July - August 2020

Australian Geographic

The journal of the Australian Geographic Society

Australian Geographic2 min read
Old And New Horizons
I USED TO HAVE a tattered old copy of AG’s Adventurers and Dreamers map of Australia pinned to my office wall marked up with coloured dots for all the places we’d published stories about. The island of Tasmania was entirely obscured by sticky dots, a
Australian Geographic1 min read
AG Subscriber Benefits
IF YOU ARE a subscriber to AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC you are automatically a member and supporter of the Australian Geographic Society. A portion of each subscription goes towards supporting scientific and environmental research, conservation, community
Australian Geographic2 min read
A Passion For Snow
Jonica Newby has been infatuated with Australia’s snow country for years, but when she was introduced to ski touring 10 years ago and was finally able to access its wild white back country, she fell totally in love. “I wanted to share and celebrate t
Australian Geographic1 min read
Australian Geographic
MANAGING DIRECTOR Jo Runciman EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Chrissie Goldrick CREATIVE DIRECTOR Mike Ellott SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT EDITOR Karen McGhee ASSISTANT EDITOR Jess Teideman SUB-EDITORS Elizabeth Ginis, Rebecca Cotton DIRECTOROF CARTOGRAPHY Will Pringle P
Australian Geographic2 min readNature
Featured Letter
BIRDWATCHERS VS. TWITCHERS I’d never heard the word twitcher before (Snapshot, AG 156). But when I looked it up I found a reader letter in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, from Julie Fairless of Wooburn Moor in the UK, asking, “Why are bird watchers call
Australian Geographic4 min read
Your Say
A line from your last Snapshot article (AG 156) reminded me of being a boy in Sydney in the 1950s. At school we were all encouraged to become members of the NSW Gould League of Bird Lovers, have respect for all bird species and wear our badge with pr
Australian Geographic1 min read
Talkb@ack
In May, we brought you the good news that glossy black-cockatoo chicks had begun hatching among the burnt landscapes of Kangaroo Island. Here’s what you had to say: That is fantastic news, new life aft er all the devastation. Great work by Mother Nat
Australian Geographic2 min readAstronomy & Space Sciences
Staring Into Space
THIRTY YEARS AGO the Hubble Space Telescope was launched, on 24 April 1990, into space aboard the space shuttle Discovery from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. It was deployed into orbit a day later by the shuttle’s five-person crew, open
Australian Geographic6 min read
Mertz And Ninnis
PROUD OF HIS EFFORTS, Royal Fusiliers Lieutenant Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis grabbed a nail and hammer and made his personal mark on newly cut timber–nail point by nail point. Recently landed in January 1912 on an unexplored coastline, Ninnis and 1
Australian Geographic1 min read
An Ill-fated Route
THE ABOVE MAP shows the tragic fatal journey and the two glaciers that were later named for Mertz and Ninnis. A new memorial to the ill-fated pair of young explorers will soon be unveiled in Mawson Place on Hobart’s waterfront, opposite the Mawson’s
Australian Geographic3 min read
BIRD NERD with Peter Rowland
I’VE BEEN ON many pelagic birding trips and no two have been the same. They are a unique experience you must try…more than once. Serious pelagic trips can last days. But most leave early in the morning, head for deep water off the continental shelf a
Australian Geographic1 min read
Gwalia, Wa
THE SETTLEMENT OF Gwalia grew in the late 1890s after the discovery of gold in the area. Underground mining began in 1897 at the Sons of Gwalia mine, which became one of Australia’s biggest goldmines before it shut down in 1963 and much of the local
Australian Geographic3 min read
Places Of Interest
A gracious hotel built by the WA government in 1903 for £6000, this building on the corner of Kane and Station streets has pressed-metal ceilings and some particularly beautiful internal joinery on the staircase and around the bars. In 1919 it was th
Australian Geographic3 min read
Trans-australian Railway
IN 1912 WORK BEGAN on a new railway line between Port Augusta in South Australia and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Stretching across 1693km of Australia’s driest and most isolated terrain, the Trans-Australian Railway was completed on 17 October 1
Australian Geographic2 min read
Sea Monster Mysteries
ANCIENT TALES abound of mythical, giant serpentine, horse-headed beasts terrifying sailors in the Atlantic Ocean. But did you know Australia’s coastline is home to perhaps the most diverse hodgepodge of ‘sea monsters’ on Earth? One of the first recor
Australian Geographic1 min read
