Rules for the group

>> "Don't wave that fireaem around in camp?" <<

Why not???

Gotta be ready for them there dang nasty critturs what comes crawlin' outa tha faaarwood!!!!

;-)))))

Drive carefully so as not to risk damage.
Keep music volume down/off in camp.
Assist with wood collection.
Come to the group fire each day.
Take turn to dig/fill in group toilet.
Respect others beliefs.
Help with repairs & assist with recoveries.
Follow convoy proceedure.
Participate in group activities.
Leave your generator at home ;-)
But most important, be patient.
Cheers Craig.........

We have an extensive code that we send to all prospective participants before joining. I is all pretty much common sense, no revelations, just that we get them to sign agreement first, something that is harder to do with a casual group.

Footloose,

As a driver for a tag a long company I do my fair share of touring and camping and when I lead a trip it is usually with people that I have not meet before.

People do have standards of camping that don't always please fellow campers.

When driving, slowing down when going pass a camp site or vehicles parked on the side of the road.

If a vehicle has moved over to let the convey pass, the last vehicle in our convey lets that vehicle know that there are no more vehicles to come.

When in camp I do have 2 strict rules.

Leave the radios off. Motors Off, Radio Off
The other is, No rubbish on the fire.
There is nothing worse than sitting by the fire watching the flames and an empty beer can is thrown in.
!MPG:24!

Wayne

Don't be a pita and take every last bit of firewood just for a huge fire when others are needing small amounts for cooking.

Turn down the loud voices at a reasonable hour.

I try to avoid groups but do lead the odd adventure trek every now and then.

Basic principles:

1. Bring along what is set as minimum requirements in fuel and water and tucker(otherwise you have to rely on your travel mates for their support)

2. Make sure that your vehicle is trek worthy

3. Follow in my tracks as this normally lessens punctures

4. Make sure your UHF is working properly

5. Help to collect camp firewood

6. Leave some firewood for the next morning (if you need to sit around the fire till the wee hours... AND don't throw cans into the fire)

7. Observe bush etiquette with toilet habits(ie burn the bloody paper)

8. Generators off at sunset

9. Leave all artefacts where you find them!!!

10. Try get into the spirit of the trek by rising early in the morning and being ready to leave when everyone else is.

A trek with known or unknown participants has to be reasonably flexible so that everyone has a good time. Respect for each other and some commonsense when travelling and camping goes a long way to make it a happy occasion.

Cheers

Being a shy one, I usually sit back for the first few days to see who is who. The loud ones, the quiet ones, the ones always willing to help, and the ones who just never see anything that needs doing, except thier own needs. The ones who have good yarns that bind the group, and the stirrers (not necesarily the loud ones) who can break the group up.

A few get to know you type activities, although forced at the beginning, does help this process and settle the group down. Found it good if people can meet once or twice before the trip during the planning to get things started.

Takes a few days for cliques to form. Remember that people form into small cliques (2 to 6 people) , and then there will be groups of 10 to 15, made up of a couple or three cliques. Up to 40 is a sub tribe.

A few stressful situations or group activities helps to form them into a sub tribe. Try and keep the common goal at the forefront in such situations. Some times (often) people having a go at other people is just letting stress off. Hard to remember some times and not take it personally.

Like to let the group have days where they can do their own thing as families/couples etc every week or two. When you hit town or a venue like a national park. A few days apart every now and then helps to stop the group venting at each other. Share the discoveries afterwards.

Thanks to all for the input. It seems to boil down to a bit of not so common sense and a respect for others (in the main).
The rubbish in the fire bit is interesting, and I would guess that most of the transgressors think that they are doing something good by "getting rid of the rubbish." I guess that's just lack of experience on their behalf.

I camped near a tour group once, and they were all over 60, and kicked on till the wee hours while my family were trying to sleep after a long hard day. Not fun at the time, but a great story; especially about the bloke who kept singing "I've got a lovel ee bunch of coco nuts" despite what the actual song was supposed to be.

Rubbish on the fire is one point that I was recently educated by a 4WD club member from SA. They actually throw their used food tins into the fire when emptied. They explained the purpose of this is to burn the remains out of the tins so as not to attract pests through the night. They then remove them before breaking camp and the fire is extinguished so as not to have the smell of decomposing food leak out of their rubbish bags into their vehicles.
The idea has some merit I beleive.