We also ventured to Lake Torrens National Park - Australia's second largest Salt Lake. This stark wilderness felt out of this world, stretching 250km long and 30km wide, with the glowing white plains and hot sun. The culturally significant area supports diverse flora and fauna, including the adorable and elusive Lake Eyre Dragon, which we were lucky enough to spot.
It was bittersweet saying goodbye to this wildly wonderful and unique landscape, but throughout my time here, I felt like I was granted access to areas many don't get to experience, which I'm so grateful for.
The alarm went off early for a 3.5-hour drive northwest to Gawler Ranges National Park, north of the Eyre Peninsula. Declared in 2002, this park protects significant cultural sites and some of Australia's most fascinating threatened species, including the yellow-footed rock wallaby, which quickly became a personal favourite of mine.
I was joining the team from Bounceback, South Australia's longest-running landscape-scale biodiversity program which has earned international recognition for their success in recovering threatened species and habitats.
My first project was detective work which involved working alongside a Bounceback ecologist in Pinkawillinie Conservation Park, where we installed motion sensor cameras targeting one of Australia's most endangered marsupials - the sandhill dunnart (
).
A cute little Phascogale being assessed before being released back into the wild
Between camera installations, we conducted detailed habitat assessments, focusing on Triodia hummocks (spinifex), a critical component of dunnart habitat.
At each site, we surveyed two 50-metre transects, measuring 40 individual plants in total. Recording the height, width and separation of each spinifex clump allows the team to identify preferred habitat characteristics, which they can then confirm against camera sightings.
It was painstaking work in the South Australian heat, but this data is gold for conservation planning.
I also contributed to the final stage of an ambitious red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura) reintroduction project. This multi-year effort involves breeding, transporting, radio-tracking, and providing temporary safe havens before releasing animals into nest boxes in the wild.
The goal?
Establishing a self-sustaining population in the Gawler Ranges. Being part of those final releases and watching these remarkable little carnivorous marsupials head off into their new homes was genuinely moving.
After a fun Christmas party farewell with the Flinders and Outback Region team (complete with a few sad goodbyes) in Port Augusta, I headed south to Adelaide to stay at Cleland National Park for my final four days.
From the outback to Adelaide, the contrast was immediate and striking. The team at Cleland manages not only the surrounding national park but also numerous reserves around the Adelaide Hills and the city itself. Where the outback work involved vast distances and remote wilderness, here I was dealing with high visitation, urban-wildlife fringes, and very different management challenges.
I spent my time on practical tasks such as vegetation clearance along the Mount Lofty Track, installing priority seating for visitors, and enjoying a wonderful tour of the nearby waterfall and park facilities.
It was the perfect cherry on top of an incredible exchange, offering a full spectrum view of what parks management looks like across South Australia's diverse landscapes.
This ranger exchange has reinforced something I already suspected. The breadth of skills and adaptability required in this profession is extraordinary. From remote semi-arid ecology work to high-traffic urban parklands, from conservation, predator baiting strategies to visitor infrastructure - it's all part of protecting and sharing Australia's natural heritage.
Making assessments by measuring the width of the spinifex habitats
Update 2: Location: Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park - South Australia
After a well-earned rest in Port Augusta, I embarked on a 330km journey north back into outback South Australia, arriving at the historic Balcanoona Homestead, which is now Parks Headquarters.
Day one I met with the two dedicated Rangers who manage this extraordinary landscape. Proclaimed in 1970, Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park protects 120,000 hectares of remarkable geology, dramatic gorges, chasms and sweeping mountain ranges - all deeply significant to the Adnyamathanha People, the traditional custodians of this land.
Balcanoona Bluff
I was blown away by the sheer scale and remoteness of the park. These Rangers expertly juggle multiple responsibilities: protecting natural and cultural heritage, maintaining recreational infrastructure including hiking trails and 4WD tracks, maintaining historic homestead accommodations and campgrounds, coordinating stakeholder and volunteer engagement activities, as well as conducting essential pest control operations.
Our first patrol visited various campgrounds, including the beloved Grindell’s Hut which was built in the early 1950s and offers breathtaking 180-degree panoramic views of the nearby ranges. Here we met the current 'artist in residence,' participating in a Country Arts SA initiative that provides artists with three weeks to artistically create in this inspiring environment.
We concluded the day at Munda-Lake Frome National Park, passing through a Cultural Use Zone at ‘Plains Block’ designated for traditional hunting practices. Munda/Lake Frome is a spectacular endorheic lake salt pan (a drainage basin that has no outlet to the ocean) spanning 100km by 40km nearing the NSW border which also holds deep cultural significance.
