Bush travel - the unloved 4wd genre?

Davoe,

In my case it's a bloody long way to where you guys have been. However, I have started taking lots of notes and adding comments to my maps for the future (hopefully not too long away). I think a lot of us in the East are jealous and yes we are saving up our leave for the Big One to hopefully include a lot of the places you guys get to see regularly. Keep up the reports, please.

Davoe,

The biggest problem with the places you mention is the distance between me and them! It'll take a complete long weekend just to get there from here.
But don't panic mate when I do get over thataway I'll be calling on you for a list of all those spots, I'll even trade if you like, the 'list' for a beer or two. lol

Avagoodn
Pezza

Very interesting comment Davoe, but dont feel its exlusive to WA!
We (missus and me) do a "season" of work each year in the fairly remote bottom end of W. Qld. where, because its all private leasehold land tourists dont have much access to. But there are plenty of places, historic sites, (Cobb & Co stages, long gone pubs etc.) stock routes, water holes (plenty yellowbelly, yabbies) that you tell people about, but whilst nodding in agreement you know only too well they will never go there.

Well, I think there are a number of reasons:
People are "herd animals". They might be travelling alone (say hub/wife +/- 2kids) but cant cop the loneliness of remote/being alone camping. The same combination is concerned about safety, whether by vehicle accident or people related. So they prefer to map out a tour where there will be plenty of "people contact" with the occassional foray to some particular remote day trip highlight.

Then you have the "dedicated" They are (for instance) "The group doing the Simson" We often hear them on the UHF: "geez Paul, what you got the cruise set on, were droppin off?" Paul, "mate, we gotta HIT Birdsville tonite" "Yeah, but we blody near HIT that big Brahman" They only left Brizzy yesterday, sort of thing. I am sure a similar group is "doing" the GRR,CSR,etc.etc.
.
Which brings me to the the real pits. The mob who have found the ultimate way to "get outback" loaded up with cartons of rocket fuel and a stereo system that would lure a "close encounter of the third kind". They seem to always find a spot where someone (like the family group perhaps) has decided it could be nice and quiet for a few days, but after that "encounter" swear never to go back again. (someone usually has to, pick up the garbage left behind)

Finally I think for many tourists it is much of a one off. I grew up and have lived in the bush all my life and we dont want to move from it. So often my wife meets people who are on some sort of "adventure trip) (my wife does part time at the local art gallery) So, referring to their travels she might ask did you see such and such - "No, where would you find out about that? "Well, the pub would give you a mud map to it" "PUBS!! We never stop at them!!" The whole costing of the trip is to be as cheap as possible, get the pictures, get home and forget about it. After all, it was only hubbies little indulgance after the reduncancy/super payout!!

I dont want to talk about the "Grey Nomads" They are bordering on a different race At least they stay on the "bitumine" but cant some of them wear their welcome out using up all the freebies and depositing the waste contents of those mobile "gin palaces" for someone else to step in.

I probably havn't really made the contribution you were looking for, could be I'm just an "Old Thorny Devil" !!
cheers the kesh

Good call Dave. Lets stir these posers/city slickers.

By the way ain't you suppose to be working?

Widgie Davoe,

Think I know the feeling.......there's so much to see & do in one's own backyard (Adelaide in my case), just gotta get momentum/energy/committment to do it. When I say that you can see spinifex only 1.5 hours from the CBD, many don't believe me. Sure, the big trips for 2 + weeks are good, but it's certainly worth finding or making your own little trips also.

Think I know the feeling.......However, as I have observed, & been part of the giving side of the equation for some time, my enthusiasm for sharing and participating has declined. Not to say I won't, but many have a different itinery/interest from me, that appears to be "rush rush" driven. I can understand why. I am not critical of this, merely observant.

Think I know the feeling.......So IMHO, most don't want to know any real detail; any alternate routes; any geography and or history beyond the superficial; not particularly inetereted in 'new' things. The cynical side of me says for them it's a requirement for instant gratification/ beentheredonethat.

Think I know the feeling.......yes, it's fear of scratches/flatties/unkown dangers. People usually are gregarious, even in the bush, but it takes an amount of intestinal fortitude to mount your own trip, especially by yourself - and that is a level beyond most people's comfort zone. For proof, witness the popularity of the Tag -along 's.

