Willis's Walkabouts Newsletter 113, March 2021 — Last Chance!
We have had to make so many changes to our trips that I felt I had to get this out sooner rather than later. The combination of good rain and a great discount has turned the Centralian Highlights from a good trip to an amazing experience we may or may not be able to repeat.
But, in terms of the future of bushwalking in Australia, the most important article here is Luxury Lodges = Wilderness Lost
If you are viewing this on a mobile, the newsletter and many of the links should work better in a horizontal format.
Restricted content. Articles marked * or ** are on restricted websites Click for more info.
.
In this issue
WW Last Chance!
The Green Centre
- Central Australia has just had its best rains in years. Wildflowers are in bloom. Waterholes are full. I'm going! But I find it hard to believe how few people are planning to come along, especially when I offered a $1000 discount on the original price and posted some videos showing what it was like when conditions were similar in the past.
- Centralian Highlights: 14-30. Discount price: $1995.
None of our other Red Centre trips offer such a variety of walks in such a short time. Few of our other trips are this easy (easy but you'll still have to carry an overnight pack some of the time). There's even an extra discount if you help me drive back to Darwin on the two days after the trip finishes. - Check out the videos. The Green Centre is the first of four videos in a short playlist. Watching them all would only take about 10 minutes. Even if you can't come this time, it will give you an idea of what it will be like the next time the region gets some good rain.
It may be possible to do part of the trip. Please send me an email asking for more information.
May to Mid July
We've had all sorts of problems, but most of the trips which are running are full or nearly so. Other than the Centralian Highlights, the following are the only trips departing before 18 July which still have space available.
- Kakadu Highlights No. 4: 16-29 May List price: $2695.
If someone changes their mind again, this could be the last trip we get to run to Baroalba Creek home of the famous "spitting emu" painting. (In deference to the wishes of the traditional owners, we do not publish photos of Kakadu art sites like this on our website.) Baroalba is followed by the NE Gregory section of the old Litchfield-Gregory Explorer. I think that running this trip is so important that I guaranteed the departure even if it means running it at a loss.
Special offer - $700 discount, or $300 on either section on its own. None of our other discounts apply with this offer.
Guide: Don Butcher - Kimberley Highlights No. 1: 16 May - 12 June List price: $5695.
Five sections, any of which can be done on its own.
Special offer 1 - $1000 discount on the full trip or $100 per section. Our advance purchase discounts do not apply with this offer. Our other discounts do.
Special offer 2 - free transport between Darwin and Kununurra. Save an airfare and join us on the drive over the day before the trip starts and/or back to Darwin the day the trip finishes.
All sections still have at least three places available.
Guide: Rod Costigan. - Kakadu-Kimberley Special: 23 May - 12 June List price: $4995.
This was going to be a special big birthday trip for me in 2020. Covid put an end to that but it was too good to resist so I'll make it for my birthday in 2021.
Special offer - $750 discount, full trip only. Our advance purchase discounts do not apply with this offer. Our other discounts do.
Four places remain available.
Guide: Russell Willis - Kakadu Highlights No. 5: 20-28 June List price: $1895.
Problems in Kakadu meant that we might not be able to run the original second section so we cancelled it and extended section one by a day at no extra charge.
Only three places available. Our 10% advance purchase discount remains available until 20 April.
Probable guide: Graeme Spedding or Russell Willis
Late July
We have two trips scheduled to begin in late July. We had to cancel the other departures when we got overlapping charter trips. Both have bookings, but neither has enough to guarantee departure.
- Finke Gorge National Park: 21-30 July List price: $1695.
This is another Green Centre trip. Special conditions apply. See the trip notes for details.
Probable guide: Rod Costigan. - Mitchell Plateau No. 2: 25 July - 8 August List price: $5995.
Two sections, either of which can be done on its own. Price includes flights to and from the plateau and a helicopter flight between sections.
Special offer. We have extended our 20% advance purchase discount on both of the above until two weeks after the date this newsletter is sent out.
More Covid Chaos
Our world will not go back to something resembling it's pre-pandemic state before 2022. Maybe never.
WW and Covid
We lost one person on our April Karijini trip to a border closure less than a week before departure. Until a substantial majority of the population gets vaccinated (I'm scheduled for my first dose on 6 April), closures are likely to continue. As long as anyone is coming to Australia (or New Zealand) from overseas, we will continue to get occasional cases of community transmission. Unless we stop all international flights and all imports, it will happen.
Governments will do what they can to stamp it out before it gets away but that means those booked on any particular trip may find they can't get here. Wherever possible, we will run the trip for those who can. I will repeat the notice near the top of our Availability and Specials page.
