A summary of The Doc’s AWC adventures
The Doc’s adventures at Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) sanctuaries. Sanctuaries visited so far include:
- Bowra (3 times);
- Brooklyn (twice, once by car and by helicopter on Pennyweight Outstation);
- Buckaringa;
- Bullo River Station;
- Charnley River Station including the Artesian Range (twice, once by car and once in a helicopter);
- Curramore;
- Faure Island (OK I could only look at it across the water), but The Doc did scan all AWC’s old slides from Faure;
- Karakamia Wildlife Sanctuary;
- Mornington (twice, here and here);
- Mt Zero Taravale (twice, once by car and by helicopter);
- Newhaven (twice, here and here);
- Ngalurrtju Aboriginal Land Trust (see Newhaven Reports);
- Paruna (here and here);
- Piccaninny Plains (here , here and revisited here);
- North Head (twice);
- Pilliga State Conservation Area (AWC pictures are down the page a bit);
- Pungalina-Seven Emu Wildlife Sanctuary;
- Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary;
- Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary;
- Yampi Sound (flew over it in a helicopter and photographed it); and
- Yookamurra Wildlife Sanctuary, the first Sanctuary The Doc visited.
Hmm, The Doc still thinks one Sanctuary is missing. He cannot remember which one. But that is at least 30 visits so far. Viva Cristo Rey.
Other AWC stuff (a technical term)
Plus the 6 months job scanning AWC slides and indexing AWC images here and here. The Doc was a Foundation Member when doing these jobs (now called the AWC Champions Circle).
Plus the Nissan Patrol and INEOS Grenadier decked out in AWC stickers asking for donations, what The Doc calls the AWC Mobile Billboard.
Even Mick jumped onboard with the stickers (then neighbour of my parents at Ballina). The Doc asked where he found about about AWC (he was already volunteering for AWC), Mike pointed to my car, the AWC Mobile Billboard. We then arranged stickers for his car!
Project Myxo – AWC gets involved
While on the Excellent Adventure The Doc met Steve Young at the Eromanga Natural History Museum (ENHM). Steve is a retired commercial photographer and Museum volunteer who is finding, sorting and photographing micro fossils and myxos.
While at Newhaven in 2023 The Doc, helped by AWC staff, sourced some bark substrates to add to Steve’s desert study on myxos for ENHM.
Myxos were found, roughly 11 species, on Newhaven. A small field update on the Newhaven myxos was in Issue 49 of Wildlife Matters and a fantastic article on AWC’s website here.
The second part of the Newhaven Myxos Study is to work out the role (if any) played by small animals in spreading myxos. Scat samples are being collected by AWC Field Ecolgists and will be studied soon.
Part 3 of the myxo project has been completed. Steve and The Doc visited Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary in August 2025. The aim was for Steve to collect myxos in situ on the sanctuary. That was successfully achieved. Steve is in the process of photographing those species. Report here.
Steve has self-published a book of his amazing myxo images, called Myxos and Musings – a delightful journey into the little-known world of Myxomycetes. It is an ideal Christmas or birthday present.
AWC Mobile Billboard Meetups
Many people have spoken to The Doc when travelling remote, prompted by the AWC stickers on the car (aka the AWC Mobile Billboard).
One in the middle of the Simpson Desert here.
Some AWC volunteers put a note under the Patrol’s windscreen wipers at Wilpena Pound Ranger Station.
The Doc was approached on his trip to Kangaroo island, while at Victor Harbour here.
A young women came up to The Doc at Mount Barnett Roadhouse, on the Gibb River, to say hello. She was returning home from a bird survey at Newhaven a few weeks before – they were going the long way home to Perth. The Doc was heading out of Mornington, refueling and then into Charnley River Station.
The most numerous comments came on the NSW/SA trip with Tony Stott recounted here.