growling grass frog—Litoria reniformis, a species of ground-dwelling tree frog native to south-eastern Australia, ranging from southern South Australia along the Murray River though Victoria to New South Wales, with populations through Tasmania. Litoria reneformis is a very large, ground-dwelling tree frog up to 10cm from snout to vent. It is a mottled bright green and bronze colour above, often with dark brown enameled bumps. It has a pale cream underside, with a faint cobbling pattern. A pale stripe runs from the side of the head down the flanks as a skin fold. The thighs are blue-green in colour. There are a series of shallow bumps over its back. This frog closely resembles the green and golden bell frog (Litoria aurea), but is distinguished by the shallow bumps on its back, a shorter call, and a slightly different head and snout shape. The tympanum is visible in these frogs. The tadpoles are also very large (up to 9.5cm). The tadpoles often have a coppery pigment along their sides and an iridescent green sheen along their backbones. This species is associated with large swamps, permanent dam impoundments, ponds, and lakes (particularly ones with reeds) in woodland, shrubland, open and coastal areas. This frog is an agile climber, but is most often found amongst dense reeds or along swampy grasslands. It hunts and basks in the sun during the day. Growling grass frogs reportedly hunt other frogs by zoning into the sound of their calls. The call is a three part moaning craw-ork ar-ar, rising and then falling in tone (described as the sound of a duck or goose being strangled). The males develop black, rough nuptial pads on their thumbs during the breeding season, which occurs during spring through to late summer. The eggs (up to several thousand) are distributed in a loose pile. These frogs stay in tadpole stage for at least one year. This frog is believed to be in decline across much of its range. In some regions, it has disappeared altogether, but in others it remains locally abundant (such as parts of northern Victoria and the Riverland in South Australia, associated with the Murray River). also commonly known as the southern bell frog (New South Wales), growling grass frog (Victoria and South Australia) , green and gold frog (Tasmania) and, erroneously, as the green frog.

grubber—(cricket) ball that goes along the ground.

Grummet Island—the penal station at Sarah Island in Macquarie Harbour was set up for two central reasons—firstly as a place where the worst convicts and those who had escaped from other settlements could be banished. The only means of access was through a narrow channel known as Hell's Gates, which resulted in the death of many convicts before they even reached the settlement. As the island was separated from the mainland by treacherous seas and then from the settled areas of the colony by mountainous wilderness, the odds of escape from Sarah Island were particularly poor. The surveyor who mapped out the site concluded that the chances of escape were "next to impossible". A tiny nearby island, Grummet Island, was used as a place of solitary confinement. There was at least one recorded escape, however; bushranger Matthew Brady was among a party that escaped to Hobart in 1824 after tying up their overseer and seizing a boat. Convict Alexander Pearce also managed to escape twice, both times cannabalising his fellow escapees.

grundies—(rhyming slang) undies; underwear.

grungy—no-hoper.

grunter—1. a prostitute. 2. a pig.

GST—Goods and Services Tax, a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia. Generally, businesses registered for GST will include GST in the price of sales to their customers, and claim credits for the GST included in the price of their business purchases.

Guanaba Indigenous Protected Area—adjoins Mount Tambourine National Park in the high priority South East Queensland bioregion. Guanaba is approximately 100ha in size and is composed of largely original vegetation of the Mount Tamborine escarpment, which has significant biological value. Guanaba was declared as an IPA in November 2000. The Ngarang Wal Land council who hold title to the property plan to manage the property as an IUCN Category IV Habitat/Species Management area. The Guanaba property has significant biological and cultural values. The Tambourine escarpment is a diverse complex of ten ecosystems with 945 species of plants and 211 terrestrial vertebrate fauna, and is the stronghold for several species that are rare and threatened. The fauna on the escarpment includes 36 mammal, 28 reptile, 15 amphibian and 132 bird species. Of these, twenty-eight species are listed as rare, threatened or culturally significant under the Queensland Nature Conservation Legislation Amendment Regulation (No.2) 1997. The landowners are working with the Queensland Department, the Gold Coast City Council and Griffith University to develop options for protecting the property and for incorporating research and cultural activities into their management of the property.

