, as well as totally removed from what we humans could do to this world. Not any more.
By some strange correlation, as the ice melts, the world shrinks. And I'm not talking about the land that disappears under water. What I mean is, our fate is now ever more clearly linked to all sorts of phenomena, all over the world. So if a polar bear no longer has a floe to go with, then that's something for people on the other side of the globe to ponder too.
You can follow Jonathan's progress at a new blog: jonathanchester.blogspot.com

NATURE IS GOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN - UNIVERSITY TESTS PROVE IT

2008-11-12T09:16:00.007+10:30

Just in case you need to know why a walk in the bush makes your prefrontal coretex feel so spiffy here's the answer:

Attention Restoration Theory (ART) provides an analysis of the kinds of environments that lead to improvements in directed-attention abilities. Nature, which is filled with intriguing stimuli, modestly grabs attention in a bottom-up fashion, allowing top-down directed-attention abilities a chance to replenish. Unlike natural environments, urban environments are filled with stimulation that captures attention dramatically and additionally requires directed attention (e.g., to avoid being hit by a car), making them less restorative.We present two experiments that show that walking in nature or viewing pictures of nature can improve directed-attention abilities as measured with a backwards digit-span task and the Attention Network Task, thus validating Attention Restoration Theory. (For more info go here.)

In other words our animal brains need the gentle prodding we get mooching about in the shrubbery. Though you have to wonder what happens to this soothing restoration process if you step on a snake.

ARKABA UP FOR GRABS

2008-11-02T20:51:00.006+10:30

Back in September the Wilpena Resort changed hands after 50 years in the Rasheed family. Now the famed Arkaba Station just south of Wilpena Pound is going under the hammer on November 14. Another branch of the Rasheed family - Dean and Lizzie - have been at Arkaba for 24 years. They undertook a major program to rehabilitate the property and its buildings. In recent years they have played host to visitors staying at their homestead and B&B accommodation. When I visited them last year Dean & Lizzie were generous with their time and clearly very attached to this country. And with good reason. Arkaba has always been one of the most atmospheric and significant properties in the Flinders. The towering Elder Range looms overhead but there is real beauty - and diversity - across all its habitats, including the glorious rolling hills that merge into the Moralana Valley.

THOREAU'S LATEST LEGACY

2008-10-29T20:30:00.007+10:30

Almost every week somebody seems to mention an intuition about changes in seasonal patterns. (In my part of the world it's usually about rainfall - or the lack of it.) Occasionally people even have stories of plants and animals that appear affected by climate change. As well as this anecdotal stuff there is, of course, some serious science now being employed to micro-monitor the impacts in ecosystems. But for a very different take on the climate question check out this wonderful - if somewhat disturbing - story in the New York Times. That original tree-changer old Henry Thoreau is often lauded for his philosophical postures and contemplative prose. But as this tale reveals, his ideas were cantilevered off a lavishly detailed knowledge of the natural world.

BARACK TO THE FUTURE

2008-10-29T14:23:00.011+10:30

GETTY PHOTO

Barack Obama spent today campaigning in the rain in Pennsylvania - in a town called Chester. Every time I see this man of the law standing tall, or hear him speak in that deep, steady voice, I can't help but think of Atticus Finch.

GETTIN' DOWN & DIRTY

2008-10-22T15:27:00.021+10:30

For 15 years James Woodford has dashed around the country penning stories as the environment scribe for the Sydney Morning Herald. Some of these features, including the ripping yarn of discovering the Wollemi Pine, have blossomed into books. Along the way James has also been busy handcrafting another story -the tale that is his life. Not content to simply report on issues that tether us to the fate of the natural world, he wanted to enact the kind of altered relationship with the environment that was the ultimate corollary of many of his newspaper articles.

