Australian Geographic

With less than 120 remaining in the wild, Gilbert’s potoroo is critically endangered and at serious risk of extinction. It was previously thought to be extinct, until a tiny population was discovered in 1994 at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western

Silver Lake Operations #2 Lake Lefroy, WA, 2007 Photo by Edward Burtynsky THE EPIC IMAGES BY renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky bear witness to the true cost of modern society. For 39 years he’s documented the largest examples of human

I APPRECIATED the story of the Mount Mulligan mine disaster (AG 167). My great uncle Ernie Riseley was one of the miners who died in the 1921 explosion. Ernest William George Riseley was born in Launceston in 1889. He was the great-grandson of Henry

At Australian Geographic Our Country: Immersive Experience, embark on an epic journey through Australia – over mountains, through rainforests, under seas and across deserts that stretch beyond the horizon. Experience dazzling natural wonders from eve

HIGH-RESOLUTION satellite imagery has revealed a mysterious “bullseye” landform on the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia. With an outer ring more than 1km in diameter and an inner dome 500m wide, the subtle landform rises only a few metres and is im

CRADLE MOUNTAIN–LAKE ST CLAIR NP What better way to enjoy International Mountain Day on 11 December than a walk up Tasmania’s most famous peak? At 1545m, Cradle Mountain may not be Tasmania’s tallest, but the eight-hour return hike to the summit offe

It’s official! The third consecutive La Niña event is underway. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, it will peak during the spring of 2022 and return to neutral conditions in early 2023. The news comes as Sydney endures its wettest year since rec

THE SURPRISING discovery of olivine cumulate – an igneous rock – on the floor of Mars’s Jezero Crater will allow scientists to date rock samples that are billions of years old with very high precision. Researchers from Queensland University of Techno

Designed by the late Malcolm Wallhead, a fibreglasser based in Tasmania, Igloo Satellite Cabins were first acquired by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) in 1982. These dome-shaped, colourful cabins – nicknamed “apples” – had an aerodynamic desi

NATURE HAS been captured as a work of art in Christian Spencer’s new book, Birds: Poetry in the Sky. The Melbourne-born nature photographer is now based in Brazil. With stylised studio shots and 120 colour illustrations, this coffee table book is a m

Scientists from the Australian National University in Canberra have discovered that mountain formation in New Guinea 5 million years ago prompted native rodents to spread across Oceania and into Australia. “We’ve known for some time that Australia’s

From 11 to 20 November, join citizen scientists across the country in Australia’s biggest frog count. By downloading the FrogID app and recording frog calls, you can provide scientists with a unique, time-stamped and georeferenced audio recording. Th

SURPRISINGLY, ROTTING fruit can ferment and reach a level of 4 per cent alcohol – close to, but not quite, the 5 per cent of beer. Alcohol is where the small rodent known as the hamster – originally from Asia and Europe and now popular worldwide as a

By David Attenborough The Trials of Life is the dramatic conclusion to world-leading naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough’s iconic Life trilogy. Inspired by the classic ’90s documentary of the same name, The Trials of Life delves into the wo

IN 1884, AFTER debilitating droughts, the Victorian government began investigating large-scale irrigation. Future prime minister Alfred Deakin was appointed Chairman of the Royal Commission on Water Supply and travelled overseas to research existing

TRANS-AUSTRALIA trekker Sophie Matterson is this year’s winner of the Australian Geographic Society Spirit of Adventure award. Sophie joined six other outstanding Australians at this year’s Australian Geographic Society Gala Awards on 28 October in S

WHAT HAS EIGHT eyes, eight legs, is brown or grey, and lurks in Aussie homes? You’ve got it – a huntsman. So, what has 10 eyes, one leg, is black, white and red, and stares at night skies? I couldn’t resist that – it’s also a Huntsman. In fact, it’s

JUST OFF THE main street of Blackall in western Queensland is a humble timber-clad Country Women’s Association (CWA) hall. As you step into the cool of the building, a young Queen Elizabeth II watches from a faded photograph. Either side is CWA’s cre

PALAEONTOLOGIST DR MATTHEW MCCURRY apologises that the remote paddock in central New South Wales where we’re standing on this cloudless winter’s morning is so visually uninspiring. The site, which is accessed by a dirt road and protected by locked ga

WHEN THE GREATER glider was listed nationally as endangered in mid-2022 it joined 90 Australian mammals that were either already extinct or at high risk of extinction. For more than a decade there’d been strident calls for the species to be protected

The Queensland Country Women’s Association’s (QCWA) Country Kitchens program is a health promotion program that aims to improve food and nutrition literacy and influence behavioural change at a grass roots level. It connects women with the power to h

THE ENCHANTINGLY RAW nature of the Southern Ocean has challenged sailors for generations. Subjected to unrelenting storms and filled by waves of liquid mountains, you sail through testing waters containing snow and ice, and latitudes with names like

