Everything about Australian Outback totally explained
Outback refers to remote and arid areas of
Australia, although the term colloquially can refer to any lands outside of the main
urban areas. The term "outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas deemed "
the bush".
The outback is home to the
Australian feral camel and
dingoes. The
Dingo fence was built to restrict dingo movements into agricultural areas towards the south east of the continent. The marginally fertile parts, mainly within the
Lake Eyre Basin, are known as
rangelands and have been traditionally used for
sheep or
cattle farming, on
sheep stations and
cattle stations which are
leased from the Federal Government. Where as these grassy areas have fairly fertile
clay soils, the remainder of the outback has exceedingly infertile
paleosols which can't support fodder nutritious enough for the economic raising of stock. Although the north of Australia has high (if extremely seasonal) and fairly reliable rainfall, giving it almost all the continent's
runoff, the soils there are so poor and eroded (consisting mainly of
ironstone or
bauxite) as to make cropping impossible even with fertilisers such as
superphosphate.
History
Early exploration of inland Australia was sporadic. More focus was on the more accessible and fertile coastal areas. The first party to successfully cross the
Blue Mountains just outside Sydney was led by
Gregory Blaxland in 1813, 25 years after the colony was established. People starting with
John Oxley in 1819 and 1821, followed by
Charles Sturt in 1829-1830 attempted to follow the westward-flowing rivers to find an "inland sea", but these were found to all flow into the
Murray River and
Darling River which turn south.
Over the period 1858 to 1861,
John McDouall Stuart led six expeditions north from Adelaide into the outback, culminating in successfully reaching the north coast of Australia and returning, without the loss of any of the partys' members' lives. This contrasts with the ill-fated
Burke and Wills expedition in 1860-61 which was much better funded, but resulted in the deaths of seven of the eight members of the expedition.
The
Overland Telegraph line was constructed in the 1870s along the route identified by Stuart, who had found enough water to support the needed repeater stations.
Exploration of the outback continued up to the 1950s when
Len Beadell explored, surveyed and built many roads in support of the nuclear weapons tests at
Emu Field and
Maralinga and rocket testing on the
Woomera Prohibited Area. Mineral exploration continues as new mineral deposits are identified and developed.
Mining
Along with agriculture,
tourism and
mining are the main economic activities in this vast and sparsely settled area. Due to the complete absence of mountain building and glaciation since the
Permian (in many areas since the
Cambrian), the outback is extremely rich in
iron,
aluminium,
manganese and
uranium ores, and also contains major deposits of
gold,
nickel,
lead and
zinc ores. Because of its size, the value of grazing and mining is considerable. Major mines and mining areas in the outback include opals at
Coober Pedy and
White Cliffs, metals at
Broken Hill,
Tennant Creek,
Olympic Dam and the remote
Challenger Mine. Oil and gas are extracted in the
Cooper Basin around
Moomba.
Population
Less than 10 percent of the Australian population lives outside the urban settlements on the coastal fringes. Despite this, the outback and the history of its
exploration and settlement provides Australians with a mythical backdrop, and stories of
swagmen,
squatters, and
bushrangers and so on are central to the national ethos of the country. The song
Waltzing Matilda, which is about swagmen and squatters, is a popular traditional Australian song.
Due to the low economic value of much of the land in the outback,
Aboriginal communities have been able to exist with less interference and disruption than in more fertile areas. A significant proportion of the country's indigenous population now lives in the Outback, in areas such as the
Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in northern South Australia.
Medicine
Due to the wide expanses and remoteness of people in the outback, a 'Flying Doctor Service' exists to provide medical services and
medevac to remote areas. This service was created in
1928 in
Cloncurry, Queensland by the Very Reverend
John Flynn (known as Flynn of the Outback). The aim of the service is to provide medical care, primary and emergency, to people who can't reach
hospitals or
general practitioners. Regular Clinics are flown out to remote communities, with consultations held in a specially built clinic, in a homestead, or even under the wing of the plane. In addition The Royal Flying doctors Service provides Air Ambulance to remote areas, Hospital to Hospital Transport and Telephone and Radio consultations.
