Q²—1. Queen; Queen's.

Q-car—an unmarked police car.

Qantas—the international airline of Australia—Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service. It was established by pioneer aviators Paul McGinness and Wilmot Hudson Fysh together with grazier Fergus McMaster, and registered in Brisbane on 16 November 1920. The company takes its name from the original registered title, Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited. The company began its operations with joyrides and air taxi flights. Regularly scheduled airmail and passenger services began on 2 November 1922, from Charleville to Cloncurry in rural Queensland. Passenger ticket No. 1 was issued to 84-year-old Alexander Kennedy, a pioneer of western Queensland.

QC—Queen's Counsel.

QFRTB—quite full, ready to bust—said after one has had ample to eat.

Qld—abbreviation for Queensland.

quadroon—person of one-quarter Aboriginal descent.

Quail Island—the coast of Quail Island supports good examples of sand heathland, coastal saltmarsh and low woodland dominated by coast manna gum. Quail Island are considered to be of state botanical and zoological significance. The relatively undisturbed mangrove and saltmarsh habitats of are also of state significance, as they are some of the most intact communities in Victoria.

quaint-arse—QANTAS.

Quaky Isles—New Zealand.

qualup bell—the shrub Pimelea physodes of Western Australia. The bell-like appearance is due to the large drooping bracts surrounding the small yellowish flowers. It's continuing survival is greatly dependent on the integrity of the Fitzgerald River National Park in which it occurs, as it is found nowhere else.

quandong—1. also called native peach; Eucarya acuminata (or Fusanus acuminatus) is a bush tucker tree that is very hardy, and one of the only edible parasites in the world. Quandong does not kill its host, however, but takes on the genetic character of the host; i.e. if the host has anti-insect properties, then so does the quandong. The fruit is like a peach, the nut is like a macadamia, and the branches can be clipped and used as sandalwood incense. 2. disreputable person living off others.

quango—acronym for quasi-autonomous-non-governmental-organisation; an organisation held in contempt by the public because of its use of large amounts of government funding for services of dubious use.

Quarantine Station (Victoria)—established on the shores of Port Phillip Bay in 1852 to protect the colony of Melbourne from ship-borne diseases. With the massive increase in immigration following the goldrush of the 1850s, a larger station was constructed to deal with infectious diseases such as cholera, typhoid, small pox and leprosy. The buildings are now occupied by the School of Army Health.

quarrion—(see: cockatiel).

quarry hen—var. of quarrion.

quart into a pint pot—1. a large amount etc fitted into a small space. 2. some- thing difficult or impossible to achieve.

quart-pot—a tin vessel used for boiling water.

quarterage—1. a quarterly payment. 2. a quarter's wages, allowance, pension, etc.

Queanbeyan—a town in New South Wales surrounded by the hills of the Southern Tablelands. Situated close to the ACT, this still-small town was proclaimed in 1835, long before Canberra. First settled in 1838, Queanbeyan takes its name from Quinean (Clear Waters), a squattage held by freed convict turned innkeeper Timothy Beard. The name derives from the Aboriginal quinbean, meaning 'clear waters', a reference to the nearby Molonglo River. Located 8km from the ACT border and 13km south-east of Canberra.

queeai—an Aboriginal girl.

Queen Anne's lace—cow-parsley.

Queen Elizabeth II—Australia is a constitutional monarchy. Although the country is an independent nation, the formal Head of State is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who is also the Queen of Australia. The Queen is represented by her Governor-General in Australia, who is appointed by her on advice from the Australian Prime Minister. The Governor-General performs the tasks of the Head of State under advice or instruction from the Australian Prime Minister.

queen of puddings—a pudding made with bread, jam and meringue.

Queen Street bushie—businessman living in the city (Brisbane) with farming interests, usually as a means of avoiding tax.

Queen Victoria Spring—in Western Australia, named by Ernest Giles, who found it after travelling for 17 days without water. It's not really a spring, but a claypan which collects water after rains. It certainly saved Giles' life. He stayed a week before continuing west on his expedition. It is very remote and you'll need a 4WD to get there. Figure a (long) day to get there from Kalgoorlie.

