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There are innumerable fascinating stories and characters along the journey lines of Paperbark Tours. From The Outback to the Barrington Tops, from the South Coast to the Australian Alps, from the Myall Lakes to World Heritage rainforests, there is so much to tell, to experience and to marvel at.
From historical storylines to contemporary experiences, from people dealing with harsh conditions to those ensuring our treasures are preserved for the future, the continuing interplay of men and women with Australia's diverse landscapes is as much a part of your tour experience as the land itself.
On these pages we will introduce you to some of those storylines and those characters, as a taste of what you might experience when you embark on a trip with us.
Previous stories
What If? Development & conservation of Jervis Bay
There have been four or five phases in the modern history of Jervis Bay which, if they had played out differently, might have resulted in massive developments and ineradicable changes to the pristine environment of the region. > more
How Mount Kościuszko got its name
At 2,228 metres, Mount Kościuszko is the highest peak on the Australian mainland. Hard to spell, harder to pronounce – how did it come to be so called? How did it gain the name of a Polish patriot who never set foot in this country? > more
The Snowy Hydro Scheme - Summary
The Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme is one of the most complex integrated water and hydro-electric power schemes in the world. The Scheme collects and stores the water that would normally flow east to the coast and diverts it through transmountain tunnels and power stations. The water is then released into the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers for irrigation.
> more
The Snowy Hydro Scheme - History
As a means of offsetting the disastrous effects of droughts, the concept of diverting water from some of Australia's best-known rivers - the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Snowy and Tumut Rivers - dates back as far as the 1880s. However, it was not until 1944 that a committee of Commonwealth and State representatives was formed to examine from a broad, national viewpoint the development of the water resources of the Snowy Mountains area. > more
The Snowy Hydro Scheme - How it Works
The idea behind the Scheme is simple. Water from melting snow and rain is collected and stored behind dams in lakes and reservoirs and then diverted through tunnels and pipelines down to power stations, hundreds of metres below. > more
The Snowy Hydro Scheme - The People
Between 1949 when the first blasting shot was fired and 1974 when the physical works of the Scheme were completed, over 100,000 men and women from more than 30 countries had worked on the Scheme. Australian-born workers made up only one-third of the workforce, which reached a peak of 7,300 in 1959. > more
The Snowy Hydro Scheme - The Environment
The Snowy Mountains scheme is situated in the Kościuszko National Park. The balance between the Scheme's operations and the surrounding environment was a concern from early on in the construction of the Scheme and continues to be closely monitored.
Hydro-electricity is a fairly clean and efficient source of renewable energy. The Scheme has, nevertheless, had some direct impacts on the environment. > more
Bringing Man on the Moon to the World
The famous pictures of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the Moon during the Apollo 11 Mission in 1969 would not have been seen on earth were it not for the role played by three Australian tracking stations – Parkes, Tidbinbilla and Honeysuckle Creek – the latter of which was the primary receiving and broadcasting point for the critical moments as Armstrong and Aldrin emerged from the Lunar Module and onto the surface of the Moon. > more
Tidbinbilla and the Deep Space Network
For thousands of years, humans have pondered the vastness of visible space. While humans have explored and worked within the Earth-Moon environment, deep exploration of the Solar System depends on unmanned robotic spacecraft.
None of these missions of discovery would be possible were it not for NASA's worldwide Deep Space Network (DSN).
The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) at Tidbinbilla forms one of three facilities worldwide that make up the DSN, along with sites at Goldstone in the Mojave Desert of California and Robledo near Madrid in Spain. > more
About Australia's Gondwana Rainforests
Gondwana Rainforests of Australia contain remnants of the great rainforests that once covered the entire continent of Australia. They feature vertical cliffs, eroded volcanic craters, wild rivers and high waterfalls. An outstanding record of flowering plants, songbirds and rare or threatened animals of ancient lineage show that these reserves have played a significant role in providing refuge to species for millions of years. > more
The Big Scrub
The Big Scrub, once Australia's largest area of tall subtropical rainforest, originally covered some 75,000 hectares extending from Lismore east to the edge of the coastal plain inland from Ballina, and from Meerschaum Vale in the south to Nightcap, Goonengerry and Byron Bay in the north, including the villages of Alstonville, Clunes and Bangalow. Now only small scattered remnants of rainforest remain, many of them less than five hectares in area and covering less than 700 hectares in total – less than 1 per cent of the original area. > more
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