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Improve the area
Leave what you find
Fires & Firewood
Washing & Soap
Campsite
Rubbish
Human Waste & Toilet Paper
Gates
Road Behaviour
Make a hole over 100 metres from any watercourse (and above normal flood level), 100 mm deep. Put used toilet paper in the hole and BURN the paper. Then cover with the earth removed.
Take All Rubbish Out With You.
Burning paper is an effective means of disposal, but it does not work for plastics or tins.
To minimize smells in your vehicle wash the item out.
Don't bury any garbage. It can take years to break down and is often dug up and spread by animals.
This should be at least 20 metres from any water source and not under any overhanging tree. If possible use an existing camp site.
Wash dishes and yourself at least 50 metres from watercourses and scatter your water. Use minimal soap, detergent, or shampoo.
Any soap introduced into fresh water can severely alter the natural habitat of many plants and aquatic animals. An obvious example of this coating of green slime that you may find in many waterholes. This detracts from our swimming pleasure and is deadly to natural aquatic life.
Even the best "bio-degradable" soap can take years to break down.
Observe fire restrictions. Open fires and fuel stoves are not to be used on days of total fire bands, or Very High, Extreme Fire Danger.
Minimize fire building, use a fuel stove to do your cooking. Keep the fire size to a minimum.
Use a pre existing fire site. If none exists, clear an area of 3-metre radius.
Use fallen solid dead wood only. Hollow wood is used as a home by animals.
Always put fires out if unattended.
Ensure the ashes are free of litter such as glass and cans.
Use of roads, tracks and access
Use existing tracks and roads to minimize erosion.
Leave gates as you find them.
Respect the privacy of Pastoralists and Communities, this area is their home and livelihood.
Seek permission for access to private tracks and roads.
Don't take the things you found, others want to see them at the same place.
Aborigine artifacts should not be touched and left as found. Treat them with respect.
Aim to leave the area better than you found it.
Prevent the spread of weeds by removing burrs/seeds from clothing and camping equipment when moving camp.
Leave Gates as you found them, open or closed. Some "gates" are great steel structures that will survive most things. Others are so fragile that you wonder what they keep from passing from one side to the other. Either way leave them as you found them.
The difference between tar roads and dirt roads means that driving/riding
will create dust. When you approach a campsite/town/station please slow down so that
the dust you raise won't drift across the fresh washing/food that is being
prepared. A little consideration goes a long way.
If you are trying to overtake someone do realize they may not see you
through their dirty mirrors and the dust they raise. They can and do
take the best part of the track so be prepared to accommodate the fast change
by them to get around a roo/pothole.
You can e-mail me at Yahoo. Dated 20 March 2002
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