Queen's Birthday—(the...) a public holiday, the first Monday 14th in June. The British King or Queen is Australia's constitutional head of state, represented in her absence by governors in each state and the governor-general nationally. The date set for celebration goes back to the time of George V, who was born on June 3. In times gone by, we probably celebrated and commemorated the occasion with a fair amount of pomp and ceremony. The streets were probably filled with folk dancing and regal bands playing Advance Australia Fair and God Save the Queen. Not that we contemporary Australians really care too much about any of that, we'll just take our long weekend each June and do with it what we like. But the Queen's Birthday is quite a significant public holiday all the same.

Queen's counsel—an appointment bestowed on a barrister by the Attorney- General in recognition of excellence as an advocate and following advice form the barrister's peers.

Queen's Domain—during the early colonial period, what is now the Queen's Domain was partly used for farming and as a source of timber. In 1811 land granted was reacquired and the area soon after was referred to as the “Government Domain” and included what is now the Glebe and Cornelian Bay Cemetery. Governors would lease parts of the land for timber getting, grazing and quarries to add to their income. Public pressure to have the area confirmed as public space began in the 1830s, and in 1858 the parliament of the new self-governing colony of Tasmania declared the area ‘inalienable’ except for annual access agreements. At this point the Domain was 640 acres but by 1917 when the Domain was vested in the City of Hobart, only 476 acres were left. The ‘gap’ consisted of the botanical gardens, Government House and grounds, the university (now Domain House) and the railway line. The Queen’s Domain Vesting Act (1917) describes it as “a public reserve … solely for the purposes of recreation, health, and enjoyment of the inhabitants of (Hobart] and others.”

queen-cake—a small, soft cake—often with raisins etc.

Queenscliff—site of Australia’s largest and best-preserved military fortress. With the advent of the Crimean War in 1860, it became a garrison town and strategic defence post. Fears of a Russian invasion lead to the construction of Fort Queenscliff in 1880. Now, it is a coastal resort town overlooking a major shipping channel, with fishing and tourism the main sources of income. Located on an isthmus at the south-eastern tip of the Bellarine Peninsula, Queenscliff sits just inside the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. On one side of the isthmus is Swan Bay; on the other, Shortland Bluff overlooks the channel. The townsite, which was named in honour of Queen Victoria, is part of the borough of Queenscliffe (note the difference in spelling), which includes Point Lonsdale. The area was originally inhabited by the Wathawaurung people.

Queensland—After the settlement of Australia in 1788 by Captain Arthur Phillip and the "First Fleet", it wasn't until 1797 that Matthew Flinders made an exploration of Moreton Bay and a landing at what today is Woody Point at Redcliffe. In 1824 a convict settlement under Lieutenant Miller was begun at Redcliffe. Towards the end of 1825 the settlement at Redcliffe was moved to Brisbane, where Captain Logan commanded until his death in 1830 near where Logan Creek is today. The official population at the end of 1825 was "45 males and 2 females". Queensland officially became a state by Letters Patent signed by Queen Victoria for the 6th of June, 1859. Sir George Ferruson Bowen was the first governor.

Queensland blossom-bat—Syconycteris australis, a relative of the fruit bat, it is only around 6cm in length. They are small, nectar-eating bats with very soft fawn to reddish fur. They are highly specialised for a diet of nectar, having very pointed muzzles and long, thin, brush-like tongues. Found in coastal areas of north-east NSW and eastern Queensland. Blossom-bats often roost in littoral rainforest and feed on flowers in adjacent heathland and paperbark swamps. They roost individually in foliage of the sub-canopy, changing roost sites daily, and return to favoured feeding sites on consecutive nights. Also known as common blossom bat.

Queensland blue (pumpkin)—a variety of pumpkin with a deep blue-grey skin.

Queensland Border Fence—the Queensland section of the Dingo Fence.

