Willis's Walkabouts Newsletter 43, August 2009

Wild and Bushfires

Bushfires

I've been advertising in and reading Wild magazine since 1985. It's one publication that I can heartily recommend. I talked about the Victorian Bushfires in newsletters 40 and 41. When I read the current edition of Wild, I found more thoughts which I'd like to bring to your attention. I can't give the full articles because of copyright issues, but Wild has given me permission to publish excerpts from the editorial and a short article by Phil Ingamells. I think they are both well worth reading in full. You can see a list of everything in the issue on the Wild index page. I fear that the authors are right. If we don't speak up, some people will try to use the bushfires as an excuse to destroy the little bush that remains.

The following is an excerpt from the editorial by Ross Taylor in Wild #113, page 5, reproduced with permission.

Black Saturday: Life in the face of fire

"In early 2006 fires burnt through the Grampians and I got the call from my parents; they wanted me to come and help protect the houses on their property on the western border of the national park. I drove up from Melbourne, pushing the speed limits, imagining the worst, then spent the next week waiting nervously with my folks."

.... "On Saturday 7 February, my wife and I decided to drag our mattress into the living room, the only room in the house with air conditioning. .... In our living room, only 40 or so kilometres from the fires, we watched DVDs all day, occasionally flicking across to the news. The day grew hotter - unimaginably hot. As I watched the footage of a fire leaping up a hillside, I thought back to that day in 2006 and knew that there was no comparison between then and now."

.... "Over time, events like Black Saturday fade from collective memory, as does the realisation of nature's power. This is exacerbated by the fact that our modern, first-world existence insulates us from nature so effectively that we begin to believe that we are invulnerable."

.... "what is most important to us? Is it the environment? Our lifestyle? Our safety? Are these claims incompatible or can we find a way to have all three? Only the future will tell, but hopefully the Royal Commission into the fires will come up with some answers, and these answers will seriously consider the repercussions for the bush we love."

The following is an excerpt from the article by Phil Ingamells in Wild #113, page 57, reproduced with permission.

No ordinary day

.... "any approach that sees the bush as just a fuel problem has terrifying implications. We are the guardians of a 500-million-year-old evolutionary heritage that has left us with around 100 000 different species in the surviving natural areas of Victoria."

.... "We have to learn how to live with nature, how to support it against the perils we have brought to bear, and how to respect its capricious and sometimes dangerous moods. It won't be easy, but it is a task worthy of our time on earth."

The Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA) website has some good information. In particular, their page on the bushfires has useful information and links to yet more info. If you want to help save what's left of the Victorian bush, I strongly recommend you have a read.

The ACF made a submission into the Royal Commission investigating the fires. Parts of it are a bit technical, but the conclusions ae anything but. Many of the proposals currently being circulated will, at best, have little effect. At worst, they could make future fires substantially more destructive worse than they would be if we continued as at present. Their submission is well worth a read.

The link in the previous paragraph takes you direct to the report. If you'd like more general information on the Victorian forests, their Victorian Forest page has more info and links to other pages with still more.

Wild

As long as I'm mentioning Wild I thought I should mention two other pages on their website that you may find useful.

• The Wild Diary lists various rogaining and other outdoor competitions around Australia. You can even submit your own event for consideration.
• The Tipz and Trix page lists a number of interesting bushwalking tips that Wild readers have sent in. Maybe you can submit one of your own.

Finally, two of the authors in the current edition each did one of our trips this year. Judy Clayton did our Karijini trip in April. Grant Dixon did our Bachsten-Charnley trip in July. If you are interested in what they thought of the walks, I've scanned the pages with the comments they wrote in my comments book at the end of their trips.

Judy's Comment

Grant's Comment

Bushfires in the Top End

Most of the Top End gets burnt every year. Our vegetation and wildlife has adopted to frequent fires, albeit not as frequent as they have been in recent years. Although our bushfires are much less intense than those which destroyed so much of Victoria early this year, they are getting worse. The average annual number of fire bans has more than doubled in the last fifteen years. The reason is the take off of gamba grass a horrible weed which burns far more intensely than native grasses. If it continues to spread, the Top End native woodland will disappear. Click the either of the links in this paragraph for information from the NT Volunteer Bushfire Fighters website. Fortunately, to date, gamba grass has been well controlled in Kakadu.