If any border restriction prevents someone from coming on a trip they booked, we will give them a 100% refund. That's a better deal than you'll get from some large companies which will give you a credit rather than your money back.
Covid News
Here are a few Covid stories I found interesting.
- Vaccine Passports, Covid's Next Political Flash Point *
A world divided between the vaccinated and unvaccinated promises relief for economies and families, but the ethical and practical risks are high.
When it comes to international travel, I believe it's inevitable. For travel to the remote parts of Aboriginal Australia where we offer most of our tours, I think it's probable. - Coronavirus Variants and Mutations *
Each coronavirus contains nearly 30,000 letters of RNA. This genetic information allows the virus to infect cells and hijack them to make new viruses. - 7 Myths About the Coronavirus Vaccine *
Don't be fooled by bad information or irrational skepticism. Get your shots as soon as possible. -
End of December more realistic target for all Australians to get Covid vaccine, AMA says
Australian Medical Association says government's October target 'very ambitious' after slower than expected start to rollout.
I'm due for my first shot on 6 April and will feel a sense of relief when I get it. If I want to travel overseas again, I'll inevitably be exposed to it. Even it I don't, I think I'd be likely to be exposed somewhere in Australia once we begin letting international visitors in again. - Australian 'myth-busting' unit established to take on Covid misinformation
Health minister reveals unit 'quietly' set up last year amid concerns about 'plainly ridiculous' false information.
If enough people don't get vaccinated, we'll never go back to anything resembling the pre-covid normal. - What went wrong in Germany?
Most of Europe was doing much better than the US in the early stages, but it appears that they are now doing worse. - WHO warns of 'wake-up call' as obesity linked to COVID-19 deaths
The report, which analyses countries' obesity rates as well as COVID-19 deaths, also says the death rate is 10 times higher in countries where 50 per cent or more of the population is overweight.
Covid Blog
If you haven't had a look at my Covid Blog recently, have a quick scroll through. Some of the stories there are as interesting today as when they first came out.
Risk Aversion
What have we come to when someone feels they need to print a warning like this? The image here, no doubt, was inspired by some lawyer. Or perhaps by an actual lawsuit. In any case, it's this kind of risk aversion that could put businesses like ours out of business. Our trips are no more dangerous than crossing a major city street but they are perceived as such and that's enough.
Risk Aversion in Kakadu
Many of you will be aware of the problems in Kakadu as outlined below.
- Kakadu in crisis
A bitter tale of mistrust and mismanagement inside Australia's largest national park. - Kakadu in Crisis is the 4 corners show mentioned in the above.
Too many managers and not enough rangers? That may be part of the problem. A high staff turnover is a problem. People are doing their best to improve the situation. Whether or not that will help us this year remains a question.
Losing two bushwalking routes for cultural reasons forced us to change a number of trips. I thought I'd done so and that things would be OK but, shortly after the last newsletter went out, I was told that two routes we've been using since 1986, routes that I first used in the mid 1970s, might not be possible. It seems that the lack of feral animal control that followed after a helicopter crash stopped all aerial culling, has allowed the numbers to rise to the point where they present a danger. The numbers were far higher in the late 1970s and early 1980s before the Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign went into effect. They weren't too dangerous then. They are less dangerous now but what was once an acceptable risk may no longer be acceptable. We may yet be allowed to use those routes, but I felt that it was only fair to notify people well in advance rather then wait until the last minute and say that their trip had to be cancelled. When I explained the situation, so many people cancelled that we had to cancel a number of trips.
We live in hope. There are people doing their best to help us but if the risk aversion trend continues, we may not make it to our 40th anniversary in a few years time.
Luxury Lodges = Wilderness Lost
I think this is so important that it deserves a section on its own. It's a long article but well worth the read.
Luxury Lodges = Wilderness Lost
Our national parks are under attack. Privatisation, in the form of luxury lodges and other accommodation for walkers, has gained nationwide momentum. In this, Part I of a two-part series, we look at breadth of the problem across the country. Here are a few quotes.
- "When I searched to see what campsites were on the route (the 65km Green Gully Track in NSW's Oxley Wild Rivers NP), I couldn't find any. And that's when I learnt we couldn't just camp. Despite this being a national park ― a public park ― if you don't pay or can't pay the $600 (because you're a student, unemployed, or simply not flush with funds), well, you're out of luck. You can't do the walk. It seemed so outrageous that, at first, I wondered if I'd read it incorrectly, so I rang the relevant NPWS District Office. I wasn't mistaken. No pay, no walk. The ranger sheepishly said something about this being "the business model." I was incensed."
