FIELD TRIPS

Field Trips

What We Do Best

The Friends’ main activity each year is a field trip (or several trips) to the GVD on the South Australian side of the border. The trips are generally held over one or two weeks in the cooler months. Members travel in their own vehicles and we are supported by DEW staff. All work and travel is approved by the traditional owners. In recent years the trips have concentrated on biological survey work, but a great deal of valuable clean-up and track clearing work has been undertaken in the past. Our field trips are conducted in a relaxed, friendly manner. Lots gets done, but we take full account of the harsh environment and the long distances involved; not to mention the average age of our members. We camp out every night and a great sense of camaraderie quickly develops. The links will take you to summaries, photos and reports which will give you a feel for the work involved and how we went about it. To give prospective new members an idea of what’s involved in a field trip, an edited version of our “Information for Members Participating in Field Trips” document is worth a read. Members can read the full version by logging in to the Members’ Area.

From the mid 1990s to the early 2000s, the Friends collected plant specimens for the State Herbarium of South Australia on an opportunistic basis. These specimens were identified and archived by herbarium botanists. For about 10 years from the early 2000s, the Friends undertook more formal plant surveys on one-hectare plots identified by the State Herbarium. Unfortunately, funding cuts to the herbarium have meant that this material can no longer be processed and we have discontinued this work. However, we have also been photographing the vegetation at set points in three sections of the South Australian part of the GVD – the Googs Track area, the Mamungari area and around Maralinga. We generally get to one of these sections every year, so the recording of each photopoint is done every three years. These records are supplied to the Herbarium and they now fill several DVDs.

More recently we have supported research projects recording marble gum (Eucalyptus gonglyocarpa) distribution and the use of marble gums by the Wipu Wara (Princess Parrot). We have also provided substantial support for a project investigating camel damage to the desert vegetation.

Slideshow

The photos have brief captions describing the places we visit and the work we do. Hover the mouse over an image to freeze the slideshow.

Friends at Djindugara Rockhole, just over the border into Western Australia
Neville and June collecting plant samples under a permit from the South Australian Herbarium
The Friends visited the Rodinia exploration rig in 2010. This exploration produced no results.
Searching for plant specimens.
Identifying specimens from the 2008 vegetation survey
Sophisticated plant specimen pressing technique
The vegetation plot team in 2008.
A photopoint identification disc
Taking a photopoint image.
A father and son team recording photopoints.
Locating a photopoint using GPS.
Assembling a photopoint sighting pole.
The cairn on Observation Hill from which the British atomic bomb tests were observed.
Field camp near (but not too near) the Emu atomic bomb test site.
Members' vehicles just off the Eyre Highway at Colona.
Neville tests the draft at a blowhole near Maralinga.
The Anne Beadell "Highway" crosses into the West Australian Laverton Shire at Serpentine Lakes
Monitoring Grevillea trureana, a very rare plant found in only two small areas of the GVD
Malleefowl mound monitoring along Goog's Track.
Kevin gets tracking and monitoring help from a DEW staff member.
Recording animal scats.
Animal track recording.
Animal track recording.
Phil plugging a fuel leak
Campfire discussion
Old fellers measuring overstorey growth on a vegetation plot
Gumboot tossing event back at camp
Willing volunteers pitch in to help two elderly gentlemen mend a puncture
Friends of the GVD camp at Mt Finke on Goog's Track
Goog's Track has a few steep dunes which can be difficult to negotiate

COVID-Era Field Trips

All proposed field trips for 2020 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two field trips were planned for August, 2021. The first trip (vegetation photopoints and drone vegetation monitoring) was completed successfully – see the link below. The second trip (quondong survey) had to be cancelled due to an outback COVID exposure incident.

Field Trip Reports

Follow the links below for detailed information on the work undertaken each year since 2004. The reports come in a variety of formats, depending on whether the report was a report to a general meeting, a report prepared for our Newsletter, or a report to the Department of Environment and Water. If the link for a particular year takes you to a Newsletter, there will often be several small reports in that Newsletter.

2024 2023 2022 2021 2019 2018

2017 (Aug & Sept trips) 2017 (May trip) 2016 2015

2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005

2017 Field Trip Video

This short YouTube video shows feral camels damaging vegetation near the Emu atomic bomb test site and our first experimental use of the Friends’ drone to survey vegetation sites. View it here.