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2009 Overseas Trips!!!

I had to cancel the South Africa trip because of a lack of bookings. That was simple. The saga of South America has been unlike anything that's ever happened before.

In early July, I cancelled the trip on the website, but the next day I had two new enquiries who seemed very keen. I hastily put it back. The next deadline arrived. As it did, I got another three enquiries so I kept it alive once more. Finally, I could wait no more and cancelled the trip. An hour after I made my first refund, two more people called to confirm their bookings. Since then, another has cancelled and two more have confirmed. It now looks as if it will go ahead.The dates have changed slightly. The link below gives you the updated trip notes.

Patagonia: South America: 6-8 weeks: December 2009 - January 2010

Given all the hassles, for the first time ever I am offering a special discount on an overseas trip. If I get an average of seven people for the entire trip, I'll give everyone a 10% discount. (I've currently got six.)

Although I hope to be able to lead this trip myself, there is a chance that this will not be possible. In that case, I need a Spanish speaking guide. I may already have one lined up, but it's not certain. In any case, I could offer more trips to South America if I had more Spanish speaking guides.

If you speak Spanish and think you would be qualified to lead such a trip and that might be interested in leading this or a similar trip, please have a look at the trip notes, then get back to me as soon as possible.

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2010: What's Happening - Good News & Bad

The Bungle Bungles: Good News and Bad

The bad news. Once upon a time we were given verbal permission to do walks anywhere within the Piccaninny Creek catchment. This was, unfortunately, never put in writing. I've been given a map showing that we are now restricted to Piccaninny Creek and the tributaries that join it above the car park walking track. We can no longer visit those creeks which join Piccaninny below that point. . I was told that an agreement hasn't been made with the traditional owners to access the other areas. This means that well over 90% of the park is out of bounds to bushwalkers. If you think that's a bit too much, please contact either or both of the following and tell them so.

• The Minister for Tourism, The Honourable Dr Elizabeth Constable. Email: Minister.Constable@dpc.wa.gov.au
• The Minister for Environment, The Honourable Donna Faragher. Email:Minister.Faragher@dpc.wa.gov.au

The good news. We've not only got permission to run our Bungles in the Wet trip again, we've already got bookings. This was one of the best trips we've ever run. I'd been to the Bungles at least a dozen times before but doing this was like goiing somewhere I'd never been. Piccaninny Creek was up and down like a yo yo. Flowing waterfalls were everywhere. We were wet, but we were warm. If you'd like a taste of what it was like, please have a look at our Bungles in the Wet photo gallery

Food Drops: Good News and Bad

Two of our longest and most interesting Kakadu trips: Kakadu Super Circle No. 1 in January and Kakadu Circle No. 1 in May require us to put out a food drop in early to mid November if the they are to run.

The bad news. The amount of work needed to put the drops where we have been leaving them is so much, that I won't do it again for less than ten confirmed bookings by November.

The good news. I think I've found a much better place for the drops, one which doesn't require anywhere near as much work. If we can use it, both trips will become easier and more flexible. Better still, we offer a 25% advance purchase discount on Kakadu Circle No. 1 for bookings made before the food drop goes out.

Kimberley Trips

I can't do this one as a simple good news and bad. It's far too complicated for that.

I led our Charnley and Munja-Bachsten trips this year and thought they were both excellent. Those taking part all said they enjoyed them in spite of the long drives. A night at the Bachsten camp made a wonderful break between sections. I'd love to do it again, but I've been told that the track and the camp might or might not be open again next year. Neither of the two airstrips which might shorten the drive substantially is likely to be open. Only time will tell what we can and can't do.

For the first time since 2003, we were able to run an overnight walk on Mornington Sanctuary run by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. Mornington has a lot to offer. I hope to repeat that and lengthen our stay at Mornington in 2010. I've already got two confirmed bookings on the Gibb Road Gorges trip that visits Mornington so it's looking good.