The result is Real Dirt, a book that is part memoir and part sit-com, with a dash of self-help and a little DIY confessional thown in for good measure. As an opening fracas with a dinghy suggests, it's not all plain sailing. In fact it takes nearly a 100 pages for James to steer his life into the relatively serene waters of the family circumstance and 120 acres of south coast NSW that he now calls home. He writes with candour about his early relationships, and the multiple pressures of keeping up with work while learning about fatherhood and all the practical stuff of creating an ecological life. As James reveals, even seemingly straightforward tasks like installing a rainwater tank, can be fraught with perils.

Yet, for all the avid discussion of solar panels and worm farms, what appears to matter most is a deepening intimacy with nature. The sheer drive to make things happen, to carve out a different future based on a respectful pact with his environs is impressive. And as the story arc of the book suggests, this drive has many sources but the strongest is an elemental joy that James and partner Prue share in their surroundings: the forest, the returning vigour of the bush and the ever-changing waters of their lake.

Parts of Real Dirt reminded me of John Blay's wonderful Part of the Scenery, another wise account of hard-won connections with a natural life on the NSW south-coast. In these strange times it does no harm to be reminded by such books that what really counts are not more government bailouts or Hollowmen-style initiatives, but people getting their hands dirty to change their lives for a better world.

DOGGONE IT!

2008-10-18T12:45:00.006+10:30

The other day I tuned into the last debate for the US presidential elections. Sitting there in my lounge room watching the TV, I couldn't help noticing that one candidate was tall, dark and unflappable, while the other was small, devious and scrappy. Then I happened to turn and look out the lounge room doors to see our two dogs looking in and, well, take a look for yourself:

Bark Obama & John McPain?

BACK IN THE BATHTUB

2008-10-14T17:47:00.011+10:30

A couple of days soaking up the sights in Bathtub Gorge prompted the following idyll thoughts:

Despite 30 years of waddling around the Flinders Ranges, the place continues to surprise and amaze.
Even though we walked this gorge back in 1986 (I think) I don't remember much about that trip. (Which, I guess, might help to explain why the place continues to surprise.)
As time goes by the significance of the geology here looms larger and larger - and it's all powerful when you're wedged in the gorge. (This, in turn, might explain why the amazement element is alive and well.)
The Heysen Range is one of the most underrated walking areas in the Flinders. The Heysen Trail shoots north up Aroona Valley but the peaks and gorges it glides past offer some remarkable detours. And, as always, it's a jolt to be reminded that so much of the best of the Flinders - like Bathtub and the country to the north - is outside the national parks.
The effects of 10 years of below average rainfall are very evident. Though the Heysens always get a bit of winter moisture, Bathtub did not seem to have had a major flow for some time. As with the gorges we visited near Moolooloo last year, it could do with a big storm to scour and clean up the pools.
Even though it was school holidays, we saw no other walkers. There were however several car-based campers in the Aroona campground. In the carpark at the end of the walk we did meet a few daytrippers who asked quizzical questions. Bushwalking, it seems, is still a bit of a novelty.

YET ANOTHER ROCK-SOLID REASON TO PROTECT ARKAROOLA

2008-09-22T11:28:00.014+09:30

Ever since my first Arkaroola bushwalk in 1976 the place has always seemed special, different and just a little bit, well, strange. The rocks and terrain were like nothing else in the Flinders. As the years have passed, this intuition seems to be borne out by all sorts of scientific news.

The latest bulletin is coming up this Thursday at Melbourne Uni’s Selwyn Symposium, when scientists will reveal the discovery of an ancient underwater reef high and dry near Arkaroola. Dating back 650 million years, this priceless relic contains new evidence of lifeforms that were bopping about in the oceans during the climatic bunfight known as the Neoproterozoic.

And this in the same week that Greens MP Mark Parnell and other parties, including perhaps the Libs, move once again to ban uranium exploration and mining in Arkaroola.
Here’s hoping the powers that be finally recognise Arkaroola is much too valuable as a scientific treasure and tourism icon to turn it into another hole in the ground. We've got plenty of mines in SA and more on the way. But there's only one Flinders Ranges - and there's nothing else on earth quite like Arkaroola.

