This week’s links (2024-04-07)

In brief:
🏛 Rise in activity from rightwing extremists who want to trigger ‘race war’ in Australia, Asio warns (2024-Apr-10) [The Guardian]
🏃 Russ Cook: ‘Hardest Geezer’ makes history as first person to run full length of Africa A man from West Sussex has become the first person to run the full length of Africa after he crossed the finish line in Tunisia. (2024-Apr-08) [The Standard]
🏕️ Here’s What Really Kills People in the National Parks (2024-Feb-27) [Backpacker]
…
🚴‍♂️ Women’s Race – Live Stream – Paris-Roubaix 2024 Sun 7 Apr at 12:15am [SBS On Demand]
🚴‍♂️ Men’s Race – Live Stream – Paris-Roubaix 2024 Sun 7 Apr at 7:05pm [SBS On Demand]
…
Alone Australia:
📺 Alone Australia Season 2 [SBS On Demand]
🔊 Alone Australia: The Podcast delve deeper into each episode with season one winner Gina Chick and SBS News presenter Darren Mara [SBS|Apple Podcasts]
📺 Out Of The Wild – Gina Chick How life has changed for inaugural Alone Australia winner Gina Chick. In conversation with Leigh Sales. (2024-Apr-08) [ABC Australian Story]

❝ Kids ask a million questions, while adults tell me they love my hippy antics. In Vinnies I was approached by a shy preteen girl who wants to be an adventurer. I high-fived her and told her to go for it. She left with a grin; mine was even bigger. ❞

— Gina Chick

…

🏛 Whopping rate and rent rises driving people to extreme housing alternatives (2024-Apr-10) [Stuff NZ]

❝ Hitting the road at retirement age used to be a lifestyle choice for “grey nomads” with a luxury motorhome and a travel bug.
At the other end of the age scale, Aotearoa is a popular choice for Instagrammers living “vanlife” in search of sunsets in high-end campervans decked in pale wood, white linen and fairy lights.
Now people are considering life on the road as a necessity rather than a choice. ❞

🏛 24 hours, seven mass shootings — as an election looms, what does a day of gun violence look like for the United States? (2024-Apr-07) [ABC News]

❝ Asked whether they can foresee a future in which gun control was effectively in place in the US, the experts who spoke to the ABC are in agreement.
“I think there’s no likelihood at all that the constitution would ever be changed so as to either remove or limit that right … I just don’t see it within the realms of possibility now,” Dr Harris says.
Professor Wolpe says: “There will be no change. Zero.” ❞

🔥 Planned burns: could they be making our forests more flammable in the age of climate change (2024-Apr-04) [The Age]

❝ Environmental scientists Professor David Lindenmayer and Adjunct Associate Professor Phil Zylstra, from the Australian National University and Curtin University, argued in a recent research paper that prescribed burns can actually make forests more flammable. ❞

🔥 Coming of age: research shows old forests are 3 times less flammable than those just burned (2024-Mar-23) [ANU Fenner School of Environment & Society]

❝ Cooperating with country today means moving away from prescribed burning across large areas. Frequent burns may be useful only close to homes, or in other locations where we know with confidence they can achieve an ecological goal or help firefighters stop a burning edge.
Elsewhere, we should work with forest landscapes and allow them to become open again. We can support this process by refocusing fire management to quickly suppress fire when it does break out. ❞

🏕️ If you really want kids to spend less time online, make space for them in the real world (2024-Apr-02) [The Guardian]

❝ … that this isn’t just about phones, but over-anxious parenting and the decline of adventurous, unsupervised play for younger children: climbing trees and falling out of them, making dens, roaming the neighbourhood on your bike, and other experiences the National Trust’s research suggests too many children lack. […]
As a society we nag kids to get off their phones into the real world, but won’t make room for them here; we put adult convenience first, and are then surprised when children don’t flourish. ❞

🏕️ Three-quarters of children want more time in nature, says National Trust (2024-Apr-01) [The Guardian]

