September 23, 2019

It’s Swag time again

16/09/2019 The task was set, to patrol the fences to the South of the Park, including Illamurta Springs Conservation Reserve.  Along with some sign maintenance and erosion control. It required another overnight stay, because it would take the whole day getting to our final destination of Illamurta Springs, which is […]

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September 22, 2019

Back to Alice for Stores

14/09/2019 – 15/09/2019 After work on Saturday, I left Finke Gorge NP to go back to Alice. I needed to stock up with more food. It was getting late when I left, but the timing was right to see this magnificent moon rise, as I was driving.

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September 22, 2019

Ranger Patrol

14/09/2019 This morning I went on a patrol of the Mpaara Walk. This walk introduces the mythology of the Western Arrernte Aboriginal culture. The story was told to Aboriginal children to discourage them from walking in the hills alone. It was a hard walk, but once again very rewarding. This […]

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September 21, 2019

Service day and Arborist work

13/09/2019 Today was another day of service checks. I cleaned some tables at the day use area. A tour operator made mention that they needed a clean.  The tables were pretty gross. I wonder if the tour operator contributed to it? After reading the visitor book. One of the campers […]

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September 20, 2019

Weeds, Water Holes and Palms

12/09/2019 Started off the day spraying some broadleaf weeds in a patch of palms near the ranger station. From there we did a patrol near an Aboriginal Outstation and surrounding water holes. It was so tempting to have a swim in the rock pool. It was a magnificent spot. After […]

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September 19, 2019

Introduction to Service Checks – Water is Life

11/09/2019 One important aspect to managing a National Park is to ensure all visitors and staff have fully functioning amenities and services. This involves checking there is enough water, power is being supplied, facilities are clean. These checks are carried out 3 times on weekdays and on Saturday’s and Sunday’s. […]

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September 19, 2019

Link track – weed survey cont’

10/09/2019 What an awesome night sleeping out, under the stars. Looking at the Southern Cross and working out where South was. I crawled out of the Swag for another day of weed survey further South on the Finke River. The Athel Pine weed was less in number, on the link […]

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September 18, 2019

Weed Survey – No time to Waste

9/09/2019 There’s no time to ease into it. We are tasked to identify, map and remove Athel pine weed along the Finke River. It is regarded as one of the worst weeds in Australia because of its invasiveness, potential for spread, and economic and environmental impacts. It forms dense stands along […]

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September 15, 2019

The Trip Into Finke Gorge National Park

8/09/219 It’s time to reach my final destination, Finke Gorge National Park. It was an easy 120km drive West of Alice to Hermannsburg. Then a 22 km gravel road into Finke Gorge NP. Lots of corrugations, sand and river stone. But not to bad. The track meanders in and along Finke […]

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