There are many important issues and stories coming from George, but I chose this story first,  as it really  important to keep this beautiful Island Continent clean. - George

Why Litter Australia ? [story published 25/10/2006]

We recently spent a six week holiday along the coast of Western Australia.
This time we thought we should re-schedule our standard Caravanning from Van parks and try the more outdoor Caravanning with a “Bush-Camp” theme.
Considering the price of fuel now, we thought that a saving on Van Parks by alternating stop-overs at Camp sites may be one way to help minimize costs. So we set up the Van for more Bush-Camping (installed two deep-cycle batteries, purchased a Generator etc.) and headed North of Perth to run a test on how it works and just what the saving could be.
I am not going to mention our Camp destinations because of what we found along to way, this will astound you, if you are one of the 22,000,000 or so, proud Aussies that inhabit this “Lucky Country”.

Our first Campsite was a few kilometers inland and approximately 200 kms North of Perth, here we found a suitable recognized site where we set up Camp and prepared a nice fire for the evening. Upon further exploration of the area, I wandered about 500 meters down a dry creek bed where I was to discover about 20 old rusted-out car bodies, dumped along the banks of the creek. Someone had found a nice secluded spot to dump unwanted vehicles.

We moved further on North the next day and followed the coast to another Camp site that was supported by the local council in the way of supplying an Eco toilet and maintaining the area. This site was relatively clean but was governed by the local Ranger that regularly called by to check that the $11 overnight fee was paid. Unfortunately the fee prevented Campers staying there when a few Kms away the local Van Park charged $20 per night with Toilets, Power and Hot showers, but the Camp area was well kept.

Moving on after a few days we entered yet another recognized Camp site, which really had a Holiday atmosphere, there we

re a few pieces of rusty Galvanized tin laying around with a few empty beer cans, but it only took us half an hour to clean up the site and we were ready to set up the Van for a few days of Beach camping. We had an enjoyable first night around the camp fire with our friends (that accompanied us with their Van), telling camping stories and listening to music CD’s.
Next morning I explored further along the track and came into a nice Camping thicket to see heaps of broken glass bottles, old fishing nets, old rope and drums just left laying around on the ground, in fact the whole area was absolutely rubbished, it would have taken a team of workmen a week to clean the mess, I guess this is why this area was not being used by campers, it was too badly trashed. What a shame, some people had come to make sure that this haven would no longer be just that.

We spent a week here, fishing, exploring and enjoying the outdoor life without the extra cost of site fees, this camp site saved us aprox $140 off what we would have paid if booking into a Van park. We still had some comforts of home, a shower curtain was handy, whereas we heated the water by bucket over the open fire to the preferred temperature and used a 12 volt pump and shower head inside the shower curtain.

 

	For future bums Thought it was a good time to compare, whilst the previous camp sites were still fully in my memory. We stayed at a popular Van Park in a picturesque town where I noted a new style of ablution block. The block was made up of about 12 separate cubicals, where the Van tenants could close the cubical and have access to the Toilet and shower in privacy.
New design Ablution blocks in some Caravan Parks becoming popular. The entire block is uni-sex and is divided into cubicals, each cubical accommodates Shower, Toilet and Vanity mirror and bench. The cubicals are completely private and can be locked from the inside. A much more modern way of using the Ablution amenities, a sign of things to come. [top]

After three days in the Van park I must admit, I did miss the privacy we had in our previous Bush Camps, but the fact that one meets more people in Van parks and more conversation with fellow travelers makes a welcome break to Bush camps. My diagnosis upon all this was that the “best of both worlds” was the ideal way to do it, spend a few days (or even a week) depending on the site, bush camping and the alternative time in a Van park. This would cut your accommodation fees by half.
If you are not sure where bush camps are located along the way, there are some handy books at the Camping shops or at the Newsagent on Bush Camping. Another great access to bush camping is purchasing the CD from www.campingaustralia.net  website and print out a manual. There are over 10,400 sites throughout Australia, 300 recipes and lots of other stuff on the CD. It’s very informative.

'What is the answer to people rubbishing Campsites ? I’m not sure.
By erecting large signs saying “Penalty for leaving Rubbish $XXX” would only create the problem that it’s attempting to delete. The signs themselves are a form of rubbish, besides, who would police that in a secluded area.
Dobbing in people who rubbish sites has very limited success as well.
The problem is that a good many of the free campsites are being closed because the clean-up is just too costly for local shires to maintain, that means it will not be long before we don’t have any at all.
I think the only thing is to calmly speak to offenders in the attempt to let them see that it’s all our Country and if they (and we) maintain it’s cleanliness it’s a pleasure for all to benefit and they may be around in years to come.



Well, I suppose one could say :

“The Sunset makes up for the Litter abuse, and nature in it’s splendor always tries to “counteract”  what we humans trash along the way".

George York

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