❝ More than three-quarters of children want to spend more time in nature, the National Trust has found, as the conservation charity pushes ministers to ensure youngsters are no more than a 15-minute walk from green spaces.
Nearly two-thirds – 63% – of parents are able to take their children to nature spaces only once a week or less, citing accessibility as the main barrier, the survey of 1,000 children aged seven to 14 and 1,000 parents by the trust and the children’s newspaper First News found. ❞

❝ When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. ❞

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

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April – Waring Wombat Season

Waring Wombat Season (April-July)
Cool, rainy days follow misty mornings. The time of highest rainfall and lowest temperatures.
Waring (wombats) emerge to bask and graze in the sunshine.
Bulen-bulen (Superb Lyrebird) males perform their courtship displays.
Hearts of Kombadik (Soft Tree-ferns) are the major food when no fruits are available.
Days are short and nights are long.
The constellation of Sagittarius rises in the southeast after sunset, indicating the mid-point of cold weather.

❝Wumangurruditj, that’s wombat. Put a piece of wombat, a piece of pork and a piece of porcupine [echidna] and you can’t tell the difference. ❞ – Jessie Hunter, 1999

— Eastern Kulin Seasonal Calendar [Melbourne Museum]

In the April-2024 Sky

06 Apr – Moon close to Mars and Saturn in morning sky
08 Apr – Daylight saving time ends at 3 am
08 Apr – Moon and Venus close
08 Apr – Lunar perigee at 358,850 km
09 Apr – New Moon
10-11 Apr – Crescent Moon near Jupiter
11 Apr – Saturn and Mars spectacularly close
15 Apr – Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks will appear from mid-April just after sunset
19 Apr – Mercury and Venus close
20 Apr – Lunar apogee at 405,623 km
22-23 Apr – Lyrids meteors peaking
24 Apr – Pi-Puppids meteors peaking
24 Apr – Full Moon (Pink Moon)

🌗 Skynotes: April 2024 [Scienceworks]
🌗 Monthly sky guides: Sky Guide April 2024 [Powerhouse Museum]
🌗 The Sky Tonight: April 2024 [Scitech]
🌗 Astrophiz – Astrophiz189: April SkyGuide [Astrophiz|SoundCloud]
🌗 Planets Visible in the Night Sky in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [timeanddate.com]
🌗 Moon Phases – Lunar Calendar for Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [timeanddate.com]
🛰️ AUSTRALIA – Melbourne [Find Starlink]
☄️ Coming Events: A Year of Southern Astronomy for 2024 [astroblogger]
☄️ Meteor Shower Calendar [timeanddate.com]

This week’s links (2024-03-31)

In brief:
🏔 An international database of judgements on climbing and mountaineering accidents (2024-Mar-27) [UIAA]
🌳 The ‘Mother Tree’ idea is everywhere — but how much of it is real? A popular theory about how trees cooperate has enchanted the public and raised the profile of forest conservation. But some ecologists think its scientific basis has been oversold. (2024-Mar-26) [Nature]
🏕️ Bushwalker who survived kidney failure on NSW wilderness walk warns of tough conditions Bushwalker praises PLB for saving his life (2024-Mar-31) [ABC News]
🏕️ Exploring the Backyard While a grand trip might offer novelty and excitement, there’s adventure to be found in territories much closer to home. (2024-Feb-03) [NYT|archive.today]
🏕️ British Correspondent’s Bag and Photojournalist’s Bag (2020-May-22) [Abandoned Republic]
…
🚴‍♂️ Women’s Race – Live Stream – Paris-Roubaix 2024 Sun 7 Apr at 12:15am [SBS On Demand]
🚴‍♂️ Men’s Race – Live Stream – Paris-Roubaix 2024 Sun 7 Apr at 7:05pm [SBS On Demand]
🚴‍♂️ Women’s Race – Live Stream – Amstel Gold Race 2024 Sun 14 Apr at 9:00pm [SBS On Demand]
🚴‍♂️ Men’s Race – Live Stream – Amstel Gold Race 2024 Sun 14 Apr at 10:45pm [SBS On Demand]
…
Alone Australia:
📺 Alone Australia Season 2 [SBS On Demand]
🔊 Alone Australia: The Podcast delve deeper into each episode with season one winner Gina Chick and SBS News presenter Darren Mara [SBS|Apple Podcasts]
📺 Alone Australia Season 2 Episode 1 Recap – At Night I Dream of Sandflies Tim’s Alone Australia Recaps Are Back (2024-Mar-23) [We Are Explorers]
…

