Chapter 1

The Simpson Desert is a hot and dry desert occupying almost 200 000 square kilometres of central Australia, mostly in the Northern Territory's south-east but also in parts of South Australia and Queensland. Rainfall is less than 400 millimeters per year.

Although the Simpson Desert is a harsh environment, native, spiny grasses known as spinefex bind the loose sand and provide a habitat for over 180 bird species and for lizards and marsupials.

Wildlife adapted to this hot, dry environment and seasonal flooding includes the Water-holding frog (Litoria platycephala) and a number of other reptiles that inhabit the desert grasses.

Logan and I met with Dr. Challis the week before our scheduled trip. We had spoken about it and we were both excited: for each of us it was our first real field trip.

"Either of you have a swag?"

"I do."

"No sir."

"Well, I've got a two-man. So you'll be dossing with me, Logan. You'll be on your own, Gordy."

The swag is as Australian as "Waltzing Matilda." It has been the reliable shelter and home for many a drover and stockman. Add a sleeping bag or bedding: it's a tent with a built in bed that can be rolled up and thrown into the car.

After running through what we should have with us in the way of clothing, we got a sort of biology lecture.

"Knowledge of richness and diversity of the invertebrate fauna is poor across Australia, but this is especially the case in Australian deserts," he began. "However, insects are clearly the largest group of desert animals in Australia in terms of number of species and biomass. Some groups, such as termites and ants, are abundant and play an important role in ecosystem functioning.

"Groups of invertebrates that rely on freshwater do occur in the arid zone but generally there are significantly less species than in coastal regions. The aquatic insect fauna includes species that rely on water for the entire life cycle (such as water scorpions and water striders) and others that have aquatic larvae (e.g. dragonflies).

"Gordy, you and I are going to look for ants. Logan, you'll hunt for frogs."

"I read that there are 42 species of desert frogs and 210 species of desert reptiles," Logan said.

"Not unreasonable. Now, in addition to your collection kits, you should each have a trowel or shovel and a sieve. Do you have bags? We won't need tents, there won't be any rain. I'll make sure we have tucker – either of you squeamish? We might encounter a band. We'll take some jerry cans of water and petrol.

"Any questions?" We both shook our heads. "Okay, then. 800 on Thursday at the Bankstown Airport. Canberra's arranged a crate for us."

"Fine," I said. "I'm picking up Logan and we'll park my ute there."

We flew into Birdsville on what I learned was a Piper Aztec F. The bushpilot had bought it from the US Navy. It was weird: I was closer to Mitchell than I had been in Sydney. But it was far more remote. Birdsville, I had read, between the sands of the Simpson Desert and the gibber plains of Sturt's Stony Desert, is the starting point of the famous Birdsville Track, which stretches to the south with the Simpson Desert to the west. Birdsville began life as 'Diamantina Crossing' in 1881 and was given its present name in 1885. When the inter-state tariffs went, so did Birdsville's importance – except for the races.

It was a hot, dusty place.

In the morning we loaded the Land Rover. I checked the fuel and the coolant and Logan looked at the tyres – even the spare. We drove southwest on Adelaide Street, I was on the left and Logan in the rear.

"Which of you wants to drive next?"

"I'll do it, but Logan has to navigate."

"Not much navigating to do."

"You can drive third shift, if there is one. At that point, you and Gordy can trade off and I'll doze in back."

The "street" part vanished immediately. We continued a few minutes on the rough track and then "hold on!" and we lurched to the left and were on a graded road. We continued for a bit, then pulled up. "Okay. Gordy you drive. I'll play passenger. We need to veer right in a bit, though. Logan, can you tell where we are?"