Gubbi-Gubbi—an Aboriginal people of the Gympie-Cooloola Coast, southern Fraser Island and the northern Sunshine Coast hinterland region near Noosa in South East Queensland.

guernsey—1. a garment that is pulled over the head (first recorded in 1907) taking its name from that particular Channel island which produces a distinctive cloth (references to guernsey coats go back to the mid-19th century). 2. a football jersey.

guff—nonsense; rubbish; baloney.

guinea—(hist.) In the earliest days of Australian settlement there was no proper currency. In 1788 the First Fleet arrived in New South Wales from England to establish a new colony. There were eleven ships and 1,487 people, including 759 convicts. The Fleet brought enough provisions to last the colony for two years, during which it was expected that the convicts would plant and harvest crops. No currency was supplied for the colony, and the only money was what the passengers happened to have with them. The officers were to be paid with food and goods from the company store, and the free settlers who accompanied the Fleet would have little need of money. However, no one had much farming experience, the climate in the new land was harsh, the soils unfamiliar, and the first crops failed. Trading ships from other places started to visit the colony, bringing clothing, boots, butter, tea and rum, but the colonists had no money to buy any goods. Governor Phillip requested money to be sent from England, and in 1790 a ship brought about 4500 Spanish dollars for him to use for the colony. At this time, many countries used to cut Spanish coins into pieces to use as money. The coins were generally cut into quarters, then each quarter was cut in half, leaving eight approximately equal slices. These were called 'pieces of eight'. In New South Wales, each quarter section was cut into two pieces, a two-thirds section which was called a shilling and a one-third section which was called sixpence. By 1800, most of the Spanish coins had disappeared, and coins from different countries were being used in the colony. The problem was that they all had different values. Governor King tried to sort the confusion by allocating English money values on the different coins. In 1812, 40,000 Spanish dollars were shipped to Governor Macquarie, with instructions that he was to make sure they remained in the colony. Macquarie employed a silversmith, convict William Henshall, to punch out the centre of each coin, leaving two parts: a ring and the centre part, the dump. Each of these was stamped with its value, the ring being worth five shillings and the dump one shilling and threepence. By 1820, the rings had become known as 'holey dollars'. From colonial times until 1966, Australia followed the British currency system of pounds, shillings and pence. Twelve pence, or pennies, equalled one shilling. Twenty shillings equalled one pound. One pound and one shilling was a guinea. The change to decimal currency In February 1966, Australian currency was changed to the decimal system of dollars and cents.

guinea-flower—any of several species belonging to the genus Hibbertia, bearing golden-yellow flowers. It is an understorey shrub that is very common in open forest. While it flowers most profusely in late winter and spring, some flowers can be found in all seasons. The guinea-flower prefers scrubland and open forest on sandy soils. In Sydney it is widespread from the coast to the mountains, and throughout NSW except in the far west; also in Queensland and Victoria. A quick-growing, hardy plant tolerant of poor soils, direct sun and drought, it is utilised in regeneration programs as well as being widely found in suburban gardens.

Gulaga the Mother Mountain—the centre of creation for all Yuin people and one of the most significant Aboriginal spiritual sites in Australia. The indigenous Aboriginal people tell you to look at Gulaga from two different angles and you can see a man and a woman. Gulaga (Wallaga Lake) National Park encompasses a landscape of great spiritual significance to the local Aboriginal people and of particular significance to Aboriginal women. Named Mount Dromedary by Captain Cook because it looked like the shape of a camel with its bumps, it is today part of the 4600ha Gulaga National Park, which has been handed back to the Aboriginal custodians. Located 10km north of Bermagui along the Wallaga Lake Road.

gulf—a body of water forming a coastal indentation in which the mouth is narrower than the magnitude of the indentation.

Gulf Coastal bioregion—gently undulating plains with scattered rugged areas on Proterozoic sandstones and Tertiary sediments; sandy red earths and shallow gravelly sandy soils; Darwin stringybark woodland with spinifex understorey.