(UPDATE 29 September: The Melbourne Uni team's reef discovery has created a wave of publicity for the area, with coverage from local media to the international press. What really seems to get the headline writers revved is the notion of the start date for animal evolution being pushed back by 80 million years.
This is even more astonishing, given that Arkaroola's tourism pioneer Reg Sprigg was the last person to redefine this frontier in a big way with his work on the Ediacaran fossils.
Arkaroola has been known for its geological wonders for a long time and while it is true that some mining and exploration has happened here in the past, the idea of a large-scale mine being thrust into the heart of this significant landscape is unthinkable. Any government that went down this path would create a national and international scandal.)

WILPENA'S REGIME CHANGE

2008-09-07T21:15:00.021+09:30

The Wilpena Pound Resort has new owners. "Anthology" a new outfit headed by Grant Hunt, the former boss of travel-industry giant Voyages, has taken over the legendary Flinders Ranges resort from the well-known Rasheed family. Backed by Gresham Private Equity, Anthology has also recently purchased the Bay of Fires and Cradle Mountain Huts Walks in Tassie. "We began Anthology with the dream of creating one of the world’s finest experiential travel brands," says Hunt. "We have a strong belief in nature and most of our assets will tend to be nature based, but not exclusively. We believe very much in conservation and the protection of the environment... and particularly the notion of using the very best of local produce, local art and local people.” As it happens Grant Hunt is also on the board of Tourism Australia which recently - and quite rightly - included the Flinders in their National Landscapes program.

While Wilpena's new owners are promising to revamp the existing facilities in time for Easter 2009 it will be interesting to see what new directions the resort might take longer term - especially if it offers the kind of guided walking and accomodation experience that has been so successful in Tasmania.

'YE OLDE UNTOUCHED WILDERNESS'

2008-08-27T10:28:00.012+09:30

Yes, it's semantics, but the fuzzy notion that wilderness is a place beyond human influence has surfaced once more:

"A STUDY has identified 40 per cent of Australia - 3 million square kilometres - as the largest intact wilderness on Earth, ranking in quality with the Amazon forest, Antarctica and the Sahara desert. "Few Australians realise the extent and quality of their own wilderness," said Barry Traill, a wildlife ecologist who co-authored the study identifying 12 regions of Australia that "remain almost completely untouched by humans". "As the world's last great wilderness areas disappear under pressure from human impact, to have a continent with this much remaining wilderness intact is unusual and globally significant," Dr Traill said.

Nothing against the good Dr Baz, but, given the very point of this story was to promote the idea of 5,000 indigenous rangers being employed to look after the country, his choice of words is unfortunate. The truth is that Australia's 'wilderness' has been altered, cherished and cared for by indigenous people for 60,000+ years. To talk about a land "untouched by humans' has echoes of the the dodgy 'Terra Nullius' argument. Nevertheless, Dr Traill is on the right track with his general point - that we have big chunks of country where nature prevails and that we should get stuck into lending nature a hand.

While on the always-prickly subject of defining wilderness, the often-prickly British author Jonathan Raban, now self-exiled in Seattle, appealed to my inner-outlaw with this comment in a recent Granta interview:

It always seems to me odd to call a place a wilderness when every wilderness area in the US bristles with rules and regulations as to how you can behave, what you’re allowed to do, and is patrolled by armed rangers enforcing the small print. They’re parks, of course, not wildernesses at all. A wilderness that’s truly wild is beyond human rule . . .