Nancy-bird Walton Sponsorship
It’s about a month and a half into my 5000km camel journey, coast to coast across Australia (see Your Society, AG 156) and I’m skirting around Lake Austin near the small town of Cue, Western Australia. Already it seems like an age ago when we left th
Australian Geographic2 min readAstronomy & Space Sciences
The Planet That Never Was
HAVING BEEN in orbit for 30 years now, the Hubble Space Telescope is much lauded for its extraordinary record in probing the Universe from above Earth’s atmosphere. Everything, from nearby planets to the most distant galaxies, has come under the scru
Australian Geographic1 min readAstronomy & Space Sciences
Looking Up
with Glenn Dawes The two gas giant planets of our Solar System are now rising in the early evening and visible during the whole night. Jupiter can’t be missed. Look east and its beacon is just under the teapot of Sagittarius. Saturn, a few degrees be
Australian Geographic2 min readMedical
Quarantine Station Point Nepean, Vic
FOLLOWING A TRAGIC beginning, the quarantine station at Point Nepean, in Victoria, played a critical role protecting Australia from infectious diseases for more than 120 years. The 1850s heralded a surge in emigration to Australia. The gold rush, and
Australian Geographic2 min read
Wiggling Bat Ears
BATS CAN NAVIGATE by listening for echoes. But they’ve evolved a subtle improvement on the basic concept, and it’s one we’ll almost certainly want to employ in the future. Generally, bigger bat species eat fruit and don’t find food using sound, while
Australian Geographic1 min read
Why Banjo?
OUR NATIONAL POET is known to us all as Banjo Paterson. But why ‘Banjo’? Born Andrew Barton Paterson in 1864, his father’s name was also Andrew so he was known by his middle name–Barty. After growing up in the bush he became a solicitor in Sydney, a
Australian Geographic2 min read
On (very) Thin Ice
WITH AUSTRALIA’S shortfall of snow and ice, it’s not surprising ice-skating was virtually unheard of here until the 1890s. Those originally from colder climates would nostalgically lament their youthful rosy-nosed, frozen-toed days of gliding across
Australian Geographic3 min read
Nature Loves A Lockdown
IN APRIL, CCTV cameras caught a kangaroo bounding down King William Street in Adelaide. “Protective Security Officers tracked a suspect wearing a grey fur coat hopping through the heart of the Adelaide CBD this morning,” South Australian police quipp
Australian Geographic2 min read
Talking Australia
Famed for re-creating two epic journeys from the Heroic Era of Antarctic exploration by stripping himself of all modern equipment and using what explorers in the early 1900s used, Tim Jarvis now focuses on conservation. Marine biologist, adventurer,
Australian Geographic1 min read
Wild Australia Diary Entries
Find kangaroos on Pebbly Beach The NSW south coast was struck hard by last summer’s bushfires. But the kangaroos at Pebbly Beach (pictured above) in Murramarang National Park have endured. This is one of very few places where kangaroos can routinely
Australian Geographic2 min read
The Frank Hurley Photography Awards 2020
A MAJOR NEW international photo competition, launching on 1 July 2020, has been named in honour of Australia’s renowned Antarctic photographer Frank Hurley. Australian Geographic is thrilled to be the media partner of this new competition. From the b
Australian Geographic2 min read
Your Society
IN RESPONSE to the huge impact bushfires had on wildlife early this year, the volunteer organisation Boomerang Bags Phillip Island and San Remo (BBPISR) hosted a two-day sewing bee in January to make animal wraps and substitute pouches for carers who
Australian Geographic1 min read
Your Subscription Is Essential To The Australian Geographic Society
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 Austral
Australian Geographic1 min read
Ag Society Fundraiser
Mountain pygmy possums that survived last summer’s bushfires in Kosciuszko National Park now face a dire food shortage. These critically endangered marsupials need to fatten up on insects and fruit during summer in preparation for their winter hibern
Australian Geographic7 min readMedical
Sign Of The Times
IN THE CHAOS AND despair of the most recent notable chapter in Australian history–the bushfire disaster followed so closely by the COVID-19 pandemic–many of us have found comfort from an unexpected source. At government press conferences and during e
Australian Geographic1 min readMedical
Signing Through Time
Early history Informal sign languages evolved among deaf communities worldwide. Elizabeth Steel, the first known European deaf person in Australia, arrived as a convict on the Second Fleet. Samuel Watson, superintendent of the NSW Institution for the
Australian Geographic5 min read
Hidden Realms