Gulf Country—a Queensland regional area characterised by a myriad of stream channels that flow westward to the Norman River. Joining with the Saxby and Flinders, these three rivers drain northwards towards the extensive depositional plains and shallow waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria. During the Wet season (October to May), these streams transform the surrounding low, flat, arid plains into inland seas. The engorged rivers may eventually overflow their banks to join each other over tens of kilometres, effectively isolating communities. The discovery of the areas now known as the Gulf Country was exclusively a Dutch maritime affair. By the beginning of the 17th century the Dutch East India Company was looking to extend its influence and increase its profits. In line with this policy the Dyfken was dispatched in 1605. The expedition sailed down the south-west coast of New Guinea, missed Torres Strait entirely and entered the Gulf of Carpentaria. The knowledge that an unknown coast lay to the south prompted the Dutch East India Company to send out another expedition in 1623. The expedition gave the first descriptions of the northern coast of Australia.

Gulf Fall and Uplands bioregion—undulating terrain with scattered low, steep hills on Proterozoic and Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks often overlain by lateritised Tertiary material; skeletal soils and shallow sands; Darwin boxwood and variable-barked bloodwood woodland to low open woodland with spinifex understorey.

Gulf of Carpentaria—a large bay shared by the Northern Territory and Queensland; and a shallow sea between Australia and New Guinea. It is less than 70m deep in the middle and is part of the Australian continent, although intermittently hidden by a rise in sea level. Lying entirely within the tropics the area is subject to constantly high temperatures and 12 daily hours of daylight almost year-round. The monsoon assures alternating cycles of flood and drought as well as high levels of cyclonic activity. Run-off from the heavy rains shifts large quantities of sediment into southern coastal habitats and recharges aquifers. The Gulf of Carpentaria is one of four major drainage systems in northern Australia, and is virtually all Aboriginal land. Islands in the gulf include the Sir Edward Pellew Group belonging to the Yanyuwa people; Manangoora, its shores still lined with the cycad palms that were once a staple food of the local Garawa people; Groote Eylandt, the largest of the Gulf’s islands, and Numbulwar.

Gulf Plains bioregion—marine and terrestrial deposits of the Carpentaria Basin and the Karumba Basin; plains plateaus and outwash plains; woodlands and grasslands.

Gulf Savannah—a bioregion within tropical north Queensland covering 186,000sq km extending from the Great Dividing Range in the east to the Northern Territory border. In the west the Gulf Savannah region begins just south-west of Ravenshoe in the Atherton Tablelands and heads west to the Northern Territory border along the Gulf of Carpentaria. The region is a safari country of golden savannah grasslands abounding with wildlife, and is the essence of Australia as it once was.

Gulf snapping turtle—Elseya lavarackorum, a brown to dark brown turtle growing to 35cm with an undulating suture between the hemeral and pectoral shields in the plastron and white underbelly. It was unknown before 1995 except as a 25,000-year-old fossil from the Riversleigh fossil site. Discovered in a river that drains into the Gulf of Carpentaria, this ‘living fossil’ is one of the largest freshwater turtles in Australia.

Gulf St Vincent—the ending point of the Flinders Ranges. Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, was founded on the eastern coastal plain of the Gulf after Matthew Flinders demonstrated in 1802 that the York Peninsula separates the Gulf St Vincent from Spencer Gulf.

gull into—dupe fool.

Gullibul—an Aboriginal people of the New South Wales.

gully gum—Eucalyptus smithii is used primarily for oil production. It is found native along coastal areas of New South Wales, growing on the lower slopes of hills and on the edges of swamps and streams. In higher, colder elevations it is reduced to a mallee form. The bark sheds from the upper branches in long ribbons and remains hanging in the crown to expose a smooth white or cream bark. The bark on the lower trunk is dark brown. Leaves are long and narrow and heavily scented. Favors cool to warm-humid to sub-humid climate. Flower color white. Growth rate moderate to fast. Also known as gully peppermint, blackbutt peppermint.

gully peppermint—(see: gully gum).

gum—1. a general term for any eucalypt. 2. the resin of a gum tree. Aborigines used the gum from the trunk to treat burns wounds and diarrhoea. The gum is high in tannin,  a common astringent also found in tea-leaves and still used for treating burns.

gum arabic—a gum exuded by some kinds of acacia and used as glue and in incense.

gum-barked—(of eucalypts) smooth-barked as opposed to paper-barked.

gum-topped stringybark—Eucalyptus delegatensis a rainforest tree that is particularly abundant in the highlands of central Tasmania. It occurs predominantly in association with Jurassic dolerite which forms the majority of the upland ranges and plateaux in northern and eastern Tasmania, the Southern Ranges and the Central Highlands. Sites are well-drained and surface rock can be continuous on talus slopes and boulder fields. In Victoria it is also known as alpine ash.