Queensland bottle tree—Brachychiton rupestris, a small to medium-sized tree which may reach 18m—20m in height, although it is usually much smaller in cultivation in cooler areas. It has a characteristic bulbous trunk which gives rise to the common name and which makes the tree unmistakable. It contains potable sap, and is a characteristic sight of the dry, inland savannah of Queensland, where the roots, shoots, and wood provided food for Aborigines. In Queensland the trees have pronounced entasis, expanding to as much as 6 feet in diameter. Leaves are about 100mm long and may have entire margins or be deeply lobed. The bell-shaped flowers are yellowish in clusters at the ends of the branches but are not especially conspicuous. The flowers are followed by seed capsules which contain many large seeds. B. rupestris is commonly cultivated and is hardy in a range of climates, although it may be slow growing. The bottle-shaped trunk may start to be noticeable at around 5-8 years of age. It tolerates a range of soils. Native to dry areas of central western Queensland and northern New South Wales. Not considered to be at risk in the wild.

Queensland cane toad—(see: cane toad).

Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985 (Qld)—intended to extinguish any property rights claimed to exist in the Murray Islands with effect from 1879, when the islands were annexed by the Crown to Queensland; and to deny any right to compensation of Indigenous people that traditionally inhabited the islands. In 1982 some of the Meriam people who inhabit the Murray Islands in the Torres Strait issued a writ in the High Court of Australia, claiming they had rights of ownership of the island of Mer. Alarmed at the implications of the issues raised, the Queensland state government procured the passage of the Act through State Parliament. In 1988 the High Court found the Queensland Act to be inconsistent with section 10 of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) and therefore invalid to the extent of the inconsistency.

Queensland Coast Islands Act 1879 (Qld)—this document extended Queensland's control from three miles offshore to 60 miles offshore, bringing all of Torres Strait, to within a few hundred metres of the coast of New Guinea, into the Colony of Queensland. In 1992 this was significant to all of Australia when the Mabo case acknowledged Indigenous land tenure on Murray (Mer) Island in the strait. This judgment overcame the legal doctrine of terra nullius. Before this Act, Queensland had control of all islands within three miles of its coast, and New South Wales controlled those beyond this limit. In 1871 Queensland's Minister for Lands recommended the colonial government take charge of all islands between three and sixty miles from the coast, to control mineral and guano mining. The aim was to prevent a 'lawless population' controlling these islands, especially in the pearl industry of Northern Queensland. The potential revenue from these islands was also an important reason for taking control. In 1872, Letters Patent granted the Governor of Queensland authority over 'all islands within sixty miles from the coast'. This brought much of Torres Strait under Queensland's control, but still excluded important fishing areas around Saibai Island and Darnley (Erub) and Murray (Mer) islands. Further Letters Patent, shifting Queensland's maritime border from three miles offshore to 60 miles offshore, were issued on 10 October 1878 and proclaimed in July 1879. The present-day boundary includes all islands of the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait. The provisions of the 1878 Letters Patent were then incorporated into the Queensland Coast Islands Act 1879.

Queensland fruit fly—Bactrocera tryoni, common in Australia (eastern half of Queensland, eastern New South Wales, extreme east of Victoria). Introduced in New Caledonia around 1969 and French Polynesia around 1970. Now widespread in New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Pitcairn Islands. Introduced but eradicated from Perth (Western Australia) and Easter Island in the mid-Pacific. More recently, it was detected in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, on the 21st November 2001. A polyphagous species recorded from more than 113 host plant species in Australia. Adults mate at dusk. It is most common in village and suburban areas, rather than in rural areas and the rainforest. The most damaging pest fruit fly in Australia.

Queensland gate—an improvised gate.

Queensland heeler—(see: blue heeler).

