By Bill Collyer

Prior to European arrival, a small group of aborigines called the Wangkangurru deemed the Simpson Desert home. They had established a series of semi-permanent shallow wells which provided water sufficient for the few families. These wells were more like underground tanks formed by depressions in the impervious gypsum layers that were the bottom of old salt lakes. These depressions filled with sand and trapped the water that drained into them, the sand then prevented the evaporation of the water. These wells (“tanks”) were usually quite shallow, not more than two or three metres deep, and the water was accessed by a small sloping tunnel...

On Thursday 14th June Phil and I drove up to Peach Trees Camp Ground near Jimna State Forest. For those not familiar with the area, its truly a beautiful spot where you can get away from it all, and the bonus is that its not that far away from the Coast.

Only a handful of club members turned up, but, that didn’t really matter, as we had a great time. Glenn and Bow MacDonnell, Dave Torcello and Rob and Sue Hammond arrived on Friday.  Geoff and June Taylor drove out for the day on Saturday.

Our campsite was among a grove of sentinel like 30 to 40 metre Eucalyptus trees.  They were stunning. Fires are allowed and pits are dotted throughout the area, and as an added bonus, a local fellow came through the camp selling firewood at A$10 a pop. We bought 4 lots...

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Well, Cooma in the Monaro region of NSW once again hosted a birthday bash for Land Rover. This time, it was its 70^th. Being one of the hubs where Land Rover was used in the construction of the Snowy Hydro Electric Scheme between 1949 and 1974, Cooma has always had a soft spot for the marque. It was probably, also a proving ground for the vehicle which started production only a year or so before the project began.

This year, over the Easter break, between 900 and 1000 Land Rovers of all ages and configurations converged onto the small town, gateway to the Monaro Region and close to Kosciusko National Park. It was an incredible experience driving through town, with “Welcome Land Rover” signs everywhere. Above pubs, the Land Rover flag flew in all its glory...

By Bob Lewis

Trip to Cape York – 2017

to Assist Tangaroa Blue – clean up the Five Beaches Loop

http://www.tangaroablue.org/

Tangaroa Blue Foundation is an Australian-wide not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the removal and prevention of marine debris, one of the major environmental issues worldwide. But if all we do is clean-up, that is all we will ever do.

To successfully solve the problem, the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) was created, an on-ground network of volunteers, communities and organisations that contribute data from rubbish collected during beach and river clean-up events to the AMDI Database, and then work on solutions to stop the flow of litter at the source...