- "My outrage turned to horror as Bob began telling me of proposals for lodges along the length of Tasmania's iconic South Coast Track (SCT). The South Coast Track is not just any walk. It is beauty and wildness writ large. It is about challenge, about dire weather, about lashing rains and deep mud, and yes, it is about discomfort."
- "This alienation of public land by people whose prime concern is not environmental protection but instead profit isn't just happening here and there. It is a nation-wide plunder. This is the theft of Australia's wilderness. To be clear, this is theft in a metaphorical sense; I'm not suggesting laws have been broken. But in some ways, that's almost worse; the fact our legal framework aids and abets this is both distressing and appalling.
- Make sure you see the photo of 'Huts' under construction on the Three Capes Track.
Here in Litchfield National Park in the NT, a beautiful area called Florence Falls was getting so popular that there were no more parking spaces. The area couldn't take any more people. The government decided that the answer was to build more parking allowing so many people in at one time that the natural experience is spoiled for everyone. That makes no sense to me. It certainly will do far more long term damage than leaving it as was would have done.
WW August Onwards
Trips with bookings
- Kakadu Highlights No. 7:8-21 August
Two great walks we don't normally do on any of our other trips. - Mitchell Plateau No. 3: 8-21 August
Our last and least expensive Mitchell Plateau trip of the year. - Kakadu Highlights No. 9: 19 September - 2 October
Three separate walks, any of which can be done on its own.
All the other trips on the trip list remain available.
Kakadu Birdwatching & Nature Special
Our Kakadu Birdwatching and Nature Special had to have a few modifications last year but I really enjoyed the trip. To get a better understanding of what it was like, have a look at the report about it that one of the people on the trip wrote for her bushwalking club.
As good as it was, maybe we can make it better.
The trip is designed to follow immediately after Kakadu Bird Week. Perhaps we should try and incorporate part of Bird Week into the trip.
The trip includes a five day walk. While the walk is an integral part of the trip, perhaps I should include an alternative for people who can't do the walk. (I've already had one person ask about that possibility.)
There are other environments where we might find different birds that are not all that far. Maybe I should extend the trip and break it into sections so we can visit some of those areas.
If you have any opinion about any of the above, send me an email with your thoughts.
Flooding
With the recent floods, I thought it would be timely to include these stories from The Conversation.
- 'They lost our receipts three times': how getting an insurance payout can be a full-time job
The concurrence of increasing urban development in floodplains, and more intense rainfall events thanks to climate change are creating a perfect storm for insurance risk. In response, insurance companies are battening down the hatches ― often pricing flood insurance at prohibitively high levels, and in some cases, making it hard for insured customers to receive the cover they were expecting.
If you live on a floodplain, maybe you should sell while you still can. - Not 'if', but 'when': city planners need to design for flooding. These examples show the way
- After the floods, stand by for spiders, slugs and millipedes ― but think twice before reaching for the bug spray
-
Yes, Australia is a land of flooding rains. But climate change could be making it worse
"As our planet warms, the water-holding capacity of the lower atmosphere increases by around 7% for every 1°C of warming. This can cause heavier rainfall, which in turn increases flood risk. The oceans are also warming, especially at the surface. This drives up both evaporation rates and the transport of moisture into weather systems. This makes wet seasons and wet events wetter than usual. - What is a 1 in 100 year weather event? And why do they keep happening so often?
Interesting Science
Space
- Missing: One Black Hole With 10 Billion Solar Masses *
One of the biggest galaxies in the universe seems to lack its dark centerpiece. - Hibernating lemurs may be the key to cryogenic sleep for human space travel
- Seven Hundred Leagues Beneath Titan's Methane Seas *
Mars, Shmars; this voyager is looking forward to a submarine ride under the icebergs on Saturn's strange moon. - Scientists get their best-ever look at Jupiter's atmosphere and storms
Great little video. Well worth the watch if suchj things interest you.
Humans
- What Are Sperm Telling Us? *
Scientists are concerned by falling sperm counts and declining egg quality. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals may be the problem.
Maybe this is the way our society ends. But with increased longevity .... maybe its what will save the world - Running Is a Total Body Affair *
We can thank our heads and shoulders ― and not just our knees and toes ― that we evolved to run as well as we do. - Why humans are optimised for endurance running, not speed
Other animals have us beat over short distances, but in an interspecies Olympic ultramarathon, Homo sapiens would likely take all the medals.