Queensland kauri—Agathis robusta (some authorities segregate the Fraser Island population as A. robusta and refer to the northern populations as A. palmerstonii), a monoecious tree, 43m tall, straight with little taper, clear for over half its length, with a dense crown. The bark is orange-brown, brown or grey-brown, smooth to slightly flaky. The inner bark is a mixed red, pink and brown; bark exudate clear or somewhat milky. The leaves are spirally arranged on primary shoots, opposite to subopposite on lateral shoots, the veins are fine, longitudinal, more or less parallel. Pollen cones bear 600-1300 microsporophylls, each with 2-8 pollen sacs on the underside, and mature July-September. The seeds are narrowly cordate and winged. The wood is creamy white to pale brown, similar to that of Agathis microstachya. Sapwood and heartwood difficult to distinguish. The smooth bark, large male strobili with 600-1300 scales, and large cones with 340-440 scales distinguish this species from others of Agathis.; Queensland kauri is found in two disjunct areas, one in South Queensland between Tewantin and Maryborough (mainland) and on Fraser Island; the other in North Queensland between the Herbert River and Big Tableland near Cooktown. The tree grows from near sea level to (in the north) 900m. The northern distribution is humid tropical; the mean January maximum temperature is 30-32°C and the mean July minimum 13-19°C. The southern distribution is humid subtropical with January and July temperatures of ca. 30-32°C and 6-8°C respectively. Soils are deep, well-drained, developed on sand dunes (Fraser Island), basalt, metamorphic or granite rocks; the species develops best on the latter. It grows as a rain forest emergent and is dominant in dry, marginal rain forest types. Reportedly, trees 255cm dbh were measured historically on Fraser Island, but were later cut. The north population has also been heavily logged, but a tree 137cm dbh and 43m tall was measured in 2002 on the Skyline Walk above Cairns. Ornamental trees are almost all from the Fraser Island population, and have grown nearly as large as the surviving wild trees. Given the size of the species, and by analogy with other species of Agathis, maximum ages could reasonably be expected to exceed 300 years. However, the largest specimens now in cultivation are about 100 years old and are approaching the size of the largest recorded wild specimens, so it is possible that the oldest trees may not exceed 200 years. Radiocarbon dates on old Agathis trees indicate that the frequency of ring formation is less than annual. This tree was first reported in 1842 by Andrew Petrie, who found it growing in the Mary River country. He reported that the native peoples made their nets from its inner bark. Uses: plywood, cabinet work, furniture, indoor fittings, boat building, turning. In early homes it was used for kitchen sinks and bench tops, cutting boards and flooring. Also known as smooth-bark kauri, kauri pine.

Queensland lamb—goat meat.

Queensland lungfish—Neoceratodus forsteri Krefft has a long, heavy body with large scale, small eyes and paddle-like pectoral and pelvic fins. Its dorsal fin starts midway along the back and is continuous with the caudal and anal fins. This species is usually olive-green to brown on the back and sides with some scattered dark blotches, and whitish ventrally. It grows to about 1.5m in length and over 40kg. The Queensland lungfish has a single lung, whereas all other species of lungfish have paired lungs. During dry periods when streams become stagnant, or when water quality changes, lungfish have the ability to surface and breathe air. When it surfaces to empty and refill its lung the sound is reportedly like that of the "blast from a small bellows". Under most conditions, this species breathes exclusively using its gills. Food items include mainly frogs, tadpoles, small fish, snails, shrimp and earthworms. It will also eat plant material. It is normally found in still or slow-flowing pools in river systems of south-eastern Queensland. It occurs naturally in the Burnett and Mary River systems although has been introduced into other rivers and reservoirs in south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales. This species spawns at night from August to December with peak activity in October. Fertilized eggs are stuck to aquatic plants and hatching takes about three weeks. Growth is very slow, with young reaching 6cm in length after 8 months and 12cm after two years. The Queensland Lungfish is a protected species and may not be captured without a special permit.

Queensland maple—Flindersia brayleyana is a medium-sized tree attaining a height of 40 m and 2.5 m in stem diameter. The trunk is usually well formed, circular in cross-section and not buttressed. The bark, which is approximately 12 mm thick, is grey to brown in colour. It has fairly distinct longitudinal fissures. Restricted in its distribution to northern Queensland rainforests between Townsville and the Windsor Tableland. Timber of this species is now of very limited commercial availability as the main areas in which it occurs have received World Heritage listing.

Queensland nutmeg—Myristica insipida, one of only three species in the Wet Tropics. The rust coloured, ovoid-shaped fruit, 20mm in size, is the favourite food of the pied imperial pigeon. (The scientific name of the Torres Straight or pied imperial pigeon means "eater of Myristica" or, put more commonly, "eater of nutmeg".) Queensland nutmeg could be used for the commercial production of the spice nutmeg but a similar species from the Solomons is used instead. (Myristica fragrans from the Moluccas yields the commercial spices nutmeg (seeds) and mace (arils). This 15m tree is another example of a primitive flowering plant, and also has separate trees for male and female flowers.