And yes, for many, it's about accumulating holidays and then doing a representative sample tour that they can satisfy their egos with when they return................e.g. at the footy/BBQ/family event it goes: "yeah mate, went to Birdsville last time, yeah, got over Big red second go, geez the flies were bad..........blah blah blah.................. "The rider still exists that this is not a criticism, but an observation of mine.

Anyway, got to go & research the next trip.

best regards

Rick (S.A.)

Davoe, reminds me of a few years ago at Ulara camping ground. Backpacker asked me where I was going. When told she was amazed, "but there's nothing out there!" When told pigs rear end there wasn't she asked if it was dangerous. "Safer than camped here" I replied. She thought for a moment and then she had me. "So why don't many people go there?" she asked with a smug smile.
Fast forward....
Watching a tag along trying to make up lost time...zoom.....road rage at a servo at Windorah...... pulling into 5 roadside stops and having to pull out again, all full up.....trying to dodge the grey nomads and nests as they zoom along overtaking me, only to stop at the next town and jump out with their cameras. Bloody traffic jams on Big Red....stickers on the pumps, have you conquered Big Red yet ? Thats a big 10-4 good budgie I think we got uz a con voy. Woo Hoo.

And you want more people in your neck of the woods ? Careful what you ask for, you may just get it.

Just done a trip over the extended long weekend(just the missus & me) & checked out some of the Rocks around the Wheatbelt area. Probably been to some of them yourself. Amazing what there is to see. One in particular near Bullfinch kept us there for two days. Won't mention its name as its too peaceful to advertise its location to the masses.The only feral things out there were what belong there anyway.

this may come through twice, got logged off while typing it.

G'day Davoe,

although i grew up in Perth, i was brought up with bush as we had and still do have (my Father's), 60 acres of it at Dwellingup. This had a profound effect on me that has lasted and i am so happy to see that my own kids (four under 7) are responding well to my praise and enjoyment of the bush. it is good medicine to me, hence 'bushfix.' I instantly feel better when I see it, when I am in it. I guess it is another reason why I don't take a table or chairs with me, I prefer to be on the ground. When I was working over there it was similar to you with the swag, the camp fire (when poss) and the tojo. I miss that country.

As far as the 4wd component, it is just a means to get me further away from "society" or further into the bush. I don't go out of my way for a play but do enjoy developing driving skills. The kids, they love the 4wding, no hill too steep, bumpy or slippery, no creek too deep etc. This is just as well because I don't want them not wanting to come along. But they also love their camping and it is all I need to see them running around in the bush together, making there own fun, and getting grubby, or sitting down eating a meal I've just pulled off the fire.

But I guess, (and I do now live on the outskirsts of Sydney) I keep quiet about places I might tootle off to for a night or two because ideally I don't want anyone else to be there. Selfish yeah maybe but time spent in the bush is important to me and I don't want it wrecked by people who have no respect for it (the bush.) Small club trips though can be great too though I must say. Yarning is good for you and you can learn from others.

Especially coming from WA, it feels like an ant's nest here sometiimes, but there are some beautiful places so close by. I remember being sent to Tamworth soon after moving to Sydney, I had not been there before. Before leaving I asked my boss where the best place to roll out the swag was. The bloke I was going with was peplexed of course but that was an introduction for me to the difference in population and state size, compared to my beloved WA.

Our vehicle certainly gets about (and scratched) and I am wrapped to have it as a tool to get me and my family where I want to be.

Thanks for your post mate. i look forward to reading what others have to say.

The problem is life. It gets in the way.

We moved to Broken Hill 3 years ago intending to 'explore' the area while we lived here. Having passed through the area a number times on various trips we knew it had a lot to offer and couldn't wait to "get out there."

But when we moved here we brought our lives with us. We have to go to work. The kids go to school, music lessons, sport, birthday parties you know how it is.

We have made friends with a family just moved to town earlier this year, 4wd , camper trailer... just like us. They were asking us about the Flinders Ranges, our backyard if you like. So we finally sat down to work out when we can get away and do some exploring. It was late July or early August when we got together to talk about when we could go.

The first suitable weekend is the last one in November. We had to plan 5 months ahead and even then the other guy has to be back early Sunday arvo to catch a flight.

Trust me Davoe I WANT to be out there.......

If only I could get rid my family and friends???????? Then I would have time. That's life.