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Camping/Bivy around aus

irishpete

8-Jun-2009
11:31:42 PM

Hey guys im coming to aus for july and aug. I will be in the sydney area all of july if anyone is looking for some one to climb outdoors with please get in touch. The main thing i wanted to ask was in aug i plan to travel around prob up to cairns. Im just travelling on my own. Plan on camping or bivying most nights (ideally not in a campsite). In europe i would just sleep out in a bivy bag but being a useless tourist im unsure how safe it is perticularly the further north i go, with the risk of snakes, spiders etc wanting to spend the night in my bivy bag too. Please give me some advice weather i should pack my tent or bivy bag. Id love to leave my tent at home if i can cause its a lot heavier.(prob to make way for my trad rack!) Any advice would be worldclass please let me no what u think.

Pete

patto

8-Jun-2009
11:43:11 PM

Snakes, spiders etc are not a problem.

Zebedee

8-Jun-2009
11:43:28 PM

Oh Boy can't wait for the fearful posts re wildlife. You will not need a tent there are snakes, scorpians and spiders but they are not a high risk. Be careful watch where you but your feet down but I think a bivvy bag would be fine. Watch out for the drop bears but even a concrete bunker wouldn't keep them off ya!

Superstu

9-Jun-2009
6:57:27 AM

camping/bivvying away from established campsites gets easier as you go north. There are even some free established camp sites along the highway, I remember a few between Townsville and Cairns.

A bivvy bag would likely get too much condensation, its fairly humid from Sydney on up. A simple rain fly would be adequate, although you might consider a sandfly proof net as well if you intend to camp on the beaches. If its wet on the coast you can travel the inland route where its much drier. There are also alternating stretches of wet tropics and dry tropics, enjoy!

stonetroll

9-Jun-2009
7:43:15 AM

You don't have to worry about snakes, 'cause the crocodiles eat all them. From Mckay upwards (North) there's salt water crocodiles. So you need to be selective about where you camp near estuarys and where you swim. For that time of year, being cooler the snakes are usually slower and out of sight, sort of semi hibernation. But it's not uncommon to still come across the odd snake at that time of year up north on a warm day.

Up north you will probably get mosqitoes and sand flies, so take some sort of bug protection.
But basicly your bivy bag and just a light fly cover should be o.k.

Sydney area in July will be cold, i'd reckon you'ld at least want a tent for that time of year around there. And Sydney has a lot of Funnel Web spiders that come out at night and are considered a risk.

I'd suggest leave your tent at home and when you get here and then decide you do want a tent just get a cheapy that will do for a couple of months, no problem. ( They do sell tents down here, down under.)
Infact everyone here lives in tents and we let kangaroos carry them for us in their pouch.

widewetandslippery

9-Jun-2009
12:47:33 PM

You are going to die. The Australian court system has made it quite clear that in this country it is ok for foreigners to die in the outback. Look at how Joanne Lees go off killing her boyfriend. You're not bringing her missus are you?

nmonteith

9-Jun-2009
1:21:20 PM

Mosquitoes, ants, flies, scorpions, leeches, spiders and centipedes will be the only real annoyance if you plan to bivi in the open. Probably nothing that deadly, but incredibly annoying.

Eduardo Slabofvic

9-Jun-2009
1:28:23 PM

Bogans

IdratherbeclimbingM9

9-Jun-2009
2:05:20 PM

Hammers.

Sarah Gara

11-Jun-2009
9:00:02 PM

Don't forget the carnivorous emus. x

james

12-Jun-2009
4:08:25 PM

emus aren't carnivorous, but if you are close to one & it starts making a guttural clucking/knocking noise you should be scared

There are 11 messages in this topic.