From above, the Riversleigh landscape seemed a bit uninspiring at first. It had none of the extraordinary coloured and shaped sandstone from Kakadu and Central Australia, or any extraordnary trees.

It was only up close that I learned to appreciate the different species. The gums with their pale trunks – different from the ones found in the Red Centre.

The acacia bushes, in bloom.

And other unusual flora.

But most common were the tuffs of spinifex. Sometimes they made eye-pleasing patterns on the hillside.