🏛 A ‘small target’ government in a big moment (2024-Apr-04) [The Shot]

❝ The Prime Minister, quite literally the man who founded the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine in his younger days, now instructs his government to abstain from UN votes calling for a ceasefire in Gaza – a conflict being called a “plausible genocide” by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The same Prime Minister, who once spoke with fire for the Palestinian cause, now supplies Israel with materiel with which to wage that “plausible genicode”, assistance he refuses to withhold despite growing global condemnation.
This is shifting the essence of who we are as a nation. And this is why Albanese is a major disappointment to many who voted for his party, and many who didn’t. ❞

🔥 Holy smoke, Easter has been hazy as planned burns choke Melbourne (2024-Mar-31) [The Age]

❝ The smoke haze that has blanketed Melbourne over the Easter weekend is expected to clear on Monday night or Tuesday when a cold front moves over Victoria, the Bureau of Meteorology says. ❞

🪃 Evidence found in Mithaka Country of Australia’s first miners (2024-Mar-30) [The Saturday Paper]

❝ When the controversy erupted I was bemused because the facts speak for themselves and the outrage seemed to be confected. I think when people look back on this period they will wonder what all the fuss was about. It seems to have more to do with academic pride than scholarship.
European terms like “farming” cannot accurately describe Aboriginal food propagation methods but hunting and gathering is even further from the truth. It seemed that some in the press were desperate to deflect the idea of economic and agricultural activity in order to maintain the myth of peaceful and justified invasion. The rest of Australia seems ready to accept the obvious. ❞

🏕️ Authorities tell tourists ‘don’t just rely on Google Maps’ while travelling through outback Queensland (2024-Mar-29) [ABC News]

❝ Outback explorers are raring to hit Queensland’s red dirt tracks, but authorities are worried about the volume of inexperienced travellers relying on location mapping apps.
The Easter school holidays marks the unofficial start to the outback tourist season and tourism operators are busily preparing for an influx of visitors.
The State Emergency Service (SES) in the state’s far west said its biggest concern was people taking wrong directions while using location mapping apps. ❞

🔥 NSW coroner calls for overhaul of firefighting systems after black summer bushfires (2024-Mar-27) [The Guardian]

❝ The state coroner, Teresa O’Sullivan, presented her findings on Wednesday after holding hearings across the state for more than two years to examine 25 deaths and 46 fires across NSW that occurred during the 2019-20 bushfire season.
She made 28 recommendations directed to the commissioners of the NSW Rural Fire Service and police and the chief executive of state-owned infrastructure company Essential Energy. ❞

📄 Inquests and Inquiries into the 2019/2020 NSW Bushfire Season – Volume 2 Decision of State Coroner O’Sullivan [PDF]
📄 Inquests and Inquiries into the 2019/2020 NSW Bushfire Season – Volume 1 Decision of State Coroner O’Sullivan [PDF]

🧗 Playground charged over 8-year-old child’s horror 7m fall (2024-Mar-23) [news.com.au]

❝ WorkSafe Victoria alleges the child was playing at Funtopia Maribyrnong playground in July 2022 when they fell from a height of seven metres and sustained a fractured spine.
The workplace safety watchdog alleges the child fell due to faulty climbing safety equipment in an accident that could have been prevented.
It has accused the company of failing to reasonably reduce the risks of uncontrollable falls by adequately inspecting, maintaining and replacing its climbing safety equipment. ❞

🧗 Play centre charged after child injured in serious fall (2024-03-22) [WorkSafe Victoria]

❝ In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ❞

— Albert Schweitzer

This week’s links (2024-03-24)

In brief:
🏃 Self-Confidence: An Interview with Jasmin Paris About Her 2024 Barkley Marathons Finish (2024-Mar-27) [I Run Far]
🏃 Finding a Groove: An Interview With Camille Herron About Her 6-Day World Record at the 2024 lululemon FURTHER Event (2024-Mar-20) [I Run Far]

