The 16th Australian Geological Convention (AGC) Musgrave Block Field Excursion, held during 6-16 July, came close to achieving unqualified success from the combined perspectives of technical geology, liaison between the traditional owners and the AGC party, co-operation within the party, and the near faultless organisation of Sandrifter Safaris. Much of the credit goes to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara (AP) and Central Land Council for their trust and willingness to accept such a large group. It had been 27 years since a party of geologists of this size examined the geology of the Musgrave Block. That event was the 1st AGC held in 1975, the party representing the South Australian Geological Survey, Bureau of Mineral Resources and University of Adelaide. The 2002 AGC excursion was organised by Bob Major, former Senior Geologist with the Department of Mines and Energy, who is still remembered with respect by the people with whom he once worked and now are Anangu "tjilpi" and elders. Of the 24 participating geologists, five shared the responsibility of leadership, commensurate with their collective (and passionate) field experience of Musgravian geology extending from the mid-1960s to the present.The leaders, in order of appearance (the excursion commenced at Kulgera, Northern Territory, in the east and looped westward and then northward), were: - Bob Major (excursion organiser, Field Geology Club of South Australia), 1965-94 (South Australia Geological Survey). - Alfredo Camacho (Queens University), 1987-present, regional mapping (NTGS), 1998 PhD (ANU). - Colin Conor (PIRSA), 1969-present, regional mapping, groundwater and gemstone investigations, and MSc (Adelaide). - Dorothy Close (NTGS), 1995-99, regional mapping. - Alan Goode (AMIRA) 1965-68, Honours and PhD (Adelaide). In addition, Ian Scrimgeour and Christine Edgoose met the party in the Northern Territory and contributed to the final part of the trip. Of the 24 tour participants, 14 were from industry (Acclaim Exploration, AMIRA International, Anglo American, Falconbridge, Independence Gold, Minotaur Resources, Outokumpu Australia, Rio Tinto Exploration, WMC), four from universities, five from State geological surveys (South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia), plus one independent. Twenty one geological sites were visited, although a further 15 are described in the excursion guidebook. The excursion took 10 days, starting and finishing in Alice Springs. The route traversed south from Alice Springs to Kulgera, then west via Umuwa to Pipalyatjara, north to Docker River and back to Alice Springs via Uluru, a distance of close to 2500 km. The majority of the group travelled in the custom-made 4WD bus of Sandrifter Safaris who also ably victualled the whole party and, on occasions, guests. Rio Tinto Exploration generously assisted with transport and the swag trailer. The excursion was designed to touch on all aspects of the geology of the Musgrave Block, including the ~1550 Ma Birksgate Complex, the various sets of intrusives (i.e. the ~1200 Ma Kulgera Suite granites, ~1050 Ma ultramafic to anorthositic Giles Complex, the later ~1050 Ma granites, and numerous sets of mafic dykes), the tectonic evolution (Musgravian, Petermann and Alice Springs Orogenies), besides giving some consideration of the regolith. Each leader, or set of leaders as in the case of the Northern Territory Geological Survey, tended to concentrate upon either a geographic area or a theme. The fourth night was spent in the visitor's quarters at Umuwa, the AP administrative centre. The highly regarded and dedicated anthropologist Ushma Scales provided the tour participants with a valuable cultural awareness program. A feature of this was the analogy, wherein recent Aboriginal history is seen as the unravelling and fraying of "the rope of life", such that future intent is to have that rope repaired to original state. The AGC party being at Umuwa meant that PY Media, the local radio station, not only filmed our party studying high-grade quartz-ribbon granulites and pelites, but also interviewed several of our group, thus advertising our presence in the lands.