Gumatj—one of the largest clan groups of the Yolngu people from north-east Arnhem Land. Rom is the ancestral law of the Yolngu people, providing the moral basis for human existence; it also lays down the rights that people have in property, land, sacred objects, and designs. Art is part of this ancestral inheritance, intimately connected to the land. There is a symbolic symbiosis between the Gumatj and the crocodile. It is only in preparation for conflict that the Gumatj will kill and eat crocodile; otherwise, they are its guardians. Individual paintings represent different ancestral events associated with the journey of the crocodile ancestor and the spread of fire. The crocodile was involved in a great fight with a stingray in the waters of Caledon Bay. The crocodile had seized and eaten a child of the stingray, and in anger the stingray lashed out with his tail, striking the crocodile in his back leg and wounding him severely. The fight between the crocodile and the stingray has been incorporated in Yolngu law as the basis for a Gumatj Makarrara, or peace-making ceremony. A person accused of responsibility for a person's death must face an ordeal where he has to avoid spears that are thrown at him, just as the crocodile had to twist and turn to escape the flailing tail of the ancestral stingray. At the conclusion to the ceremony the accused may be speared in the leg, both as punishment and as an end to hostilities.

gumboot—a contraceptive sheath; a condom.

gumleaf—the leaf from a tree of the Eucalyptus family. Traditionally used by Aborigines as a musical instrument by holding against the lips and blowing to create a resonant vibration. Originally used in the imitation of bird-calls.

gummies—gumboots worn in agricultural areas and during wet weather.

gumnut—the seed capsule of a eucalyptus tree.

Gumnut Babies—May Gibbs' first book about Australian bush fairies published in 1916 in Sydney, followed by a series of five small books by published during World War One, each with a different flower baby theme. Australian fairy tales as such do not exist although there are fanciful characters in Australian history, such as the gumnut babies, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie; Tiddylick, a Dreamtime frog; and the Bunyip, a mythical beast of unknown shape, size or proportion.

gumption—resourcefulness; enterprise.

gumsuckers—Victorians in colonial times.

gun—a worker, especially a fruit-picker or sheerer, who excels above everyone else.

Gun's Gully—a long-running comic strip featuring Ben Bowyang philosopher and farmer.

Gunai—variant spelling of Kurnai.

Gunbarrel Highway—a network of desert roads built in the 1960s to service the Woomera Rocket Range and the atomic test sites at Emu and Maralinga. The highway took its name from the "Gunbarrel Road Construction Party" which surveyed and built the roads. The name comes from Len Beadell's Gunbarrel Road Construction Party which opened up a big chunk of Australia's interior during the 1950s and 1960s. The original Gunbarrel was built in the direction from Victory Downs just north of the Northern Territory/South Australia border to Carnegie Station in Western Australia. This route is almost never used since some parts of it are abandoned or prohibited for tourist vehicles. The Gunbarrel, as it is loosely defined nowadays, runs from Wiluna to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and includes part of the Great Central Road, the Heather Highway and the connecting road from Wiluna, west of Carnegie Station. The Gunbarrel Highway was built by Len Beadell (1923-1995) and his team. It runs through central Australia from WA to the Northern Territory and is so named because Len favoured the recti-linear propagation of roads and vehicles. The highway links Carnegie Station in central Western Australia with the Meteorological Station at Giles, just west of the Northern Territory border. The original highway then extends south east to Mabel Park Station in South Australia. This extension passes through traditional Aboriginal lands and is not open to general traffic. The road received its name from the tendency for it to travel in straight lines but the notion that it is "as straight as a gunbarrel" is false: although there are stretches that are pretty straight, other sections are not. The track crosses the Great Victoria and Gibson Deserts. Although there is vegetation, it is sparse in many areas. Spinifex and low mulga predominate in the dry and it is only after the rain that the desert blooms. This track covers some very remote areas. It is impossible to drive the entire length of the original Gunbarrel Highway because some sections of it have been abandoned and other sections pass through Aboriginal land with restricted access.

gundabluey—1. a cloudburst or rainstorm. 2. Acacia victoriae, a wattle producing edible seeds. Once a staple Aboriginal food, it has recently received attention as a marketable native food source. It is very widespread through inland and some coastal areas, grows quickly and yields fairly large, edible seeds. This seed could be a useful ingredient in diabetic diets, as the carbohydrates are absorbed quite slowly.

