17 - 21 September 2007

Hyatt Regency Perth, Western Australia

Conference Tour & Field Trips

Yanchep Field Trip

Tour costs $70.00 per person and is an additional cost to Registration Fees and includes:

• Hotel Pick-up/Drop-off (from selected hotels)
• Lunch

Download Trip details here

Nursery Field Trip

Tour costs $40.00 per person and is an additional cost to Registration Fees and includes:

• Hotel Pick-up/Drop-off (from selected hotels)
• Morning Tea

Download Trip details here

Darlington Trail & Nursery Field Trip

Tour costs $40.00 per person and is an additional cost to Registration Fees and includes:

• Hotel Pick-up/Drop-off (from selected hotels)
• Afternoon Tea

Download Trip details here

Rottnest Island Tour

Rottnest Island is a favourite holiday destination for the people of Western Australia, and an internationally-known drawcard that attracts more than 500,000 visitors a year.

Rottnest has a rich and varied history that includes visits by 17th century Dutch mariners searching for the wrecks and survivors of treasure ships bound for Batavia (now Jakarta). Following the founding of Perth and the Swan River Colony in 1829, Rottnest became the location for one of Western Australia's earliest agricultural communities. From 1838 until the early 20th century Rottnest Island was a prison farm for Aborigines, whose activities included cropping, livestock rearing, vegetable growing, quarrying, timber-cutting, and house- and road-building. The Island's 20th and 21st century history is largely one of tourism, interrupted by military uses during the two World Wars. The Island was declared an A-Class Reserve in 1917 to protect its flora and fauna.

A consequence of this intense amount of human activity is the presence of a large number of invasive species amongst the Island's flora - 45% of the 246 species of vascular plants recorded on Rottnest are introduced. Additional influences on the Island's plant life are fires, and the grazing pressure from the Quokka (Setonix brachyurus), a cat-sized marsupial that is abundant - and conspicuous - on the Island, but virtually extinct on the mainland.

This tour will illustrate the impact of weeds on the landscape of Rottnest Island by visiting selected sites around the Island - amongst these will be a visit to the West End, where Muttonbirds (Puffinus pacificus) breed in burrows beneath a unique succulent plant community dominated by the introduced Iceplant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum).

You'll see weeds of many kinds, the Island's diverse vegetation, quokkas, beautiful coastal scenery, historic buildings, and - possibly - ospreys, dolphins and whales.

Tour costs $155.00 per person and is an additional cost to Registration Fees and includes:

• Hotel Pick-up/Drop-off (from selected hotels)
• Ferry
• Lunch

NB: this tour is subject to minimum numbers.

For more Island details go to: www.rottnestisland.com

Conference Secretariat:
Congress West
PO Box 749, Wembley Western Australia 6913, Australia
(12 Leura Street Nedlands Western Australia 6009 Australia)
Tel: +61 8 9389 6906, Fax: +61 8 9389 1234
Email:
Web: www.congresswest.com.au/emapi9

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