Queensland Pterosaur—(not yet named) a flying reptile that cruised the air currents above the coast of Australia's inland sea. It probably dived down to snap up fish, as some large sea birds do today. Like other pterosaurs, its wings were made of a skin membrane supported mostly by a single enormous finger. Wingspan: about 2m—4m. It lived110 million years ago (early Cretaceous). Pterosaurs have no close living relatives. Part of a fossilised jaw, a shoulder girdle and a backbone of the Queensland Pterosaur were discovered in 1979 near the Hamilton River in western Queensland.

Queensland salute—a wave of the hand to keep away the flies.

Queensland sand crab—(also: blue-swimmer crab) grows up to 22cm in carapace width, and over 1kg. Male crabs are blue or purple with pearly white mottling. They are marine coastal animals, occurring in bays, estuaries and intertidal areas to depths of 60m. These crabs prefer muddy or sandy bottoms but can also be found on rubble, seagrass and seaweed. At dawn and dusk they feed most vigorously on shellfish, other crustaceans, worms and brittle-stars on the sea floor. In Australia, these crabs inhabit coastal waters from Cape Naturaliste in Western Australia, around the north of Australia to the south coast of New South Wales.

Queensland sore—(see: Barcoo sore).

Queensland State flag—dates from the time when Queensland was a self-governing British colony with its own navy. In 1865, the Governor of Queensland was told by the Admiralty in London that the colony's vessels of war should fly the Blue Ensign, imposed with the colony's badge, on the stern, and a blue pennant at the masthead. The current flag was adopted circa 1953. All State flags, except the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory, use the Australian flag, based on the Blue Ensign, but have the particular badge of that State on the right hand side where the Southern Cross would otherwise be. The flag of Queensland is the Blue Ensign with the State badge. The badge features a light blue Maltese cross, with the Imperial Crown in the centre of the cross, within a white circle. This badge, proclaimed in 1876, was designed by the then Queensland Colonial Secretary and Treasurer, William Hemmant.

Queensland Coat of Arms—Queensland was the first State to be granted a Coat of Arms. Queen Victoria granted it to the then colony in 1893. The present Coat of Arms consists of a shield which has a bull's head, a merino ram, a pile of quartz and a gold pyramid with a spade and pick. These pictures represent pastoral, mining and agricultural industries. The shield is supported by a red deer and the brolga. The original emblem did not have supporters but Queen Elizabeth II granted these on her visit in 1977. The State badge is at the top surrounded by two sugar cane stems. The motto, Audax et Fidelis, means "Bold, Aye, and Faithful Too".

Queensland tick—the introduced cattle tick Boophilus microplus of northern Australia.

Queensland tree kangaroo—(see: Lumholz's tree kangaroo).

Queensland walnut—Endiandra palmerstonii syn. Cryptocarya palmerstonii, family Lauraceae, is a large rain forest tree growing to a height of around 35m with a stem diameter of up to 1.8m. It is restricted to the coastal tablelands of North Queensland, between Innisfail and Atherton, where it is the dominant rain forest tree species and occurs either singly or in clumps. The heartwood of the species varies in colour, but is usually greyish-brown with streaks of chocolate brown, black or pink. The sapwood, up to 100mm wide, is pale yellow. Queensland walnut timber exhibits medium texture with a moderate natural lustre and shallow, open pores. Grain is close and even, usually interlocked, and commonly wavy. This results in a wide variety of figure effects, especially attractive on quarter-sawn surfaces. Uses for the tree are mainly decorative, and include plywood, veneers, shop and office fixtures, turnery, and musical instruments—notably, guitar backs and sides. Queensland walnut is reported to have higher than usual electrical insulation properties, and may be suitable for some types of electrical enclosure applications. The timber produced has a life expectancy of between five and seven years (for in-ground and above ground applications, respectively). The timber is not termite-resistant, and untreated sapwood is susceptible to borer attack. Sapwood (but not heartwood) is readily impregnated with preservatives. Commercial availability of Queensland walnut timber is currently very limited, due to World Heritage listing of the main sites in which it occurs. Also known as Australian walnut, oriental wood, walnut bean, black nut, black walnut.

Queenslander—1. a person from Queensland. 2. a particular type of house, prevalent in Queensland, that sits up on stumps.