Education
School of the Air. Originally the teachers communicated with the children via radio, but now satellite telecommunication is used instead.
Some children attend
boarding school, mostly only those in secondary school. Younger children are normally educated at home.
Terminology
Culturally, many urban Australians have had very generalised terms for the otherwise complex range of environments that exist within the inland and tropical regions of the continent. Regional terminology can be very specific to specific locations in each mainland state.
It is colloquially said that 'the outback' is located "beyond the
Black Stump". The location of the black stump may be some hypothetical location or may vary depending on local custom and folklore. It has been suggested that the term comes from the
Black Stump Wine Saloon that once stood about 10 kilometres out of
Coolah, New South Wales on the Gunnedah Road. It is claimed that the saloon, named after the nearby Black Stump Run and Black Stump Creek, was an important staging post for traffic to north-west New South Wales and it became a marker by which people gauged their journeys.
"The Never-Never" is a term referring to remoter parts of the Australian outback. The outback can be also referred to as "back of beyond", "back o' Bourke" although these terms are more frequently used when referring to something a long way from anywhere, or a long way away. The well-watered north of the continent is often called the "
Top End" and the arid interior "The Red Centre" due to its vast amounts of red soil and sparse greenery amongst its landscape.
Wildlife
The Australian Outback may be desolate but there's still wildlife existing in these extreme dry, hot conditions.
Camels may be encountered as they wander the desert sand plains, brought to Australia by the early
Afghan drivers; these animals survive well in the outback.
Kangaroos are also encountered along with the
dingo, as they survive the harshness. White
Cockatoos and Grey
Galahs are often sighted in flocks as they cross the wilderness.
Snakes and
lizards are often basking in the sun, and they may be sighted resting on roads. Wild horses known as '
brumbies,' imported by early settlers, run wild in large numbers.
Tourism
There are many popular tourist attractions in the outback. Some of the well known destinations, include:
Organised travel to the outback is popular, although some Australian and international tourists travel in their own vehicles. Such a trip, particularly once off the few bitumen roads in the outback, requires considerable advance planning and a suitable vehicle (usually a
four wheel drive). On remote routes considerable supplies and equipment may be required, this can include prearranged caches. Some trips can't be undertaken safely with a single vehicle instead requiring a convoy approach. Deaths from tourists and locals becoming stranded on outback trips sometimes occur, and rescues for the ill-prepared also take place from time to time.
Year of the Outback 2002
In 2002 the Western Australian Tourism Commission promoted the outback of Western Australia as part of its promotional programmes.
Transport
The outback is also criss-crossed by numerous historic tracks, roads and highways. Despite their names, most of these require high-clearance four wheel drives and spare fuel, tyres and food before attempting to travel them, even in favourable weather. The
Stuart Highway runs from north to south through the centre of the continent, roughly paralleled by the
Adelaide-Darwin railway. There is a proposal to develop some of the roads to create an all-weather road named the
Outback Highway from
Laverton, Western Australia (north of
Kalgoorlie northeast through the Northern Territory into Queensland, at
Winton.
Air transport is heavily relied on in the outback due to the immense distances, sparse population and poor roads. This includes the major commercial airports at
Alice Springs and
Ayers Rock. Many outback mines have an airstrip and much of the workforce operates on a fly-in fly-out basis. Most outback
sheep stations and
cattle stations have an airstrip and their own light plane. Medical and ambulance services are provided by the
Royal Flying Doctor Service. The
School of the Air is a radio-based school using the RFDS radios.
Birdsville Track
Burke Developmental Road
Canning Stock Route
Colson Track
Connie Sue Highway
French Line
Gary Highway
Gibb River Road
Great Central Road
Gunbarrel Highway
K1 Line
Kalumburu Road
Kidson Track
Lasseter Highway
Oodnadatta Track
Peninsula Developmental Road
Plenty Highway
Rig Road
Sandover Highway
Strzelecki Track
Tallawana Track
Tanami Track
WAA Line
Further Information
Get more info on 'Australian Outback'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://outback.totallyexplained.com">Outback Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