Gundagai—a town made famous by folklore and several songs. After World War II, with American servicemen in Australia, came When a Boy from Alabama Meets a Girl from Gundagai. Just north of the town stands the Dog on the Tuckerbox monument, which is a tribute to the pioneers of the Riverina region, and a group statue of the family of Dad and Dave characters from the novel by Steele Rudd. Dad and Dave was a long-running Australian radio serial (which used On the Road to Gundagai as its musical theme) and the subject of several Australian movies. Gundagai has a population of less than 3000. Lying on a flood plain of the Murrumbidgee River, the town suffered its worst flood in 1852 when 89 people were believed to have drowned. The New South Wales town lies along the Hume Highway about 390km south-west of Sydney, between the towns of Yass and Holbrook.

Gunditjamara—variant of Gunditjmara.

Gunditjmara—a tribe of the Western District of Victoria, the traditional owners of the area now known as Mount Eccles National Park (Budj Bim). The Gunditjmara lived in a village built in stone and practiced aquaculture by establishing eel and fish traps and elaborate dams and channels to manage the wetlands at nearby Lake Condah. They had eel farms and even an eel industry which exported produce across the country. For thousands of years Gunditjmara people built extensive water channels, fish traps and round stone huts from the basalt rocks which erupted from Mount Eccles 27,000 thousand years ago. Squatters began grazing sheep at Portland on Gunditjmara lands between 1834 and 1838 but the settlement was resisted with full force. The squatters who lived between Framlingham and Lake Condah in 1842 appealed to the Governor for protection. Over two months during 1842, two Europeans were killed, plus eight horses, three guns, almost 2500 sheep and 180 cattle were taken. From this time the owners of the lands and waters bounded by Warrnambool, Portland, Heywood and Hamilton became known as "the fighting Gunditjmara". The Europeans by themselves were unable to defeat the Gunditjmara. They recruited Aboriginal men from the Bunwurrung and Woiwurrung, who lived near Melbourne, and used them as a Native Police Corps between 1842 and 1846, with devastating results for the Gunditjmara. The Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape in this area has been listed as a Heritage Place on the National Heritage List.

Gundjeibmi—variation of Gunwinggu.

Gungarde—a community of Aboriginal people living in and around the area of Cooktown, Far North Queensland.

Gunnedah—a town on the Namoi River in the north-west of NSW, boasting one of the largest koala populations west of the Great Dividing Range. Located in the New England Tablelands, Gunnedah is within day-tripping distance of the Warrumbungle, Kaputar and Coolah Tops national parks, and the town of Tamworth.

Gunnedah Basin—forms the central part of the Sydney-Gunnedah-Bowen Basin system which extends along the eastern margin of Australia. The Gunnedah Basin covers an area of just over 15,000sq km and comprises rocks of Permian and Triassic age. The basin is in part unconformably overlain by the Jurassic-Cretaceous strata of the Surat Basin. Until recently the Gunnedah Basin has been only lightly explored for petroleum. There are however, in the order of 120 coal exploration wells drilled in the basin, many of which were drilled to basement. Recently, the Gunnedah Basin provided the first commercial conventional gas flows in New South Wales.

gunnel—var. of gunwhale.

gunny—short for gunny sack.

