Tour 6 - Tropical Landscapes - North Queensland

Date	Saturday 7 August to Thursday 12 August 2010
Price	$AUD1700.00 per person single room $AUD1370.00 per person twin share
Inclusions	Coach transfers Accommodation - Saturday through to Wednesday inclusive Breakfast - Sunday through to Thursday inclusive Morning Tea - Sunday through to Thursday inclusive Lunch - Sunday through to Thursday inclusive Afternoon Tea - Sunday through to Thursday inclusive Dinner - included Sunday through to Wednesday inclusive All entry fees and access charges Tour Manual Tour Guides
Participants	Minimum of 25 delegates

Day 1 - Arrive in Townsville

This tour will traverse tropical environments in the north of Queensland. It will start in Townsville on Saturday evening, and conclude in Cairns on the afternoon of Thursday 12 August. Participants will be required to make their own arrangements to travel to Townsville - please contact the Congress Secretariat for information about flights from Brisbane to Townsville.

It is suggested that you arrive early and allow some time to explore this major city. There are no tour events scheduled for this day, but accommodation will be organised to facilitate an early start on the following morning

Day 2 - Burdekin Floodplain

Day two (first day of the tour proper) will feature the soils and crops of the lower Burdekin floodplain south of Townsville. This is Queensland's premier irrigation area with more than 80,000 ha of irrigated land; and the day will begin with an overview of the region and the irrigation scheme. Sugar cane dominates, but there is also a range of other horticultural and vegetable crops.

Natural resource management issues include water quality (sediments, nutrients, salts, agrochemicals), salinity (dryland, irrigated, saltwater intrusion) and land degradation (erosion, soil acidity, salinisation). You will examine contrasting soil types and production systems on three different farms. Soil management issues include sodicity, fertility decline rising groundwater and conversely excessive drainage at certain sites.

Return to Townsville for the night.

Day 3 - Dry Tropics

On Day 3 (Monday) you will travel inland to inspect a ‘dry tropics' grazing enterprise and an associated grazing trial. Sediment and nutrient losses resulting from unsustainable grazing management in the Burdekin River catchment are major threats to water quality in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. The grazing trial at this property has been used to:

assess and demonstrates the ability of different stocking rates to cope with rainfall variability, and
measure sediment and nutrient run-off under different grazing strategies, and
investigate the effect of grazing management strategies on soil carbon.

A range of soil and vegetation types on the property will be examined. If time permits you will have a brief tour of the historic gold mining town of Charters Towers, where you will be staying overnight.

Day 4 - Undara Lava Tubes

On Day 4 (Tuesday), you will travel across diverse landscapes to Undara Lava Tubes - an amazing geological feature consisting of extinct lava tunnels stretching over many kilometres. Spending the night at the Undara Resort will be a ‘total outback' experience.

Day 5 - Atherton Tablelands

From Undara, you leave the ‘tropical savannah' and head north into the rich agricultural area of the Atherton Tablelands where dairying and cropping enterprises will be inspected, along with a diverse range of soil types. The day will conclude at an old volcanic crater (now an important wetland) with an overview of the geological and natural history of the area. Overnight at Malanda.

Day 6 - Wet Tropics and on to Cairns

On the last day of the tour (Thursday), you will have an opportunity to inspect the World Heritage rainforest of the ‘wet tropics' and travel by the ‘Skyrail Cableway' down to the coast. On the coastal delta at Cairns there will be an opportunity to inspect and discuss some of the challenges associated with acid sulfate soils and coastal development. The tour concludes in the late afternoon and you will need to make your own arrangements for dinner and for further accommodation and/or onward travel as required.