There are few things that upset grey nomads arriving at a beautiful camping area more than finding it has been treated with disrespect by other travellers.
Littering is the most common complaint but sometimes things get even worse. The camping area at Ophir Reserve, some 30 kilometres from the NSW town of Orange, has just been trashed by vandals. The offenders broke picnic tables, dumped rubbish around the area, and stole an honesty box that had been bolted to a door in the toilets.
Ophir Trust secretary Learne Spicer told the Central Western Daily that the clean-up work was being left to volunteers who want to see the area continue to operate as a camping spot.
“It breaks my heart to know people have no respect for the history of Ophir or respect for the people who look after Ophir,” she said. ““The honesty box is used to collect money from campers and it helps pay for toilet paper, chemicals and maintenance.”
Mrs Spicer estimated it would cost the Trust about $1000 to repair the damage if the work wasn’t being carried out by volunteers.
She said she suspected the damage has been caused during a party in which attendees had got drunk and out of control.
The picturesque picnic and camping ground sits at the junction of the Lewis Ponds and Summer Hill Creeks.
Rubbish is the bane of travellers life. Yes we happily clean it up but remain disgusted by toilet paper, poop, the hideous toilet wipes that last even longer and nappies. The other problem is then responsibly disposing of it. Not enough rubbish bins and recycling facilities. It is all very well saying no domestic rubbish etc but it has to go somewhere. Cameras are needed to help catch serious offenders like this.
We often pick up rubbish from places we stay when we see that rubbish has been left by previous campers. CMCA give out rubbish bags specifically for this reason.
Many a time we have picked up other peoples rubbish.And put in the bins.People are to lazy to walk a few metres to put in the bins
Many times I pick up other people’s rubbish. It is disgusting. My pet hate is people putting rubbish bags in bins that are already overflowing – there are plenty of bins around, bring it to the next one.
I agree with the above, you do not need a bag with cmca all over it , donot put bottle and can in the fire in the first place they will not burn put them in the bin CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS
We use our Coles and Woolies bags to dispose of our rubbish when travelling. Over here in the West plastic shopping bags are still available.
Maybe this could be a problem in some states. A major gripe is going to empty my toilet at a dump point and finding the last user didn’t care to wash all their waste into the hole. a couple of litres of water is all it took. The dump point in question is at the junction of Victoria Highway and Great Northern Highway just out of Kununurra in WA. I hope the person who left his mess reads this and will think next time.
I agree Rob however I would like to think that the a*******s that leave camp grounds like this are not members of this site
I’d like to make a small donation to the “Trust” to assist. How can I do this?
We may just visit Ophir one day …..
It takes little effort to clean up after oneself. If no bins are available we take our rubbish with us …. Often pick up after others who are a tad short on manners and respect.
Locals often trash these beautiful camping areas and travellers tend to get all the blame. I have seen this first hand at Pilliga Bore(nsw) and at Oallen Ford crossing(nsw), and Lake Lashelles(vic). Having spoken to council representitives at all of these sites, they confirmed that locals are the primary cause of the littering and vandalism