Rolling Spinifex
The following day involved pest control work across 100+ kilometres of the park's northern section via UTV buggy. Despite the biting cold from the drive, this journey proved to be an exceptional opportunity to observe the ever-changing landscape, structures and vegetation while learning about the native plants, animals and their cultural connections.
A highlight of the shift was visiting the Nantawarrina Indigenous Protected Area, which was established in 1998 as Australia's first IPA.
We joined Adnyamathanha community members, Nantawarrina IPA Rangers, and families from neighbouring NSW groups for the unveiling of "Kelvin's 1000 Steps Trail". The celebration featured traditionally prepared kangaroo cooked on hot coals, fresh damper, delicious quandong pie, and a good old fashion outback BBQ.
Throughout the week, we collaborated and socialised with the team at Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary who were lovely and welcoming, including the friendly Yellow-footed rock-wallabies (Petrogale xanthopus) that were travelling by.
Installing the water tank and plumbing connections at Idninka Outstation
Our field work tasks mostly included:
Clearing vegetation at campgrounds to improve visitor access
Removing accumulated ash and rubbish from numerous fire pits following the winter season
Patrolling and assessing walking and 4WD track conditions
Installing water tank systems at Idninha Outstation
Preparing for the upcoming feral goat control operations, including installing park closure signage and notifying stakeholders
This experience at Vulkathunha proved both enjoyable and deeply enriching. I gained invaluable insights into the past and present culture of the immediate park area through tellings of way of living, bush tucker, traditional uses of flora and fauna, and the profound connection between people, land and conservation.
Update 1: Location: Innamincka, Strzelecki Desert and surrounds - South Australia
My outback adventure kicked off with an epic 11-hour drive via the Outback Highway and Strzelecki Track (the distance of roughly 2.5 Tasmanias!) to Innamincka Regional Reserve - a stunning 1.3 million hectare landscape of floodplains, claypans, tablelands, and sweeping red and white sand dunes.
The name Innamincka is said to be derived from Aboriginal legend meaning 'your waterhole' or alternately 'your shelter'. Innamincka has been home and has deep connections to the Yandruwandha and Yawarrawarrka peoples for thousands of years.
Currently, the reserve is still experiencing the flood impacts from the Queensland April/May 2025 major flooding event. The nearby Cooper Creek system has burst into life - stimulating new plant growth by seed dispersal which has created vibrant temporary habitats for wildlife, transforming the arid landscape completely.
This extraordinary region balances natural and cultural values with cattle grazing, gas and oil production, and recreational use. It's also steeped in European history, being the location of the Burke and Wills grave sites and the iconic Dig Tree (Queensland) close by.
Cooking a scrumptious outback dinner while watching the sunset
Our crew - a Senior Conservation Ecologist (SA Parks), Weed Botanist (SA State Herbarium), Community Engagement Officer (Landscapes SA-Arid Lands), and a Tassie gal, tackled the following key works:
- Track Plot Surveys: Identifying tracks, scats, and burrows on red and white sands, targeting threatened species like Ampurta (Dasycercus cristicauda) and the Dusky Hopping Mouse (Notomys fuscus). The survey also included observing the presence of introduced feral herbivores (pigs and camel), introduced predators (cats and foxes) and native predators (dingos).
- Vegetation Condition Assessments: Assessing the impact of large herbivores, such as cattle, on woody perennial plants and surrounding waterways.
- Weed Species Surveys: Collecting and documenting weed species samples that have diagnostic characteristics for identification and representative of the area. The focus was primarily on Buffel Grass (Cenchrus ciliaris), a declared weed species in Queensland and a notorious native competitor!
- Remote Wildlife Camera Monitoring: Collecting and swapping out remote wildlife camera cards — capturing visual data on invasive and native species roaming the immediate areas (mainly local waterways).
The chunky claypan soils, showing how dry it can get
We resurveyed early plots from the 1990s as well as ad hoc sites across several remote locations consistently throughout the shift week, working through a thunderstorm, blazing sunshine, and spectacular outback sunsets.
The real magic?
Collaborating with the incredible ecology crew, the stationed Innamincka Rangers, and the Yandruwandha and Yawarrawarrka Rangers, who all generously shared their time and knowledge of land with me over delicious communal dinner banquets. Thank you for your hospitality, wicked sense of humour and kindness!
Unforgettable moments included spotlighting for nocturnal critters, creating a makeshift light trap for cute fluffy moths, walking through paprika-red coloured sand dunes dusted with wildflowers and tiny gecko footprints, spotting adorable emu families, bopping turtles in the Cooper Creek, and watching wild Central Bearded Dragons bask in the sunshine.
This shift really opened my eyes to the remoteness of arid landscapes, the conservation methods, resource and land management tasks, and co-management strategies involved for Parks and stakeholders in outback SA.
Next stop: Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park!
5 star camping in a desert swale