"Tendai Buddhists have perhaps taken endurance to its ultimate conclusion with the practice of kaihogyo, which incorporates 1,000 days of marathons on a route around Mount Hiei in Japan. The 46 monks who have completed this ritual in the modern era are thought to have reached enlightenment. As for motivation, traditionally, kaihogyo practitioners are pledged to kill themselves if they are not able to finish the course, which is why they are obliged to carry a hemp rope and a dagger as they go about their practice."
Misc
- Inside the C.I.A., She Became a Spy for Planet Earth *
Linda Zall is disclosing how she toiled anonymously within the intelligence agency to help scientists intensify their studies of a changing planet. -
Scientists unlocked the secret of how these ultrablack fish absorb light
The fish skin absorbs more than 99.5% of light thanks to pigment-packed granules. Photographing something that doesn't reflect light back at you is a challenge.
Australian Universities ― Something Is Wrong
- Governing universities: tertiary experience no longer required
The workforce is highly casualised. There is a sharp divide between senior management and academic and professional staff. On top of decades of declining federal funding, the sector faces up to 30,000 job losses. Yet more than 40% of Australia's vice-chancellors earn more than a million dollars a year. How did we get here? -
Universities dealt dud hand in JobKeeper funding lottery: Garnaut
Universities and casinos both experienced "catastrophic" declines in revenue during pandemic lockdowns, yet the disgraced gambling behemoth Crown Casino received $115 million in JobKeeper payments in the first four months of the scheme while the university sector received zero.
"The universities have their imperfections, which can usefully be corrected, but few would doubt their superiority over casinos in terms of their national contribution."
Does the government really think casinos are more important than universities or is someone getting paid for the decision?
Photos, Videos & Just For Fun
- The Green Centre is the first of four videos in a short playlist. Watching them all would only take about 10 minutes. Even if you can't come this time, it will give you an idea of what it will be like the next time the region gets some good rain.
- Stephen Axford: How fungi changed my view of the world
Stephen Axford has a unique expertise in macro images and time-lapse photography of fungi. The beauty and scientific accuracy of Stephen's fungi photography have captivated national and international media, fungi experts and the general public.
It's about an hour. Amazing photography. - A Glimpse of a Bygone Life on Scottish Islands, Plucked From the Trash *
Hundreds of pictures taken decades ago in the Shetland Islands, off northern Scotland, were saved from being thrown away. Now, they are finding new life online. - 52 Places to Go in 2020 *
This came out early last year when the world looked very different. They said, "We picked destinations to inspire you, delight you and motivate you to explore the world."
The Kimberley is No. 5. We still have space available on a few of our Kimberley trips this year.
Our trips have also visited nos. 12 and 16. 44 looks very interesting. I wonder if we'll ever get to them again. - Basic questions about airplanes
This is a bit of fun but the top link about accidents and incidents might give some slightly unsettling food for thought. - 'Girl With a Purell Earring': How artists are tweaking famous paintings for our coronavirus era **
A lighter outlook at the pandemic.
News About This Newsletter
Restricted websites. The NY Times allows non-subscribers to look at ten free articles each month. I've got more links than that in this newsletter so I've marked them with a red asterisk (*) so that you can choose which are of most interest to you. Bloomberg allows three free articles. The Washington Post and The Economist both have limits but I'm not sure what the current limits are so I've marked their articles with a double red asterisk (**).
Next Newsletter — April? May? Who knows? I'll be nearly flat out with trips beginning on 14 April. Depends on how much time I have and how much changes with regard to our trips.
As always, I welcome a bit of feedback about some of the things in this newsletter and suggestions for the next one.
Sending the newsletter
I'm now using a paid version of MailChimp to send all of the newsletters. I'm not sure what I'll do if the list goes over 2500.
walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au is the contact address on our website. If you would like to continue to receive these newsletters, please include this address in your "friends list" so that it isn't blocked.
Emails sent to walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au are currently automatically forwarded to rrwillis at internode.on.net. If you want to send an email to that address, replace the word "at" with the symbol @. I am trying not to put that address any place where it can be harvested by spam bots.
We don't want to add to the mass of email spam. If you don't want our newsletter, please send us an email and let us know. We'll then delete your name from our newsletter list.
Our email address is walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au.
Note. Both MailChimp and the other program we use to send some of these newsletters have an automatic delete at the bottom. Clicking that link will delete you from the mailing list on the server but it will not delete you from our main database. One of the programs will not allow the auto delete to send me an email notifying me that a deletion has been made. If you want to be sure that you are removed from all further mailings, please send an email to walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au
If you know someone you think would enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them. The more people who get it, the more likely it is that I'll be able to run the trips which might interest you.
Best wishes to all,
Russell Willis