DAY 1 Lisa left Albany, WA, on 21 February 2022, for her second attempt at circumnavigating Antarctica. On Day 6 she crossed onto the official track for her race against the record previously set by Russian sailor Fedor Konyukhov. Lisa took the lead

Since leaving Peru on 2 July, the first leg of Tom Robinson’s expedition involved a cool and windy trip northward under the benign influence of the Humboldt Current and the south-east trade winds. Within a few hundred kilometres of the Galápagos Isla

Many of the fossils discovered at McGraths Flat are so well preserved that scientists have been able to identify some plants and animals right down to the species’ level. This has meant it’s been possible for them to work with specialist illustrators

UTTER THE NAME John Wamslehese days and you’ll barely raise an eyebrow. Mention instead the man in the cat-hat and the penny invariably drops. John’s infamous fashion statement was made at the 1991 South Australian Tourism awards, where he wore the p

BEING AT THE heart of some of the world’s most fertile grain-growing land, Victoria’s Wimmera is a prosperous place. In 2022 plentiful rainfall and soaring commodity prices brought local farming families a particularly generous bounty – a once-in-a-g

THIS IS ONE of the few walks in lutruwita/Tasmania on which you can see both where you’ve been and where you’re going, photographer Matt Newton points out, as we approach the highest part of the South Coast Track. Up here on the Ironbound Range, in l

ALASDAIR MCGREGOR might be based in Sydney, but he thrives on any chance to escape the city and venture into the wild. The writer, historian, artist and one-time architect has spent the last 17 years working as a field guide and lecturer on expeditio

ACCESS Travelling with Australian Geographic inspires people to care about the planet by providing meaningful opportunities to explore it. Our experiences are rich in nature and adventure, and our travel partners specialise in small-group experiences

JOIN US ON an epic crossing of the Great Australian Bight aboard Coral Geographer, exploring the hard-toreach islands and iconic national parks along the rugged shorelines of Australia’s south coast. Discover remote breeding grounds of sea lions amon

JOIN US ON an extraordinary island adventure as we journey through the rarely explored islands of Micronesia. Aboard Coral Adventurer, sail from Manila through the Philippines, Palau and around the remote islands of the Federated States of Micronesia

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Australian Geographic, embark on an immersive scientific expedition aboard Coral Discoverer, exploring the outer reefs and unique marine ecosystems of the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef. Travel with a community of conservation-m

IN AN EXCLUSIVE trip by Australian Geographic Travel, experience the rooftop of New South Wales with Trisha Dixon, a photographer and author with a deep passion for the High Country and the Monaro region. Trisha was the founding editor and publisher

JOIN AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC TRAVEL on the experience of a lifetime. Just 10 guests at a time share this remote 24,000ha private wildlife conservancy dedicated to the conservation of Australia’s unique wildlife. Mobs of kangaroos, emus and other abunda

THIS EXCLUSIVE AUSTRALIAN Geographic Travel expedition takes you to the heart of Central Australia, to the Western Desert that spans the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Visit remote Aboriginal art galleries and see the artists working in si

DENMARK is one of the main tourist towns on Western Australia’s magnificent south coast. It’s surrounded by landscapes that are richly diverse, ranging from a rugged coastline with pristine beaches to a forested hinterland. The town itself is charact

Discover the best of K’gari (Fraser Island) – Queensland’s top bucket-list destination! Enjoy time exploring both coasts of the world’s largest sand island on a curated three-day, two-night tour, offering a mix of adventure and leisure. Start your ge

1 These unique rock formations are found in which national park in the NT? 2 This architect designed Canberra. Can you name him? 3 What butterfly is this? 4 Nymphaea violacea is more commonly known by what name? 5 What kind of monitor lizards are the

Experience one of the world’s greatest full-day oceanic expeditions, departing from Bremer Bay in Western Australia. Led by expert marine biologists, the tour includes encounters with killer whales, with behaviours likely to be witnessed ranging from

How do you condense South Australia and the Northern Territory into two weeks? With the kind of skill that comes from operating in Australia for more than a century. This epic exploration traverses record-breaking canyons and gorges, national parks a

• WA’s Margaret River region • VIC’s Great South West Walk • In praise of bogs • Accidental activists • Miles Franklin’s Brindabellas SUBSCRIBE TO AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC australiangeographic.com.au or call 1300 555 176 WHILE WAITING FOR YOUR NEXT ISSU

Starting at the riverside, take a self-guided walking tour exploring six historical sites around Denmark: including St Leonard’s Anglican Church (1899); Fig Tree Square (1925); and the Denmark Historical Museum, located in the Old Police Station (192

TEN KILOMETRES south of Darwin, in the Northern Territory, the natural beauty of Channel Island and its surrounds belies its tragic past. From 1931 to 1955, this island was a leper colony, and though some buildings were dismantled after its abandonme