Comment: The Future of Remote Area Travel

Hi Michelle,

Thank you for your thoughts.

In 2009 we travelled part of the Canning, N to S. A number of friends from our 4WD club were out there too, travelling S to N. We met up with them at Georgia Bore where the Canning follows the Talawana Track for a time. They had spent the day repairing a broken spring, removing, welding, retempering, reassembling. Between them they had the best equipped workshop (and most enthusiastic and competent mechanics) for a 1000 km! Then we arrived in the evening….with a broken spring. They descended on our Troopy and within a couple of hours he was fit to limp out west to civilisation. When our friends arrived home in Canberra they reported on the remote area traffic congestion, and subsequently we were prevailed upon to write a short article on it. We posed the question of the future of remote area travel on the EO forum and then distilled the responses to produce the article, now this blog.

Your comments are most interesting, not only because of your extensive travel experience, but because you represent an age group which may not have been represented in our data gathering. Retirees have the time, and maybe the funds, to travel. Young adults may lack the work, financial and family responsibilities which limit flexibility and hence travel opportunities. In between the 20’s and the 60’s though are people like you. Young people and especially old people are common on the tracks, but there aren’t a lot of travellers in between.

I’m interested in you view that increasing numbers on the tracks may simply be a reflection on our increasing population. That population is certainly increasing markedly at the “older” end of the spectrum. Your observation that the nature of the vehicles is changing I find particularly pertinent. There certainly is a trend towards more capable vehicles (4WD and AWD) being used as urban family transport, so it’s understandable that we see more of them off the bitumen.

You raise the matter of travelling etiquette. This is an interesting concept that I hadn’t previously considered in that light. There is a percentage of travellers who act as though they are there to conquer, rather than develop an affinity for these remote places. Some have interpersonal skills to match; one feels they need an attitude transplant! Should we perhaps look to engendering practices more sympathetic to unspoiled areas, such as leaving no personal waste, or at least consigning used toilet paper to the camp fire? The camp fire itself – should it be just extinguished, or is it good practice to cover it too? When we travel remotely we accept certain self imposed rules – carry ample water and fuel, spare belts and hoses, reliable communication gear, ensure someone responsible knows our plans, etc. Is it too hard to have rules about toilet paper, or only burning plastic after cooking is finished, or ensuring that a camp fire isn’t a bonfire?

All good food for thought.

Cheers

John