Driving from Darwin to the Kimberley during the wet season can be problematic. In 2008, I was stuck on the Kimberley side of the Victoria River for three extra days. (It was fantastic to see the country around the Victoria River when it was in flood.) A new bridge over the Victoria River is now nearing completion. It's five metres higher than the old one. Multi-day delays should become a thing of the past when it opens later this year. That's going to make our Green Kimberley Light in February a better trip. It will also open up some new possibilities. Watch the What's New page on our website for the first notice.

On further reflection, I not only think the Green Kimberley Light is one of the best trips we offer, I want to do it myself. I want to do it so much, that I'll run it for as few as two people at no extra charge. Doing that may require me to change the dates in the draft notes. I hope to have more by the next newsletter in 6-8 weeks.

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Kakadu & Kimberley - General Information

Kakadu

The new Kakadu National Park website remains a work in progress. It's well worth a visit for those with time to do some leisurely browsing. If you have a look, I'd be very interested in any comments you have. I'll pass these along to Parks in the hope that they can continue to improve the site.

The new Kakadu Visitor Guide came out fairly recently. It has a wealth of information, well worth a read before visiting the park. You can download it as a printable pdf. If you click the link, be patient, at 14.1 MB, it's a large document. Click here to download the Kakadu Visitor Guide.

Kimberley

The best Kimberley General Information website I have found to date is www.kimberleyaustralia.com. If you've ever thought about visiting the region, whether on one of our tours or on your own, this is well worth a browse.

The website is only part of the story. From the website, you can pay for and download a book which has even more information. I've got a copy (my edition is 194 pages) and am happily working my way through it. Although I've been going to the Kimberley for the past 30 years, I've still found new information. Highly recommended.

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Aboriginal Culture

David Welch is a Darwin doctor with a keen interest in Aboriginal art and culture. He's published many papers on Aboriginal Art and was one of the authors of a recent book Rock art of the Kimberley : proceedings of the Kimberley Society Rock Art Seminar held at the University of Western Australia, Perth 10 September, 2005, edited by Mike Donaldson and Kevin Kenneally. I thought it was quite interesting. If you're interested, you can order it from the Kimberley Society.

The Summary of Past Talks page which links from the Kimberley Society home page has lots of information about all sorts of things relevant to the Kimberley. Back to the main subject.

David's website aboriginalculture.com.au is a work in progress but it already has a wealth of good information. He has published a number of books, most of which have been based on long out-of-print documents. The latest book Kakadu People by Sir Baldwin Spencer, 1912 adds some modern and many historical photos to the original report. (Two of my photos, both taken in South America made it into the book. If you can't figure out why a photo taken in South America is relevant in a 1912 book on the people of the Kakadu region, you might just have to buy the book to find out.) You can order any of David's books direct via the website.

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Computer Hassles

I have two computers, the one I use most of the time and one that I use mainly for back ups. The newer of the two died recently. It was cheaper to replace than fix so I got a new one and had all the data transferred. Unfortunately, not all of the programs worked properly. It's been maddening. If you know a fair bit about computers and software and are willing to offer some advice, please let me know.

Without a full time person in the office while I'm away, it's getting harder and harder for me to do the long overseas trips. I need to be able to work from almost anywhere in the world, updating info on the website and answering questions. My best guess is that a laptop with some sort of wireless internet connection would be best. When I say wireless, I may be talking about something like a mobile phone connection in each of several different countries. Some of these connections can be painfully slow. I've generally used internet cafes in the past, but these won't normally let you hook your own computer onto theirs.

If you know anything about such things and can give me some advice, it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

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Special savings - limited time only

Book now and save! As in the past, if you are one of the first three people who quote this newsletter when booking any Australian trip within two weeks of when we sent it out, you will get an extra 10% discount on any trip where your total discounts are 10% or less. You'll get an extra 5% off if your total discounts are 15% or more.

Note 1. There has to be a limit. The maximum total discount on any trip is 35%.
Note 2. This offer does not apply to trips where the special offer specifies no other discounts apply.
Note 3. It's amazing how few people take advantage of this offer. You have to ask to get it.

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