firewood

Hi Steve

Your "How long is a piece of string" question makes me think that the government could give jobs to hundreds of unemployed people getting them to count the wood on the side of the road.....hahahahahaha

I have never failed to find wood, even in the Tirari Desert where only gibber grows. But if you are unsure take six small blocks of wood and some kindling...and don't forget the flint or matches.

Hope Denny has recovered well from her op.

Cheers mate

Wood is scarce in all of those areas, unless you are prepared to scrounge as you travel and carry it to your camp. Cheers

We don't always find wood, and use gas sometimes to cook.

We tend to pick it up as we go and throw it up on the roof rack.
Sometimes we find some at a camp, sometimes we leave excess for others.

HI Steve my advice to you would be as soon as you start hitting creek crossings have a look at each one as you drive by,it does'nt take much to pull up and put abit on,go walkers crossing way to Birdsville so you can found enough wood for your Simpson crossing so you are well prepared for the Simpson,then when you get down around the Oonadatta track there are plenty of sleepers to choice from.happy travels cheer's GREENDOG

Good thinking - as long as you have somewhere to carry it, you can pick it up each day. Thing is, you get firewood in all the places that people DON"T camp. Just look for wooded areas (creek lines with no campsites are good) and pick up the dead dropped stuff - second best of all is your red gums - a few decent bits of that will do you all night - best of all is the arid country mulga/gidgee et al - hard as hell and magnificent coals for cooking. So hard that when they die, they take years to fall over. I reckon the best investment in wood gathering is a $10 carpenters saw from bunnings - very easy to stow - very sharp - goes through gum like a hot knife through a leper. Chuck it out when blunt.

Oh dear... I can see where this may lead....

In the desert areas I prefer to not have or, at least minimise, camp fires.

Deserts, by their nature, don't have a lot of trees and burning dead wood in deserts is probably not a good idea for a few reasons.

When there were just a few Aborigines it probably didn't matter much - now there are (who knows how many) 4WDs in these areas it probably does.

Gas is cheap and if you want camp fires come to the High Country in Victoria – we have plenty of wood for that.

Mike Harding (a card carrying, gun totting, 4Wding, dog loving anti Greenie)

Take a camp stove and 1.5kg bottle. it probbably will take up less room and weigh less than carrying wood. This means if you get stuck with no wood you still get to eat a hot meal and can be handy if it rains etc rather than forage for wet wood in the rain

Steve,

Check your Desert Parks Pass handbook. They recommend minimal use of natural firewood. Preferably take some of your own with you.

As per Mike's comment above, not interested in an endless debate re fire size etc etc etc.

I don't bother trying to find wood near campsites anymore. Picked clean as a rule and the chances are too high of treading on a 'landmine' (poo) in the more popular areas.

I 'road-train' in my firewood from further afield by wrapping a chain around a few decent sized logs and towing them into camp behind the Cruiser. Big fire all night.

A good fire is the most important component of a successful bush evening - no question about it.