Pest Offerings

Bushman's brand of repellent works OK. Available in spray, pump and roll-on.
Readily available at camping stores.

You will get a swag of "home brewed" concoctions, including 50% baby oil and 50% dettol, and others will tell you that Bushman's repellent is cancer causing, etc., but this is what many use. Seams to work better than "Aerogard"

As for other insects, well then, you are going to love the bush flies. They don't bite so much as drive you stupid, if you let them. A head/face net is a good investment, again, available from camping stores.

There are now anti-mosquito patches available, I have some but haven't tried them as yet.
I do know that nothing, including Bushman, kept them at bay at Dalhousie Springs!

Hi WhiteHilux,
i have a son who has been allergic to mossie bites since birth. When he gets bitten, they become welts to the size of approx a 50 cent piece in diameter. When he used to get about 6-7 he would start to become pysically ill vomiting every where, and then off to the hospital or doctor. He is now 8 years old and i have tried every thing from Rid( both strengths), Aeroguard tropical, Bushmans right through to daily medication. I used to hate giving all of the above to him as even the labels of the tropical strength even state to avoid prolonged use. Then someone gave me a bottle of repellent that is an Avon brand and i'm not much of a lover of all those avon pamphlets that we all recieve in the letter box, but its seems to have worked for him. He reckons it smells like jelly beans and that means i don't even have to rip a fart up him when its time to go on, which is good for both of us. I must have at least 10 half used different bottles floating around the house, but thats the one i grab for him every time. Its called " Avon Skin So Soft Bug Guard "( lasts for 2 hrs ). I'm not saying that it will work for all, but i would definately recommend trying it if you've plenty of time to get some before your trip.....

The biggest pest one can meet in the outback is the di&&us headus.
These insects are often found in remote areas and may be distinguished by their anti social behaviour in the bush. Behaviour may include some or all of the following.

Running a generator within 2m of your campsite.
Camping so close that you can hear them snore, even though there's nobody within 100km
Cutting down live trees for their campfire
Leaving a toilet paper trail
Strewing their rubbish anywhere and everywhere
Drinking enough ink a hol to kill a normal person each night and every night.
Having domestics outside your tent at 3 am
Never having to lower tyre pressures on a sand dune
Breaking every rule in the National Parks handbook
Never slowing down or moving to the left with oncoming traffic
Never carrying their own recovery gear, UHF or sand flag
Never carrying enough water, they dont drink it anyway

Fortunately this species is relatevly rare in the outback, preferring to breed closer to civilization.

Should you encounter di&&us headus, you are left with one course of action.

Flee !!

My wife is susceptible to insect bites and she started a vitamin B1 supplement before our trip away last year and that did work...

wide brim hat such as an akubra, fly net over the top of it, long sleeve shirt to keep them off your arms, long pants if you desire but the flies don't seem to bother you so much on legs. they will still hang around you but at least it will keep them off of your skin.

Barnesy

Like Mr.Fawlty's wife I too seem to react very badly to mosquito & sandfly bites. I will get bitten and be scratching like mad when other people tell me there are no mosquitos.

One week befor trips I start regular doses of Vitamin B Capsules. I can't remeber how I got on to this trick bit it definately helps to repel the buggers. Apparently there is an odour emitted from skin pores that repel the little beasts.

Come dusk I still change into long trousers and long sleeve shirt and spray repellant around the ankles but that Vitamin B is a great help.

Ian

Hi Whitehilux and Wife,

We lived in WA for a while where the sandflys and mozzies were unbelievable. I was pregnant so did not want to use any poisons. I used a plain moisturising cream and added Lavender Oil to it. I covered all my exposed skin with this a few times a day. I did get the occasional bite, but this worked a treat. I also burnt Lavender Oil in my oil burner at the door ways. My husband took vitamin B (not just "vitamin beer") and used the oil and detol mix.

The best room type spray for flys etc is one called Black Flag. I havent seen it in the supermarket for a while so not sure if it is still made.

enjoy your trip and dont forget to pack the fly veil.

Ellen

Hi,
You will get 1000's of different answers for this question! Here is my 2 cents worth.

We have found that it depends where you are and the time of day/night. Some repellants work better in some areas. Don't know why, they just do. We generally use Rid or Aeroguard Tropical. What ever the locals use is normally a good bet. If we are in an area where the mosquitoes carry disease (Ross River or Murray Valley Encephalitis and a host of others) we use Bushmans (the lotion which is 20% DEET) and wear long sleeve shirts and long trousers if possible. All need to be reapplied regularly. Try to be near a fire at dusk. I well remember taking some photos of a spectacular sunset and in the 10 minutes got 50 bites. The comments about DEET (active ingredient in Bushmans) are correct. It can damage your liver with prolonged use. No one defines prolonged though. The fact that it will lift paint from your car should give you some idea of how aggressive it is. There are a host of lotions etc that you can use after you are bitten by something which tend to relieve the discomfort. These are generally a good idea as you miss covering a bit somewhere eventually.

Any chemist can supply these products and give advice, particularly in Darwin.

As for other local fauna, leave it alone and it will generally leave you alone. There are a few exceptions to this rule which is why there are 1,000's of signs in the north about salt water crocs, box jelly fish etc. Keep tents/swags closed as much as possible.

After all the doom and gloom above have a good time. The bush is great, it just needs to be treated with respect.

Steve

but none of that stuff gets rid of a drop bears bite?...dave