Queenstown—Tasmania's West Coast is in the path of the Roaring Forties and averages between 2 and 3 meters of rain per year, with snow falls often down to low levels. Queenstown, being situated in a valley, can also during summer experience very warm temperatures, up to 37°C. (population ~3400) is the largest town in western Tasmania. The mine at Mount Lyell has sustained Queenstown since the late 1800's when gold, silver and copper were discovered. Queenstown sprang up in no time as a typical "frontier town", but in recent years has been somewhat more subdued, with the future of the Mount Lyell mine repeatedly being questioned. In 1995, it was decided to continue mining into the next century, relieving some economic pressures. But its hills have been stripped of timber to fire the local copper smelters and permanently denuded by the noisome sulphurous fumes which belch from the smelters. Its river is polluted. It has the appearance of a deserted moonscape. It is a profound reminder of humanity's capacity to destroy and pollute and, in that sense, it deserves to be seen by everyone. Located 256km west of Hobart.

queer (someone's) pitch—upset (someone's) plans.

queue—1. a line or sequence of persons, vehicles, computer programs, etc, awaiting their turn to be attended to or to proceed. 2. a pigtail or plait of hair.

quick march!—hurry up!

quick quid—money earned easily and often illegally.

quick smart—promptly; at once: e.g., I want those things here quick smart.

quid—the sum of one pound before decimal currency.

quids—a lot of money: e.g., That must have cost quids!

quids in—in a position of profit.

quiet the worms—have something to eat; appease one's hunger.

quiff—1. a man's tuft of hair, brushed upward over the forehead. 2. a curl plastered down on the forehead.

quinella—to win a quinella wager you must pick the 1st and 2nd place finishers in any order. If you play a 1-2 quinella, and the race finishes 1-2 OR 2-1, you are a winner.

Quinkan—a category of spirit people depicted in rock paintings of northern Queensland. According to legend, they were spirit figures that usually lived in cracks in the rock and came out to frighten people and keep them 'in line'. They were the "boogie men" of the Laura area. At any time of year you can visit the sandstone caves and ridges at Split Rock, 13km south of Laura, where a steep track leads to a two-hour gallery circuit. Paintings depict animals and startling spirit figures associated with sorcery: spidery, frightening Quinkan with pendulous earlobes, and dumpy Anurra, often with their legs twisted upwards.

Quinkan Country—west over the Great Dividing Range via Palmer River to "Quinkan Country" near Laura, an outback landscape of termite mounds and cattle stations. Climb the sandstone escarpment to Split Rock to view ancient Aboriginal rock art depicting life and customs here thousands of years ago. Tribal folklore suggests Aboriginal people s inhabited the area 40,000 years ago, and archaeological evidence supports this contention. There are more than 1000 known galleries in the area and it is widely believed there are a number of undiscovered paintings yet to be found. To draw definite conclusions as to the messages conveyed in the Aboriginal art of Quinkan Country is impossible. However, visitors to these ancient galleries can be witness to sorcery, love, magic and hunting images, fertility sites, celebratory drawings and those depicting times of hardship.

Quinkan Reserve—one of the most important Aboriginal art sites in Australia. The thousand-plus rock art sites situated around the town of Laura in the Cape York Peninsula demonstrate a variety of Aboriginal painting styles and techniques. The oldest rock art site containing indigenous paintings in the Quinkan area is 32,000 years old. These sites are tended and preserved by the local Aboriginal Trust, and may be inspected only in the company of park rangers. The Quinkan Reserve extends from Laura to the coastline of Princess Charlotte Bay in Far North Queensland.

Quirindi—a service centre to the surrounding agricultural and pastoral area on the North West Slopes. Quirindi is located off the New England Highway, 354km north of Sydney and 63km south-west of Tamworth. It is situated on a plateau in the Liverpool Ranges, 390m above sea-level and at the southern edge of the Liverpool Plains. The area was once occupied by the Kamilaroi people, and it is from their language that the town's name derives.

quit rent—a rent paid by a freeman in lieu of the services required by feudal custom. In Mabo v Queensland the High Court found that the feudal doctrine of tenure does apply in Australia. Its structure is too deeply ingrained in our law to be removed. Under the Property Law Act, quit rent consisted of peppercorn payments to the Crown for land alienated.

