Aborigines

Celebrating Wattle Day

Today is the first day of spring in Australia, a day we celebrate nationally as Wattle Day. It is the time of the year when some wattles flower producing an abundance of yellow inflorescence. One of the 1,070 wattle species is our floral emblem – the golden wattle (Acacia pycantha).… Read more

An intriguing Australian animal

Australia is home to a fascinating diversity of unique animals and birds. One of the most intriguing is the emu.

My only real interest in the emu was when I played rugby for the Orange Emus in my younger years. It wasn’t until I travelled around the country that the emu became part of my consciousness.… Read more

Proof that species are declining in our reserves set up to protect them

The average voter has been fooled. Locking up trees in national parks is a con. Blaming their demise on “climate change” is a lie. Excluding people who love and care for the environment is a travesty.

Tom Marland

Introduction

As we celebrate World Endangered Species Day on 19 May, I thought it timely this month to look closely at how species are faring in Australia, particularly in reserves authorities have established to protect them.… Read more

The atomic age arrives in a cloud of dust at a sleepy coastal town

That lethal cloud rising above Montebello marks the achievement in science and industry in the development of atomic power. [For] good or evil, for peace or war, for progress or destruction. The answer doesn’t lie with Britain alone, but we may have a greater voice in this great decision if we have the strength to defend ourselves and to deter aggression.Read more

Grass rings of the outback and trees of the artificial wilderness

Fire has helped the flammable spinifex invade this vast land, and that spinifex has helped fire to dominate the landscape”. Peter Latz

So I’ll see you out on the mulga and spinifex plain; Anytime, Tjilpi, I’ll be coming back this way; See you out on the mulga and spinifex plain; Just light me a fire and I’ll soon be home again

“Mulga and spinifex plain”, Warumpi Band (Track 10 on Big Name, No Blankets)


As we have travelled through large arid and semi-arid areas of Australia, two vegetation communities have dominated the country – spinifex grasslands and mulga shrublands.… Read more

Should we cull crocodiles?

Crocodiles are ancient reptiles with their ancestors around before the age of the dinosaurs. What makes them so durable is they are perfectly adapted to their environment. The estuarine or saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is most likely encountered in tidal rivers and estuaries, billabongs, and floodplains. However, they can also be found in the open sea.… Read more

Are Australia’s deserts really deserts?

When I imagine a desert landscape, I conjure thoughts of endless sand dunes under a blue sky with a relentless sun beating down. And not much vegetation.

Travelling inland through some of the arid red centre for the first time in 2007, I was shocked at how different the reality was from my imaginings.… Read more

Fraser Island afire from stem to stern

Unconfirmed reports from seagoing fishing parties suggest that Fraser Island is again suffering considerably as a result of bushfires which some say are raging from the island’s “stem” to its “stern.” Maryborough Chronicle, Tuesday 5 February 1952

I have decided to bring this blog forward ahead of others I have already written for several reasons.… Read more

Woody weed invasion of the rangelands

As you travel north from Winton to Cloncurry along the Landsborough Highway, you see spectacular open Mitchell grass (Astrebla app) plains with their distinctive golden colour under the relentless sunshine. I had heard about these magnificent plains but had no idea how extensive and beautiful they really are.

 

Mitchell grass plains in north-west Queensland

After McKinlay, you start to see a change in the soil from the black-grey clays to the red mineralised earth soils.

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The marvels of Minerva National Park – a geological wonderland

On our way from the Cania Gorge up to Emerald in Central Queensland, we stopped for a few nights in a small settlement called Springsure, just north of Carnarvon Gorge National Park. The name of the town comes from a local property that was named for its reliable, permanent spring.

When I had to drive from Dalby to Emerald for work, I would go through Springsure, and I was impressed with the spectacular jagged peaks that provided a scenic backdrop to the small town.… Read more