CRUISING IN SCUBA GEAR 20m beneath the ocean’s surface, examining clump after clump of fist-sized ‘reef bursts’, as I call them, is a meditative pursuit. These tiny patches of habitat on coral reef walls, on the outermost seaward slopes of reefs, inc
Australian Geographic5 min read
Solving A Moth Mystery
IT’S A PUZZLE that’s mystified scientists for decades. Just how does the bogong moth navigate each spring from the hot and arid plains of southern Queensland, north-western New South Wales, western Victoria and South Australia to the cool environment
Australian Geographic9 min read
Winter Wonder Land
WE WAKE TO A fantasy land. In the pink hues of the early morning, snow gums glisten, frosted in snow; sunlight refracts off crystal-encrusted leaves; and kangaroos puff steamy breaths into the cold air. In the distance, blanketed in white, Australia’
Australian Geographic2 min read
On Patrol
AT 94 YEARS YOUNG, Tommy Tomasi still skis–better than he walks, he says. Tommy grew up on skis. During World War II, he joined the partisans who used skis to wage underground war near his home town of Bergamo, in northern Italy. He was captured and
Australian Geographic1 min readEarth Sciences
Australia’s Alpine Region
Spencers Creek season maximum snow depth trend. ALPINE REGIONS are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Although they constitute only 0.15 per cent of the Australian continent, they are home to many rare, endemic and snow-dependent species. Sno
Australian Geographic1 min read
Places Of Interest
Set on the Thredbo River, this charming historic village is the quintessential Aussie ski town. In summer it’s a base for High Country walks and mountain biking, and in winter for downhill snowsports, back country touring, snowshoeing or just a walk
Australian Geographic2 min read
First People Of The Snow
THE WORD KU MEANS snow in the Ngarigu language. Adding na makes it an adjective (i.e. kuna means snowy). The word ma means make, and the term namadji means mountain. So Kunama Namadji, the Ngarigu term for the Snowy Mountains, directly translates to
Australian Geographic9 min readNature
Who’s A Cheeky Little Bird Then?
POKE ABOUT IN many a memory, and bingo, there’s often a budgie. In Mark Carter’s case it’s Bluey, an’80s childhood pet last sighted in a gnarled old pear tree on the banks of the Annick Water in Ayrshire, south-west Scotland. “My mother hated seeing
Australian Geographic2 min readNature
Calculating Colour
PETER GLASSENBURY was just a kid in short pants when his dad, Les, famously fronted up to his local bird club in Port Pirie, SA, with a pink budgie. “He had dipped it in beetroot juice as a joke,” Peter, who is coordinator of the Australian National
Australian Geographic2 min read
Celebrity Budgies
LONG BEFORE UK pop star Robbie Williams, Sparkie Williams was a leading recording star of his day. Sparkie had a vocabulary of 583 words, including eight complete nursery rhymes. He first came to the world’s attention in 1958 after beating 2768 other
Australian Geographic1 min read
Leila's High Society
High Society is an ambitious photographic project and travelling exhibition by Australian photographer and budgie fan Leila Jeffreys (right). It began when she noticed how a flock of wild budgerigars appeared like leaves on a tree. “Looking closer, I
Australian Geographic1 min read
A Global Export
PHOTO CREDITS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: CECIL STOUGHTON / WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHS / JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM, BOSTON; MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES / GETTY IMAGES; GEORGE WILKES / HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES. PHOTO CREDITS, CLOCKWISE FROM T
Australian Geographic2 min readNature
Always Was, Always Will Be
THERE’S NO question the word budgerigar is derived from Aboriginal languages, albeit corrupted by clumsy colonial attempts to record it. Since the earliest inhabitants first set foot on Australian soil more than 50,000 years ago they have known the b
Australian Geographic1 min read
Breeding Success
Dubbed ‘The Guru’ by fellow United Budgerigar Society members, Alan Rowe first became a budgie fancier as a 16 year old, after seeing “all these colourful little budgies with their big ribbons” at the Royal Melbourne Show. Now aged 80, Alan is like a
Australian Geographic11 min readAstronomy & Space Sciences
Back To The Moon
SOPHIA CASANOVA HAS long been fascinated by the night sky, spending lazy summers in suburban Sydney during the late 1990s looking up at the stars. But it was at the age of 10, when her parents bought her a telescope, that she truly fell head over hee
Australian Geographic1 min readAstronomy & Space Sciences
The Artemis Program
NASA’s Artemis program aims, from 2024, to begin building a sustainable base on the Moon. This will use a Lunar Gateway station in orbit, crewed landers, robot rovers and human habitats. Key components include the Artemis Base Camp, a long-term footh
