Comments on: How would you describe the australian outback (desert) ?

By: Diane G

Diane G — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:50:13 +0000

The best way to describe the Australian Outback is to actually go out there and EXPERIENCE it… first hand. Let it soak into your soul.

It is an amazing place… it grabs you and before you realise it, you love the vastness… the bare open flatness, looking from horizon to horizon and seeing nothing but red dirt, dried stubble of the remains of Mitchell grass too dry for sheep or cattle to eat; gibber stones glinting in the stark burning sunlight; one lonely shrub that has survived the drought and ravaging by hungry sheep and cattle.

And just to really be annoying and mess with the rugged beauty of the scene… the friendly bush fly… mobs of them flocking to land on exposed skin and clothing to **** up the moisture from your sweat, crawling towards your eyes and mouth in greedy anticipation. The Australian salute is almost ineffective against them.
They are the first to greet you in the morning before the sun has really climbed over the horizon, forcing you to pull the sheet over your head.

The sounds you will hear are the ever present crow, flocks of lighthearted budgies, raucus galahs and corellas flying in to waterholes; the high shrill of the whistling kite overhead. The bleating of sheep and the lowing of cattle… the buzz of blowflies.

And I wouldnt go bare foot either!! LOL…
The “goat head” bindies would pull you up on your first step… they are strong enough to go through the soles of light footwear and thongs.

By: tamara m

tamara m — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:43:17 +0000

to get a feel for it- hunt down some of the songs by John Williamson, very descriptive of the out back! my faves are “raining on the rock”, “desert child” and “galleries of pink galahs”, for me they really capture the spirit of the outback.
I used to live about an hours drive out of Alice Springs and the things I remember most are the amber skies of the autumn sunsets where the sky turned all different shades of gold and orange, the purple haze of flowers that spread over the terracotta earth after the rains, the hot earthy yet crisp and fresh scent of a dry river bed lined with eucalyptus. the whispering wind and soulful cries of black swans on a cool clear night by a billabong with a blanket of shimmering stars overhead and the warmth of the earth between my bare toes. I went barefoot like the blackfella did when I lived out there.

By: Tainruadh

Tainruadh — Sat, 30 May 2009 04:10:13 +0000

From the air its a huge empty mass of red dirt punctuated by remote mining towns perched on the edge of large holes (mines)

By: mandyj67

mandyj67 — Wed, 27 May 2009 06:38:51 +0000

Whew!!! Nikko, mate, it’s the Australian way to use as FEW words as possible. Tell me if you get published huh? LOL!

By: niko_05

niko_05 — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:02:04 +0000

The Outback is the remote arid areas of Australia, although the term colloquially can refer to any lands outside of the main urban areas. The term “the outback” is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas deemed “the bush”.

The outback is home to the Australian feral camel, donkey and dingo. The Dingo fence was built to restrict dingo movements into agricultural areas towards the south east of the continent. The marginally fertile parts are primarily utilised as rangelands and have been traditionally used for sheep or cattle grazing, on cattle stations which are leased from the Federal Government. While small areas of the outback consist of clay soils the majority has exceedingly infertile palaeosols. Riversleigh, in Queensland, is one of Australia’s most renowned fossil sites and was recorded as a World Heritage site in 1994. The 100 km² area contains fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds and reptiles of Oligocene and Miocene age.

Early European exploration of inland Australia was sporadic. More focus was on the more accessible and fertile coastal areas. The first party to successfully cross the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney was led by Gregory Blaxland in 1813, 25 years after the colony was established. People starting with John Oxley in 1817, 1818 and 1821, followed by Charles Sturt in 1829-1830 attempted to follow the westward-flowing rivers to find an “inland sea”, but these were found to all flow into the Murray River and Darling River which turn south.

Over the period 1858 to 1861, John McDouall Stuart led six expeditions north from Adelaide into the outback, culminating in successfully reaching the north coast of Australia and returning, without the loss of any of the party’s members’ lives. This contrasts with the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition in 1860-61 which was much better funded, but resulted in the deaths of three of the four members of the transcontinental party.

The Overland Telegraph line was constructed in the 1870s along the route identified by Stuart, who had found enough water to support the needed repeater stations.

Exploration of the outback continued in the 1950s when Len Beadell explored, surveyed and built many roads in support of the nuclear weapons tests at Emu Field and Maralinga and rocket testing on the Woomera Prohibited Area. Mineral exploration continues as new mineral deposits are identified and developed.

The Australian Outback is full of very well-adapted wildlife, although much of it may not be immediately visible to the casual observer. Many animals rest during the heat of the day, such as kangaroos and native dogs, the dingo.

Birdlife is prolific, most often seen at waterholes at dawn and dusk. Huge flocks of budgerigars, cockatoos, corellas and galahs are often sighted. Various species of snakes and lizards bask in the sun in winter, on bare ground or roads, but they are rarely seen during the summer months.

Feral animals such as Camels thrive in central Australia, brought to Australia by the early Afghan drivers. Wild horses known as ‘brumbies,’ are station horses that have run wild. Feral pigs, foxes, cats and rabbits are also imported animals that degrade the environment, and time and money is spent eradicating them, to help protect fragile rangelands.