KIMBERLEY CONSERVED

2008-08-19T18:47:00.015+09:30

The natural assets of our deep north have been boosted by the purchase of Marion Downs Station by Perth-based Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). (See story) Together with neighbouring Mornington Station - which AWC snapped up in 2001 - this means a hefty 6,700 sq km of the central Kimberly is now under their umbrella - an area nearly three times the size of the ACT. This is easily the biggest conservation news in the region for many years. It also puts the spotlight on the remote heartland of the Kimberley plateau, an area under-represented in the regions's potpourri of parks and reserves. Rising costs - particularly fuel prices - have made many Kimberley cattle properties marginal operations. Yet it seems those who have called for World Heritage listing and a National Park of Kakadu-proportions in the region will have to be content with the intervention of private outfits like AWC. As discussed in a previous story, the era of new National Parks on a grand scale appears to be over.

COULD ARKAROOLA BE MINED, ALL MINED ?

2008-08-14T12:03:00.033+09:30

What happens when a company dumps 22,800 bags of mining waste in a Wilderness Sanctuary? Hefty fines? Criminal proceedings? A ban on further operations?

How about none of the above.
That's the scenario with mining company Marathon Resources and the mess it created drilling into Mt Gee in Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. After several months of ballyhoo, the SA government has asked for the waste to be cleaned up and . . . well, actually, that's all they've asked. To catch up with the saga see Bill Doyle's blog and Greens MP, Mike Parnell's site.

The Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary - including Mawson Plateau - is some of Australia's greatest arid high country. The place is a geological wonderland and a biodiversity stronghold. Even allowing commercial mineral exploration in the heart of these ranges is bizarre enough. But to contemplate full-scale mining here would be a crime against nature - and commonsense. Even Liberal Party hardnut Nick Minchin agrees with that - see story and this one.

(The top pic above shows Arkaroola, looking southwest across Mt Painter; the shot above looks due west towards Freeling Heights.)

2008-08-04T07:56:00.009+09:30

KANGAROO ISLAND (JULY 2008)

Another sortie to what is fast becoming a second home. (The 'becoming' would go even faster if the ferry fares weren't so steep. ) From Island Beach we made pilgrimages to the south coast and Cape Willoughby (see pic of the nearby 'zawn' with its fetching granite cliffs).

As always KI impressed, and not for any single highlight, but the way the experience builds as you gad about the island. Winter here is very special, although the impact of the big January bushfires was plain to see in Flinders Chase where the mallee scrub is only now beginning to reshoot. Squeezed in a quick look at the snappy new Southern Ocean Lodge at Hanson Bay. The place was empty when we arrived, which rather highlighted the scale of the lodge's 'great room.' It's a striking piece of architecture with views along the bay's craggy shoreline. This is a resort with a difference: remote, wind-lashed, highly styled and ultra-exclusive. It takes a while to get your head around what's going on here and it prompted a loud discussion later that night on the merits or otherwise of such places. Suffice to say, I feel a story coming on.

This trip also served as a kind of a family reunion with my brother Jonathan and his crew on a visit from their home in Kansas City. Despite a recent knee replacement he was busy taking pics on our days out and about - though alas our schedule didn't allow for any penguin spotting. Jonathan's recent book Flipping Brilliant does however showcase his beloved birds and their jaunty life wisdom.

2008-08-04T07:53:00.004+09:30

THE FLINDERS IN 3D (June 2008)
A somewhat surreal experience being wedged in a tiny theatre watching Tim Baier's images of Arkaroola in the northern Flinders Ranges. All those bright horizons and vast spaces appearing in a darkened room. Adding to the strangeness was the fact that we the audience were wearing 3D glasses to savour the effect of Tim's dual camera work. As a result the images had a richness of detail and perspective that was startling and a bit unnerving as well. There were some stunning effects with rock textures and wildlife as well as the landscape shots. At times the grander images with a big depth of field made the scenery seem eerily diminished, like something out of toytown or a episode of Gumby. Still, it's early days and there's no denying the incredible solo effort he has put in. For me the story behind the making of the images was almost as fascinating as the pics themselves - another example of how wild country can fire up individuals to do inspired work.