quite a few—many.

quod—prison.

quoit—bum, anus.

quokka—Setonix brachyurus, a small, short-tailed wallaby, and one of the first Australian mammals seen by Europeans. In 1658 Dutch mariner Samuel Volckertzoon wrote of sighting "a wild cat" on Rottnest Island. De Vlamingh thought they were a kind of rat and hence named the island "Rottenest" (Dutch for "rat nest") in 1696. Quokkas have rounded bodies with a short tail and a hunched posture. They have small, rounded ears and a wide face that is much more flattened than that of other wallabies. Once very common in areas such as the Swan Coastal Plain near Perth and Gingin, quokkas are now uncommon on the mainland and confined to isolated pockets within the south-west corner of Western Australia. They are, however, found in Stirling Range National Park and along the south coast to Two Peoples Bay. On the mainland, densely vegetated areas around swamps or streams are preferred. On Rottnest Island, however, they inhabit low and scrubby coastal vegetation where water is not always available year round.

quoll—genus Dasyurus, meaning "hairy-tail", was coined by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1796. It is a carnivorous marsupial native to mainland Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania. It is primarily nocturnal and spends most of the day in its den. There are six species of quoll; four are found in Australia and two in New Guinea. Another two species are known from fossil remains in Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in Queensland. Genetic evidence indicates that the quoll evolved around 15 million years ago in the Miocene, and that the ancestors of the six species had all diverged by around 4 million years ago. The quoll species vary in weight and size, from 300g to 7kg. They have brown or black fur and a pink nose. They are largely solitary but come together for a few social interactions such as mating, which occurs during the winter season. A female gives birth to up to 18 puppies, of which only 6 survive to suckle on her teats. The quoll eats small mammals such as rabbits, small birds, lizards and insects. Its natural lifespan is between two and five years. In 1770, Captain Cook collected quolls on his exploration of the east coast of Australia, adopting the Aboriginal name for the animals. Although the origin of Cook's specimens are unclear, the word and its variants are derived from the language of the Guugu Yimithirr people of Far North Queensland. They were likened in appearance to a polecat or marten in the earliest reports, the tiger quoll being called "spotted marten" and eastern quoll "spotted opossum", but by 1804, the names "native cat" and "tiger cat" had been adopted by early settlers. Four species have been recovered from Pleistocene cave deposits from Mount Etna Caves National Park near Rockhampton in central Queensland. Remains of the tiger quoll and the northern quoll, and a species either identical or very similar to the eastern quoll, as well as a prehistoric species as yet undescribed, all lived in what was a rainforest climate. The northern quoll is still found in the region. The fossil species D. dunmalli, described by Bartholomai in 1971, is the oldest species recovered to date. Its remains were found in Pliocene deposits near Chinchilla in south-eastern Queensland. Known only from a lower jaw and some teeth, it was a relative of the tiger quoll. The tribe Dasyurini, to which quolls belong, also includes the Tasmanian devil, the antechinus, the kowari, and the mulgara.] Genetic analysis of cytochrome b DNA and 12S rRNA of the mitochondria indicates the quolls evolved and diversified in the late Miocene between 15 and 5 million years ago, a time of great diversification in marsupials. The ancestors of all current species had diverged by the early Pliocene, around 4 million years ago. All species have drastically declined in numbers since Australasia was colonised by Europeans, with one species, the eastern quoll, becoming extinct on the Australian mainland, now being found only in Tasmania.

Quorn—cradled in a Flinders Ranges valley 330km north of Adelaide, Quorn is one of Australia’s most historic railway towns. In the past, trains from all parts of the country stopped here, and for many years the town was the southern terminal for the famous 'Ghan rail journey to Alice Springs. Although its days as one of the nation’s major railheads are over, the romance lingers on through volunteer enthusiasts who continue to operate a steam train service which regularly makes the 33km round trip on a restored line between Quorn and Pichi Richi from March to November. They also maintain the railway workshops which house a collection of old locomotives and rolling stock. Their documented records show that the ladies of the Quorn branch of the Country Women’s Association served almost 1 million free meals to soldiers who passed through the town on the constant flow of World War II troop trains.

← Back

Next →