It’sa remnantof a timehundredsof
millionsof yearsagowhenthesouthern
continentswereallbunchedtogetherina
supercontinentcalledGondwana.As
Australiasmooshedupagainstother
landmasses,thelandforcedwasupwards
to formtheGreatDividingRange.
Australiaeventuallyshuff ledawayfrom
otherlandmasses,anditsisolationledto
theevolutionof somegenuinelyincredible
plantsandanimals—someof whichare
stillaround.
TheWollemipine(Wollemianobilis)
wasthoughtextinctuntila small
populationwasfoundinNewSouthWales
in1994.Thatspecieslivedsome 100
millionyearsago,duringthereignof the
dinosaurs.
Speakingof which,Australiawashome
to allf lavoursof dinosaur,fromtiny
nimblecarnivoresto giantlumbering
beasts.Thelargestknownmarsupial—
thediprotodon—livedasrecentlyas
25,000yearsago.Itlooked a bit like a
wombat, but was the size of a
hippopotamus.
So, back to today. While much of what
we have has been here for tens of
thousands of years, it can disappear in our
lifetime.
Recently burnt regions will eventually
regenerate,butsome ecosystems areTOP TO BOTTOM:
Explore King
George River
Falls, WA (Credit:
Graeme Snow/
Getty Images);
Life is already
regenerating
(Credit: Leah-Anne
Thompson/Getty
Images).unlikely to return to their pre-fire state.
And our ocean ecosystems aren’t immune
from climate damage. Kelp forests that
once f lourished off Tasmania have
vanished. The entire length of the Great
Barrier Reef could be on the verge of a
bleaching event.
In the wake of recent natural disasters,
disappearancesandimpending
destruction,whenit’ssafeto doso,maybe
it’stimeto see—andbetterappreciate
—more of what’s on our doorstep.
When we get a decent block of time off,
plenty of us look at trips overseas. And
that’s fair enough: we live in a relatively
isolated country, so it’s totally reasonable
to want to “make the most of our holidays”
and look at destinations beyond our
borders.A camping trip in the Kimberley
changed all that for me. It was
September and October, the tail end of
the high season. This meant that the
days were starting to warm up, but there
were very few people around.
One night, we were the sole
occupants at a campsite near the
majestic domes of the Bungle Bungles.
Now, I’m used to big blue skies. I grew
up on the f lat plains of the Wimmera in
western Victoria. But I’ll never forget
crawling out of the tent at dawn,
watching the sun tint the brightening
sky while red dust shimmered in the
already warming air.
There really is nowhere else on Earth
I’d rather be.OUR SHARED PLANET
14 / Outdoor