Speaking of Arkaroola, in the first week or so June they had 39mm of rain, the first decent falls for some time. That's some welcome news for the good folk at Arkaroola who have been grappling with the proposed mine at Mt Gee

2008-08-04T07:45:00.003+09:30

WENTWORTH FALLS NSW (May 2008)

But for a last minute change of heart 20 years ago, home for us would have been in the Blue Mountains - a bush block at Mt Victoria no less. So there was a bit of emotional freight associated with returning - albeit briefly - to the mountains after a long absence. Old friend David Wagland and family did make Mt Vic - and more recently Wentworth Falls - their home and we paid them a visit. A stroll down to the falls revealed the imposing drama of the cliffs and the valley views beyond. Not hard to fathom what drew us to this neck of the woods so many years ago. Even though we ended up living on the Hawkesbury, all the salient details of the sandstone country still surrounded us. Forget the opera house - for me Sydney as a region is defined by those gritty outcrops of grey and orange rock, angophoras and the sandy creeks crowded with banksia scrub.

2008-08-04T07:42:00.007+09:30

DEEP BREATH (May 2008)

Just a few days after finishing a water-related story in which I allude to Tim Winton, up bobs his new surfing novel Breath. For years now Tim has been saving me a lot of strain by punching out the novels I could/should have written, if only I had the talent, dedication, a flowing pony tail and, in this case, the nerve to plunge into wild surf. (As it happens the story I was working on sketches my aversion to thrashing about in cold water.) Anyhow - Breath ripples with Tim's trademark mix of poetic gristle and matey vernacular. By the by, it seems to me there's a doctoral thesis up for grabs for someone who wants to divine acquatic themes in Aus Lit. As well as Tim's extensive coastal ouvre there's Richard Flanagan's, Death of a River Guide, Robert Drewe's The Drowner, Roger MacDonald's Water Man and doubtless many more.

2008-08-04T07:11:00.009+09:30

STERN WORDS (April 2008)

It's taken me several decades to get around to doing the walk up Dutchman's Stern just outside Quorn. No sane reason for this delay - apart from a bias for the northern Flinders. Anyway, the walk was excellent. Yes, it's another grunt to a summit but the way the walk unfolds, the varied vegetation and the sense of disclosure the track offers adds up to rewarding encounter. Even though you're close to civilisation - the townships of Quorn and Port Augusta - the place feels remote. This contrasts with Mt Remarkable where the views are dominated by the surrounding farmland. We spent a night up top with a full moon and mild easterly breezes. (This experience triggered an article for Wild - out mid September.) The toddle down off the summit the next morning was a glorious traverse of the sugar gum forest in the amphitheatre of Stony Creek.

2008-08-03T16:38:00.013+09:30

PINK BAY (March 2008)

Over Easter we dropped into Sea Dragon Lodge at Pink Bay (above) near Cape Willoughby on Kangaroo Island. This is a tiny cove on the north east coast of the island with fine views across to the mainland and timbered ravines of Deep Creek. The Lodge is perched above the bay not far from the lighthouse precinct. Steve & Gail Lane bought the place last year and have plans to extend the lodge. It's currently being rented out with the option of having tours and meals included. Apart from the bay and its rocky shoreline, the property also has a big patch of coastal scrub and a health array of woodland birds and other wildlife.

2008-08-03T15:51:00.004+09:30

UNDER THE VOLCANO (February 2008)

Two weeks on the go in northern NSW - mostly deep in the forest hinterland between Byron Bay and Tweed Heeds - was a quite a change from my usual arid haunts. And especially on back of three bumper months of rain in the region. These forests are simply wondrous to behold and it was inspiring to meet so many people who have made these places their home and a lifelong committment. (see more about this in my story Early Warning in the July issue of Aus Geo). The fact that there is such a strong bush ethos being forged right on the doorstep of the rampant Gold Coast is one of those confounding ironies that Australia seems to specialise in. Thankfully I could retreat to the forest to ease my addled mind. One of those escapes is the basis of Immersion Therapy, the latest installment of my Wild Life column , in Wild.