Gunwinggu—an inland tribe south of Jungle Creek and on the headwaters of the East Alligator River, Northern Territory. They do not practice circumcision. Inland hordes north of Oenpelli are called Mangaridji, and it is likely that the Unigang listed by Capell (1942) is a name for those who live on the upper waters of the East Alligator River. The Mangaridji at Oenpelli were traditionally the occupiers of local rock-shelters and are said to have become extinct before 1951. It is claimed they were in fact responsible for the work in the Oenpelli painted caves.

gunyah—in the Aboriginal language of Dharr, a bush hut made from stringybark.

gunyang—Solanum vescum, one of the kangaroo apples. In the first year after a fire it arises from long-held seed stores in the soil, and is abundant. But it thrives for only a short period; regular burning is necessary for continued fruit production. Once an important fruit for the Kurnai in Gippsland. Now found on the edges of rivers and creeks between Perth and Cape Riche, Western Australia.

Gupapuyngu—(see: Yolngu Matha/Gupapuyngu).

Guratba—the Aboriginal name for Coronation Hill within Kakadu National Park. It is believed by the Jawoyn, the traditional owners of the region, to be their responsibility to protect this sacred site. Defilement or destruction of this or various other sites in the region causes a disturbance of their creator, Bula, who lies dormant beneath the land. This disruption triggers a chain-reaction affecting every other sacred site, bringing illness and death to the occupants of the surrounding land. Other Aboriginal tribes in the area and throughout Arnhem Land also have ceremonial connections with Bula. The Jawoyn also accept responsibility for the welfare of these people. Interestingly, this region of abundance and beauty is known to the Jawoyn as the Sickness Country (Nilaynejarang). Ancestors of the modern Aboriginal population in this region recognised the destructive potential inherent in uranium, which underlay the area, to destroy life and disrupt the natural universal order. This profound understanding was passed on through millennia until formalised and embedded within a legendary context.

gurgler—a drain; the word is used both literally and figuratively: e.g. All his effort went down the gurgler when the company went bankrupt.

Gurig National Park—former name of the Garig Gan Barlu National Park.

Gurindji—1. an Aboriginal tribe of the Northern Territory. In the 1960s and '70s the Gurindji employed on the Wave Hill cattle station staged a landmark struggle for Aboriginal justice. The Gurindji attracted nationwide attention when they walked off the property and set up camp at Wattie Creek in an attempt to gain higher wages. The Gurindji wanted perpetual title under the foreshadowed Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 (NT). What began as an industrial campaign turned into a campaign for land rights. The Gurindji campaign attracted many supporters, including the Trade Union movement, and resulted in Australia's first successful Aboriginal land claim. 2. a language spoken in the north-west of Australia, particularly in Kalkaringi and Dagaragu (Wattie Creek). It is an endangered language, with only 60 speakers remaining in 2003. Gurindji Kriol is the language transmitted to the new generation at present.

Guringai—a nation of Aboriginal people that inhabited Broken Bay in the north of New South Wales to Sydney Harbour in the south prior to colonisation in 1788. Within six weeks of the arrival of the British First Fleet in Sydney, Governor Phillip went exploring around Broken Bay. By 1790 over half of the Guringai nation had been wiped out by smallpox. By the 1840s most of the Aboriginal people had disappeared from Pittwater, and their traditional lands had been taken over by white settlers. Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park covers part of the Guringai people's traditional lands. Two clans of the Guringai occupied the area that is now the national park: the Garrigal people who lived around West Head and the Terramerragal who lived in the Turramurra area.

gutser—originally a term from swimming i.e. a belly flop; hence 1. a heavy fall. 2. a failure. 3. a fall from grace.

guttersnipe—person given to spreading slanderous gossip.

Guugu Yimidhirr—variant spelling of Guugu Yimithirr.

Guugu Yimidthir—variant spelling of Guugu Yimithirr.

Guugu Yimithirr—1. an Aboriginal people of northern Queensland in an area north-west of Cooktown. This was the first Aboriginal group encountered by Captain Cook when forced to make repairs to the Endeavour. The remaining Guugu Yimithirr live now in Hope Vale, about 46km north of Cooktown, where there are around 100 speakers of the language left. 2. an Aboriginal language. Prior to invasion by miners, cattlemen, pearlers and fishers, "Guugu"- meaning speech, voice or word—and "Yimithirr"—meaning "this way"—was spoken along the coastline from the Annon River in the south to the Jennie River in the north and west to Battle Camp. However the language was understood beyond this area. A Lutheran missionary  saw the importance of learning and maintaining Guugu Yimithirr for communication purposes, rather than teaching Bama-ngay (Aborigines) German or English. There are two distinct divisions of the language Thalun-thirr (seaside) and Warrgurgaar (outside). Captain Cook also collated a wordlist of Guugu Yimithirr language in 1770.

guvvie—a private dwelling built at public expense: low-cost housing for the economically disadvantaged.