…

🚬 🐚 Finish Line Interview With Jasmin Paris | First Woman to Finish the Barkley Marathons (2024-Mar-23) [Singletrack|YouTube]

❝ I figured – I’ll either pass out or I’ll finish. ❞

🚬 🐚

This footage of Jared Campbell @derajslc offering @JasminKParis (#smalleuropeanwoman) the choice of direction (after 46 hours of the toughest #running) is some of the most incredible sportsmanship I have ever seen… (it may have created a watery situation in my eyes!) #BM100 pic.twitter.com/oDTk8DfTuy

— Sarah Kern (@sarahkern101) March 22, 2024

🌳 As a child, I roamed Dartmoor – and it shaped me. But across England, that freedom is being trampled on (2024-Mar-19) [The Guardian]

❝ I now know that my experience of responsible roaming was a rare one. With only 8% of the English countryside accessible to the public, it’s no wonder people see the land around them as not theirs to explore, enjoy, and care for. No wonder they feel so detached as to be able to leave litter in the countryside. No wonder kids are getting outside less and less, and missing out on opportunities to get curious, solve problems, take risks and explore the limits of their bodies. And why would we view our land and wildlife as worthy of protection if we don’t know and love them? …
We are in a crisis of disconnection and dispossession, but we and the land have so much to give each other if allowed the chance to connect. It’s time we had the same rights of access in England that are enjoyed in Scotland and many other European countries. The Right to Roam campaign is calling for just that: the chance for all of us to know and care for the place we call home. ❞

🌳 If a tree falls in the forest, let the fallen log lie, say conservationists (2024-Mar-17) [The Age]

❝ With fallen trees still prevalent in many areas, forest advocates and scientists are calling for Victoria’s windblown woods to be left alone.
They argue extracting large fallen trees inflicts further environmental harm due to the machinery that carves up the forest floor, and also denies habitat to small animals, insects and fungi that eventually inhabit the logs.
But the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action insists its operations are necessary to mitigate fire hazards and minimise the risk of damaged trees falling in public areas.
Victorian National Parks Association nature conservation campaigner Ben Gill said salvage logging, which involves removing damaged trees from forests, needs to stop. ❞

❝ The autumn wind is a pirate. Blustering in from sea with a rollicking song he sweeps along swaggering boisterously. His face is weather beaten, he wears a hooded sash with a silver hat about his head… The autumn wind is a Raider, pillaging just for fun. ❞

— Steve Sabol

This week’s links (2024-03-17)

In brief:
🏔 Anna Wells Completes the Winter Munros (2024-Mar-14) [Explorers Web]
🏛 Advance is a billionaire backed racist disinformation factory undermining democracy (2024-Mar-14) [The Shot]
📚 Adventure Books Written by Women (2024-Mar-13) [Alastair Humphreys]
🚬 🐚 How to Get In to the Barkley Marathons (2024-Feb-16) [Random Forest Runner]

🚬 🐚

We are all waiting for @keithdunn Christmas! #bm100

— Amelia Boone (@ameliaboone) March 16, 2024

…

🌳 ‘Not a great legacy’: Troubled state-owned VicForests to close within months (2024-Mar-13) [The Age]

❝ Victoria’s troubled state-owned forestry operation will close on June 30 after years of financial losses and allegations of mismanagement and spying on environmentalists.
In the 2022-23 financial year, VicForests returned a net loss of $60.1 million, despite receiving a $149 million bailout from the state government. The record loss followed a loss of $54.2 million the previous financial year. ❞

🚬 🐚 #17 – To finish the Barkley Marathons (2024-Mar-13) [Karel Sabbe|YouTube]

❝ “#”17 – To finish the Barkley Marathons” offers an unprecedented look into the psyche of Karel Sabbe in his attempt to finish the legendary Barkley Marathons. As the first documentary focusing on a finisher, it unveils Sabbe’s mental fortitude and physical resilience in tackling the brutal course.
Through intimate interviews and captivating footage, viewers gain invaluable insights into the mindset required to endure the grueling challenges of the Barkley, making this documentary a must-watch for anyone fascinated by the intersection of human determination and athletic prowess. ❞

