Ranger Exchange Program 2025 - Michelle's Outback Adventure

​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.

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.

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.

​Our field work tasks mostly included:

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.

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.

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 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!