Cape York - Is the rubbish really THAT bad?

goodday lynn
dont know about that way but we have had 4 trips up through the centre and always seem to be following the baby with the trots bloody nappies everywhere or may its adults playing hansel & gretel marking the way so they dont get lostthe worst part is alot is around rubbish bins .its very hard to teach the grandkids to dig a hole and clean up around your stops when tis happens
BUT dont be put off, any trip in this country of ours is worth while
sometimes it costs an extra rubbish bag even if you cant take it with you at least bagged up its helped to clean up and dont be to embarrassed to say something i now carry the letters to fill in to dob in the smokers who throw there buts out (not perfect just get sick of them)

steve

Lynn. Don't be put off as at times there is a little exageration on this site. In reality some of the busier camp sites are littered with time bombs but most are pretty good. More pit toilets are being built every year so the problem will decline there at least. It is a pity that for the sake of carrying a shovell, there's no need for the mess at all.
Funny thing us human's. Have a great trip.Craig............

Read a report afew weeks ago which showed road side stops were becoming the worst places with the amount of camper trailers, caravans etc, all emptying the toilet where ever no one is looking.

Lynn, don't be put off. But you'll understand what people are saying after you have experienced it.

To put it in perspective, imagine you've just driven for 20 km and just crossed through a beautifully clear creek. You decide to stop to admire the place, but realize that someone has been there and hour, or a day or a week before you and decorated a bush with half a dozen pieces of toilet paper. It kind of takes the edge off it when you see the evidence of other people's disrespect. Now it only might be a few sheets of toilet paper, or one beer can every 10 k's or so, but you tend to focus on that one piece of litter if you happen to think that there should be no litter at all.

Chilli Beach on the other hand, while being a fantastic spot, has a high tide mark piled with flotsam from all over the Pacific Ocean. Thongs, plastic bottles, and, so the story goes, even a boot from one of the astronauts killed in the Challenger space shuttle explosion all wash up on this beach carried by the currents. It's a little less annoying than toilet paper - after all, you can blame someone from another country for the litter. But it does demonstrate the same issue of how us humans can trash this planet.

Don't miss the Cape just because of others' carelessness. It's by no means a total pig-sty (despite wild pigs) but you'll be aware that not everyone treats the bush with a zero-rubbish attitude. By the way, most of the toilet paper I cleaned up, and burned, had no trace of brown on it. Conclusion?- Draw you own, girls.

Just remember to take an extra rubbish bag to collect other people's rubbish. It should give you a sense of virtue and superiority.

Have fun

MikeyS

Lynn2 the rubbish can be bad but not that bad if you what I mean.
Web sites like these and responsible tour operaters that educate there quests will hopefully get the word accross. And then they spred the word.
In september its fairly late season and there will be more rubbish than earlier on.
This should not detrack from the buety of the area.

Have a good one.
Eric

G'day Lynn
If everyone had your attitude the place would soon be clean (or at least a hell of a lot cleaner). On our last trip up there whenever we stopped and there was toilet paper or other burnable rubbuish around we carefully (using long sticks) collected it into a pile and burned it. It can be bad in spots but I would hope that if all us considerate people did a bit of cleaning up maybe those that follow will think twice before doing the wrong thing. But then again there are some brainless idiots that will always do the wrong thing.
I hope you have a safe and enjoyable trip.