Australian Geographic1 min readChemistry
Water On The Moon
This‘map’ of the Moon shows, in blue, small amounts of water and hydroxyl (oxygen bonded with hydrogen) on the surface, concentrated near the poles. When light from the Sun is absorbed and reflected back, the wavelengths of that reflection are split
Australian Geographic10 min read
Making Carbon While The Sun Shines
DROUGHT HASN’T stopped Peter Yench from reaping almost $1 million a year, pre-tax, from his farm in Cobar, north-western New South Wales, for each of the past three years. With good rainfall this year the 21,000ha property, Bulgoo, is now lush, green
Australian Geographic1 min readEarth Sciences
Global Carbon Dioxide Budget
Mean annual fluxes 2009-2018 Global CO2emissions are estimated to have reached 41 gigatonnes of CO2 (GtCO2). RECORDS show emissions of CO2, the greenhouse gas that’s driving human-induced climate change, have been rising in the atmosphere since the b
Australian Geographic2 min readEarth Sciences
Blue Carbon
There’s huge potential for the continent’s coastal habitats to help balance Australia’s carbon emissions. Australia is ringed by seagrass beds, mangrove forests, tidal marshes and kelp forests, all of which sequester and hold huge amounts of ‘blue ca
Australian Geographic8 min read
Antarctica, Explored
CAPTAIN JAMES COOK is credited with many discoveries, but Antarctica is not among them. Although Cook, on his 1772–75 voyage, was the first navigator inside the Antarctic Circle and to circumnavigate Terra Australis Incognita, the mythical and unconf
Australian Geographic1 min read
Notable Antarctic expeditions.
The prospect of exploring the great, inhospitable, white wilderness at the end of the Earth has long fired the imagination of anyone with an adventurous spirit, and attempts to tame Antarctica have led to some of the most enduring tales of survival a
Australian Geographic11 min read
The Discovery And Exploration Of Antarctica: A Timeline
Greek philosophers Pythagoras and Aristotle both deduce the planet is a sphere. The ancient Greeks also theorise the existence of the landmass Terra Australis Incognita, presuming it balanced land in the north. European explorers probe ever southward
Australian Geographic2 min read
Walking On The Long White Cloud
You can tackle New Zealand’s singleand multi-day walks independently or (on some walks) with a guiding company. Guided walks ensure that your travel logistics are taken care of, and a good knowlegeable guide can greatly improve your experience along
Australian Geographic2 min read
Routeburn Track
Type: Point to point Time: 3–4 days Grade: Easy–moderate Independent/Guided: Both available YES, THE WELL-KNOWN Milford Track is right next door, but for those looking to jam in the most of the spectacle that is NZ’s Southern Alps (think snow-clad mo
Australian Geographic2 min read
Kepler Track, Fiordland NP
Type: Circuit Time: 3–4 days Grade: Moderate Independent/Guided: Independent only TAKE ONE SOUTH ISLAND adventure town–in this case, Te Anau–and add a fantastic three- to four-day amble through spectacular Fiordland NP, and you have one of NZ’s foot-
Australian Geographic2 min readEarth Sciences
Milford Track
Type: Point to point Time: 4 days Grade: Easy–moderate Independent/Guided: Both available THE MILFORD TRACK is the most strictly controlled of the Great Walks. In peak season, only 40 independent and 40 guided walkers are allowed to start the Milford
Australian Geographic2 min readEarth Sciences
A Day In The Wild
NZ’S MULTI-DAY walks are brilliant, but the country also offers some fantastic short walks. Here are five worth stepping out on: LAKE MARIAN, FIORDLAND NP A pristine alpine lake nestled in a hanging valley surrounded by mountains, Lake Marian is a ha
Australian Geographic2 min readEarth Sciences
The Heaphy Track
Type: Point to point Time: 4 days Grade: Moderate Independent/Guided: Both available THE HEAPHY TRACK, (pronounced he-fee) located in the north-western corner of the South Island, in Kahurangi National Park, is NZ’s longest Great Walk. It can be walk
Australian Geographic7 min read
Flower Power
It looks like an artist’s canvas. Lashings of vivid colour, shape and texture are splashed all over the sunrise as the early morning light awakens and highlights every petal. The air is full of freshness and springtime excitement, matched in the surr
Australian Geographic1 min read
The Art Of AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC
By Ego Guiotto Cockatoos poster, AG 80, Oct–Dec 2005 CAPTURING BOTH THE beauty and individuality of Australia’s crested parrots provided an exquisite challenge for renowned bird artist Ego Guiotto in 2005 when he created a poster celebrating all 14 o

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