Oh yeah…i hear that an audio or video entry would be seen as favourable at the moment ;)

And while you are over at the site register for the forum and help grow what could turn out to be a great local resource for discussing adventure activities and products.

The site contains information on the latest issue of the magazine, news stories, event information, product reviews, podcasts and videos, competitions, links to other outdoor and adventure related sites and a community sections containing a blog and a forum.

From the Burke and Wills Expedition Wikipedia entry…

In 1860-61 Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 2,800 kilometres (1,750 miles). At that time most of the inland of Australia had not been explored by non-indigenous people and was completely unknown to the European settlers.

The south-north leg was successfully completed (except they were stopped by swampland 5 kilometres (3 miles) from the northern coastline) but owing to poor leadership and bad luck, both of the expedition’s leaders died on the return journey. All together, seven men lost their lives, and only one man, John King, travelled the entire expedition and returned alive to Melbourne.

Along with the Wikipedia entry, you can find a heap more information, photos, maps, and other things, at the links below.

Burke & Wills Web
Lots of info over at this website, including the Buke & Wills Walk.

The Burke and Wills Historical Society
A group of BUrke and Wills enthusiasts who also run the Burke & Wills Conference every two years, with the next one being held in Melbourne in 2009.

Across Australia with Burke and Wills
A Google Earth Community complete with details Google Earth KML file and Google Maps route as well.

Memorials
A list of Burke and Wills memorials at White Hat.

In the Tracks of Burke and Wills
Follow Mike Wills (fourth cousin, four times removed of William John Wills) and friends as they trace the route of the Burke & Wills Expedition.

It’s on again.

Land Rover invite you to register to see if you’re good enough to represent Australia against a total of 36 men and women from 18 countries in the world’s ultimate adventure.

This is the third Land Rover G4 Challenge, and it’s planned to take place over three weeks, in Asia, in 2009.

You will run up mountains, cycle down valleys, kayak rivers, swing from bridges, and of course drive for thousands of miles against the clock, and your rivals.

And you’ll be helping to raise funds for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society. As part of the International Federation partnership, Land Rover will also donate a vehicle to the National Red Cross, or the Red Crescent Society, associated with the winning team at the Challenge Finals.

This is arguably the toughest challenge in the world. Land Rover wouldn’t have it any other way.

Are you up to the challenge? Click here.

2008 Promo Video

Hmmm…as tempting as it sounds (and looks), i imagine i would get out-classed by some 24 year old extreme outdoor adventure junkie….though i’m sure that I could still give him a run for his money ;)

Anyway…the deadline for entries into the Australian National Selections is 5pm EST on July the 15th, 2008.

2006 Land Rover G4 Challenge video (i think)

Oh yeah…according to www.ski.com.au it snowed last night at Mt Hotham…I also just checked out the snow cams and it looks like Mt Buller had some snow fall on it as well :)

From the Australian Geographic websites About Us page:

“In 1986, Australian adventurer and world-record setting pilot, entrepreneur Dick Smith, established the quarterly journal AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC as a way of showing Australia in a positive light as an unmistakable, unique place in the world, with its amazing plants and animals not found anywhere else on earth.”

Since 1986, Australian Geographic has gone from strength-to-strength and is without a doubt the best resource of its kind in Australia. Originally it was all about joining the society, buying the magazine and visiting the store’s…in the last few years a number of other services have been offered, such as; DVD’s and travel info, event listings, lectures, expeditions & workshops and project sponsorship.

All in all its pretty good value, as $100 gets you a two year magazine subscription and also two years of society membership as well…so I guess I should really get around to re-subscribing instead of buying the magazine when it comes out…what are you waiting for? ;)

Indygear.com covers everything from his Fedora hat, jacket, whip, bag, shirts, pants, belts, holsters, handguns, boots, lighters, glasses, gloves, shovel, ties, notebook and pocketknife…everything you need to release your inner Indy…

Oh yeah…don’t forget that on the 22nd of May 2008, the newest Indiana Jones film is being released…Inidiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull :)

youtube link

Mountain Ranges
Mountain ranges of Australia

Australian Lists
List of mountains in Australia
Mountains of Australia

State Lists
Mountains of the Australian Capital Territory
Mountains of New South Wales
Mountains of the Northern Territory
Mountains of Queensland
Mountains of South Australia
Mountains of Tasmania
Mountains of Victoria
Mountains of Western Australia

Other State lists
Mountains over 1,200 meters Tasmania
List of mountains in the Australian Capital Territory with respect to the 1996 Gazetteer of Australia including Latitude and Longitude.

I would love to find some more lists like the last one that lists all mountains in Tasmania over 1,200 meters…that would be really useful :)

Twenty years ago you would have had to find a facsimile¹of a journal (I have quite a few in the ExpeditionOz Library) or have some pretty darn good reason for wanting to view the original at a library or museum, but with the advent of the internet, everything is available online (well almost everything and not all of its good) and if you hunt around a bit it doesn’t take long to find a bunch of journals of famous explorers who traversed this huge continent in its early days of white history.

Below are some links to some sites which might interest you:

Project Gutenberg Australia – Journals of Australian Land and Sea Explorers and Discoverers
This site has a pretty good collection of journals from Gregory Blaxland, David Carnegie, William Carron, James Cook, William Dampier, Edward John Eyre, Matthew Flinders, John and Alexander Forrest, Ernest Giles, Frank and Augustus Gregory, George Grey, William Hovell and Hamilton Hume, Alexander and Frank Jardine, Phillip Parker King, William Landsborough, Ludwig Leichhardt, John MacGillivray, John McKinlay, Thomas Mitchell, John Oxley, John Lort Stokes, John McDouall Stuart, Charles Sturt, Able Tasman, Frederick Walker and William John Wills.

For maps and other information on a wide range of people, check out their Australian Explorers, Discoverers and Pioneers section.

Western Kentucky University – Nineteenth Century Exploration of Australia
This site is based around a map that outlines a number of explorers paths through Australia with links to other websites containing more detailed information.

Roma Reilly’s Australian Explorers (Also available at this site)
This site, which was designed for primary school aged children, has some pretty concise and basic information on John Forrest, Edmund Kennedy, Ludwig Leichardt, Thomas Mitchell, John Oxley, Edward John Eyre, Robert O’Hara Burke, Matthew Flinders, Charles Sturt and George Bass.

I’ll be the first to admit that text documents or PDF’s are no substitute for having a good old fashioned leather bound book in your hands while you are sitting at the camp fire reading about expeditions of old, but journal facsimiles aren’t the easiest things to find these days, so I guess we take what we can get our hands on…so happy reading :)

ADDITION: If you actually want to lay your hands on some good old fashioned printed material, go and check out the books available at the Early Australian Exploration Books page and some of the other book category pages that Westprint (Victorian based map makers and publishers) have listed on their site…they have a pretty good selection and i’ll certainly be adding a few to the ExpeditionOz Library from it :)

¹ – facsimile: Used to describe a copy or reproduction especially when describing a copy of a journal with regard to explorers..