Guyani—an Aboriginal people of South Australia.

guzzle-guts/guzzler—a heavy drinker of alcohol; an alcoholic.

Gwydir River—one of the major northern tributaries of the Barwon-Darling River covering 25,900sq km. The Gwydir River flows north-west from Uralla and Guyra in the east to Collarenebri in the west of New South Wales. Major tributaries drain from the New England Plateau in the east, the Masterman’s Range in the north and the Nandewar Range in the south. Most major tributaries join the main river above Moree. Downstream of Moree the river has the characteristics of an inland delta with important wetlands. In floods, water can flow to and from the adjoining river valleys. Another important feature is the Gwydir Raft, an immense accumulation of timber debris and sediment that has been deposited in the former channel, forming a 30km-long blockage. It is assumed this assemblage formed during early European settlement due to tree clearance and subsequent erosion.

Gwydir River catchment—the largest cotton-producing area in Australia, although large-scale intensive irrigation in the lower valley is relatively recent, with between 50,000 and 90,000ha planted annually. In the early 1960s groundwater was used to furrow-irrigate grain crops. European settlement of the Gwydir River catchment began in the early 1830s. For many years most farms were restricted to river frontages for water supplies, and so grazing sheep for wool was the main land use. Cropping was introduced in the 1860s. Since the 1960s wheat-growing has rapidly extended further west. In the eastern areas of the basin sheep and cattle grazing are the primary activities. The Gwydir River catchment covers 25,900sq km with three main population centres: Moree (16,000 residents); Uralla (2400); and Bingara (2100). Located in New South Wales.

Gwydir wetlands—the lower Gwydir wetlands are semi-permanent terminal wetlands of the Gwydir River. They comprise floodplain wetlands of two major streams of the Gwydir River, the Gingham watercourse and the lower Gwydir watercourse. The hydrology of the wetlands has been altered by the Copeton Dam, weirs, and regulators which divert water for irrigation, stock and domestic use. Open coolibah woodlands with an understorey of river cooba and lignum. Prior to the completion of the Copeton Dam, these wetlands were subject to regular inundation. Dominant vegetation is water couch and ribbed spike rush meadows. These wetlands provide an important resource for waterbirds on a regional scale, as their flooding is not always synchronous with flooding of other Murray-Darling Basin wetlands, such as the Macquarie Marshes or the Narran Lakes. The abundance of colonial nesting birds (cormorants, herons and egrets) is reported to have declined, as has the abundance of waterfowl, large rails and brolga. This has been at least partly attributed to the reduced quantity of water entering the wetlands. There is anecdotal evidence that abundance of water rats, frogs and red-bellied black snakes has declined. The lower Gwydir wetlands cover 102,120ha near Moree in New South Wales.

gymkhana—1. a meeting for competition or display in sport especially horse-riding. 2. a public place with facilities for athletics.

gymnosperm—a plant of which the seeds are borne uncovered on the surface of modified leaves. These seeds often take the form of cones.

gyp—1. trick or deceive, particularly in business dealings; hoodwink. This slang term comes from the Diggers stationed in Egypt during WWI, who were often deceived as to the value of the trinkets they purchased.

gyppy tummy—an upset stomach; indigestion. From the general reaction to foreign food encountered by Diggers in Egypt during the First World War.

gypsy moth—Porthetria dispar, a devastating pest of hardwoods and softwoods in countries to which it has spread from its native north-east Asia. The caterpillars of this insect are known to feed on the foliage of more than 600 different plant species, including Australian native trees such as eucalypts and melaleucas, as well as plantation Pinus. It does not occur in Australia but egg masses of the insect have been found on cargo ships and machinery coming here from the Far East. Because the females rarely fly, dispersal of the moth occurs chiefly in the egg and larval stages. The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service inspect ships and cargo coming here from countries where the pest occurs.

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