❝ #16 – Knowledge and understanding of the actual Barkley course and how to navigate around it is fundamental to success and goes without saying; however, equally as important and useful, but often overlooked, is the “big picture” of the park, its features and how they are all interconnected and how the Barkley course fits and flows within/around the park. (attrib: Jonathan Basham; also: laz, Furtaw, others) ❞

— Henry Speir, “Barkley Self-Evident Truths”

This week’s links (2024-03-10)

In brief:
🏔 Everest: Khumbu Authorities Ease Restrictions (2024-Mar-08) [Explorers Web]
🏔 Everest 2024: Nepal’s “GPS Chip” Plan has Major Problems (2024-Mar-05) [Alan Arnette]
🏔 Everest Season About to Begin: Here’s What We Know (2024-Mar-04) [Explorers Web]

…

🎲 Dungeons & Dragons at 50: the collaborative fantasy role-playing game that builds you up (2024-Mar-10) [The Guardian]

❝ Dungeons & Dragons – affectionately known as D&D – is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024. Dragged through the mud in the 1980s, when critics argued it was a gateway to devil worshipping and the media connected it to murders and suicides, the game has surged back into popularity and popular culture in recent years.
Its appeal is perhaps best captured by one of its creators, Gary Gygax , who once said: “All of us at times feel a little inadequate at dealing with the modern world – it would feel much better if we knew we were a superhero or a mighty wizard.” ❞

🔊 Nightlife Travel – Flinders Island Walking Tour (2024-Mar-04) [ABC Listen|ABC Radio Sydney]

❝ Travel writer Belinda Jackson has just returned from the Flinders Island walking tour, the newest gem in the Great Walks of Australia, nestled in the Bass Strait between Tasmania and Victoria. She joins Philip Clark on Nightlife to discuss the journey and walking tours. ❞

🔊 Nightlife Travel – Walking Tasmania’s Overland Track (2024-Feb-12) [ABC Listen|ABC Radio Sydney]

❝ The BBC recently listed an Australian destination as one of their top 10 classic treks around the world and it’s located in our famously picturesque Apple Isle state. Stretching over 60 kilometers from the iconic Cradle Mountain and ending at Australia’s deepest lake, Lake St Clair, the six-day walk entices avid trekkers from across the globe.
Marie Bean who works for a tour company in Davenport that transports passengers to and from The Overland Track, revealed to Philip Clark suggestions for embarking on the trek. ❞

❝ May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home. ❞

— Trenton Lee Stewart

In the March-2024 Sky

03-04 Mar – good starlink train over Melbourne
09 Mar – Venus near crescent Moon
10 Mar – New Moon
13-14 Mar – Jupiter near crescent Moon
15 Mar – gamma Normids meteors peak
20 Mar – Autumn Equinox
21 Mar – Soyuz launching crew to the ISS
22 Mar – Saturn close to Venus in morning sky
25 Mar – Apogee (mini) Full Moon (Worm Moon)
25 Mar – Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

🌗 Skynotes: March 2024 [Scienceworks]
🌗 Monthly sky guides: Sky Guide March 2024 [Powerhouse Museum]
🌗 The Sky Tonight: March 2024 [Scitech]
🌗 Astrophiz – Astrophiz187: March SkyGuide [Astrophiz|SoundCloud]
🌗 Planets Visible in the Night Sky in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [timeanddate.com]
🌗 Moon Phases – Lunar Calendar for Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [timeanddate.com]
🛰️ AUSTRALIA – Melbourne [Find Starlink]
☄️ Coming Events: A Year of Southern Astronomy for 2024 [astroblogger]
☄️ Meteor Shower Calendar [timeanddate.com]

March – Iuk Eel Season

Iuk Eel Season (March)
Hot winds cease and temperatures cool.
Iuk (eels) are fat and ready to harvest.
Binap (Manna Gum) is flowering.
Days and nights are of equal length.
Lo-An Tuka, the Hunter, is the star Canopus, seen almost due south at sunset.

❝ We used to set a fishing line at night time, mostly in the lagoons. We got eels out of that… they’d go down to where Badger Creek runs into the Yarra. If eels were running that plentiful they’d make a net and put that in. ❞ – Martha Nevin, 1969.

— Eastern Kulin Seasonal Calendar [Melbourne Museum]