Sunday, Mar 23, 2008 at 13:24
And when offroad...
I've always hated
toilet humor. Not my sort of thing. But the fact is that as long as we're alive, we humans need to go. Sometimes more than others.
When we're out and about, common decency (and I suspect the law) requires that we find a
public toilet, pub, service station or similar. We don't need to think about it. we just go.
Of course being born a male, and being brought up in earlier times, it took me a while to work out just why females sometimes needed to go and stay so long. And when I worked it out I was pretty glad I had been born male.
I've never warmed to the concept of unisex
toilets. I was brought up with the separation of the sexes. I remember the bus drivers instructions from when I was a kid, "Ladies to the left, gentlemen to the right ".
My first introduction to unisex
toilets was a rude shock. I wondered why the blokes foot in the shower next to
mine had painted toenails. As I prepared to shave, female fellow students said good morning. I bolted, assuming that I had wandered into the "wrong"
toilets.
Travel operators make it all sound so easy. "You will be provided with
toilet paper and a spade". The problem is that not all animals have the same distaste for human waste that we humans (and I'm not including babies here) have. In some
places the bush is festooned with used
toilet paper that blows with every wind, catching itself on bushes for exhibition along the track. Dig deep my fellow travelers.
Of course some ground is easier to dig in than others. Rocky ground makes the morning ablutions just a tad more difficult. Pity the groups of travelers who wander around the bush first thing in the morning , trying to find a private patch, and pretending to fellow refugees that they bump into, that its just a morning stroll.
Now you'd think that because Australia is so big and scarcely populated that one wouldn't have any problem finding the appropriate spot at the right time. This is not always the case. Always plan for a vehicle to come along just at the wrong time. Otherwise they may just stop and ask if you're Ok and catch you in an embarrassing position. You may not have seen a vehicle for hours, but as soon as you get your pants around your ankles, one will come along. Normally trees and bushes are the go but newbees are sometimes aghast to find out that there's a lot of space without suitable vegetation in the bush.
Sometimes you'll be lucky enough to find that there's a "bush' loo. These seem to range from the unmentionable through to the positively brilliant. I've seen them so good I could of sat and read the newspaper. If there had of been one within a couple of hundred kilometers. And I've seen them so bad that I've broken my personal best time for a morning slash and dash. The spiders and the snake slithering away as I opened the door might have helped.
Years ago my younger brother needed to go. Fortunately there were
public toilets.. Unfortunately he raced into the ladies by accident. This was compounded by some ladies wandering in to be confronted by a long haired male teenager rushing out. We've never tired of reminding him of this incident. I guess some
toilet humor is acceptable.
There are lots of enjoyable things about being back in civilization after a trip. Showers and flushing
toilets are two of them.
AnswerID:
294218
Follow Up By: Tuftys Tours - Sunday, Mar 23, 2008 at 19:21
Sunday, Mar 23, 2008 at 19:21
Great advice to dig deep...
I have recently just finished the Bibb track in WA alone ,900 + km's and walking , the amount of fully digested meals i saw en route was not good , especially the blow in the wind arse paper.
Good advice keep it clean and dig deep.
Never make plans after 20 cans.
FollowupID:
560068
Follow Up By: Member - Bill F (VIC) - Monday, Mar 24, 2008 at 09:38
Monday, Mar 24, 2008 at 09:38
Hi Tuftys Tours, Just interested in your thread about your trip along the Bibb Track in WA.
Do you really mean that you travelled along this track ALONE for 900 kms. Intriguing. How long did it take you and more importantly why did you do this trek.
love to hear from you Pauline (Bill's other half)
FollowupID:
560153
Follow Up By: Tuftys Tours - Monday, Mar 24, 2008 at 10:30
Monday, Mar 24, 2008 at 10:30
Hi Guys
The reason you do a long walk like that are varied,
mine is i like my own company and i enjoy being in the middle of nowhere alone.....as
well as with my wife, but i love the virgin bush and the wildlife that you see when there is no noise, only yourself.Wildlife can be so intrigued by you and quite inquisitive to say the least.
With a few rest days,[not everyone wants to turn it into an olympic event] will take anything from 48 nights to 58 nights even longer if you stay at huts for more than 1 night, Sept/oct were my chosen months, very wet down south of WA though at times,and the main issue is not too HOT.
Great huts along the way, with rain water tanks, my longest session without seeing another person going north or south was 18 days, but you will pass through various towns along the way, and midweek you can get the immpression that the town is deserted { nuclear war maybe } .
But so glad i did it would definitely recommend it to anyone.
FollowupID:
560173
Follow Up By: Member - Bill F (VIC) - Monday, Mar 24, 2008 at 10:58
Monday, Mar 24, 2008 at 10:58
Thanks for the reply. It seems one has to go to extraordinary steps for a bit of peace and quiet!!!
I am amazed just how little one comes in contact with wildlife out in the bush when camping these days. Maybe I should try the tracks you walk...
Enjoy your trekking. and thanks Pauline
FollowupID:
560180
Follow Up By: Tuftys Tours - Monday, Mar 24, 2008 at 18:41
Monday, Mar 24, 2008 at 18:41
Bill f and pauline
Hey just got to tell you and others while this
toilet subject is on the front ring.......i had been walking all day near pemberton in WA south west .and in the distance of a straight section of disused railway, very old extinct railway track i thought i could see people, Yep i tell my self... but i make no sound on my own, and as i got closer i realised it was 2 backsides facing me one alongside the other at about 50 m when the wiping was done i coughed and thumped my stick on the floor......to my horror 2 old ladies of at least 70 -80 were looking straight at me and trying desperatley to kick whatever they had deposited away from view into the bush......my only comment was, isn't it a lovely day to get caught with your knickers down.......the sound of the silence was deafening.................................
FollowupID:
560343