While Australia is full of incredible natural attractions, many Outback journeys are also punctuated by man-made ‘landmarks’ … not all of them universally appreciated.
While painted silos and ‘big’ things generally get a nod of approval from travellers, rusty vehicle sculptures, thong trees, and dressed termite mounds tend to divide opinion rather more. On a recent trip in the far north, keen photographer and grey nomad, Celia Netolicky, said she sometimes struggled to find a pristine termite mound to picture.
“At almost every site we were keen to photograph, there was at least one dressed-up termite mound,” she said. “One or two were amusing but we saw many more than in past years and the clothes eventually rot and it becomes just another form of litter.”
Rather than trying to stop people ‘having fun’ with termite mounds, Celia – who travels with her husband Josef in their Avan Adventure Plus – says the solution might be to concentrate them into certain clusters and encourage travellers to ‘dress to impress’ in these established zones.
“You won’t stop it now by banning it … take control and it can become something positive that doesn’t deface our Outback,” she said. “It would help maintain the authenticity of much of the area, keep the ‘trash’ to a small designated area, while creating both a tourist attraction and a tourist activity.”
Celia said termite mound groups could be selected and signposted for this purpose. “It could be an interesting and managed up-north experience,” she said. “This could become an experience people prepare for, document and enjoy – like painting the Cadillacs at Cadillac Ranch on Route 66 in the USA, the silo art trails in WA and Victoria, or Gnomesville in the south west of Western Australia.”
Celia suggests travellers who undress a mound in order to give it a fashion makeover, should then take the old clothes with them. She thinks the idea might attract tourists who want to create a special memory and contribute to a community work of art. She suggests different clusters could have different themes, such as the beach, a masked ball, clowns, an Aussie street party, or Christmas.
“Good sites would be where there are anthill clusters and where there are nearby picnic tables or toilets,” she said. “You could also have some done up by local artists as an installation.”
Despite the odd dressed termite mound gripe, Celia and Josef – who were committed tenters before buying their Avan a couple of years ago – are loving life on the road.
“We love the wide open spaces, travelling to fascinating places, and yarning to fellow travellers in iconic pubs like at Daly Waters, Mungerannie, William Creek and Whim Creek,” said Celia. “Retirement is hell, but as seen on a T-Shirt – ‘Retirement – goodbye tension, hello pension’.”
To come upon a few ant hills dressed up after lots of kms of just bush is a pleasant change.
We are guilty of dressing up 2 termite mounds in our way out of Cape York on the PDR in October 2019. We decided to ensure both male & females were represented therefore dressed them appropriately. The only difficulty we had was finding mounds that were small enough. We hope this gesture brightens up others who travel along the road.
How to kill native insects, just do this. wombats are next.
How do you dress up a wombat
No absolutely not
It is terrible
It is littering
It is disrespectful to the people who live in the area to throw trash on a tree, post ant hill.
How about we come to your street and just throw some old clothes bottles thongs on a tree outside your place
Think of the wildlife that is killed by all this trash thrown around by these idiots who think it is funny
lighten up Ant and come up with an alternative
I agree Ant..!
I am definitely against the termite mounds dressing up. We have passed 100s of mounds “dressed” in the tatty, dirty remains of clothing – they look just awful, add to the litter and they do become a danger to wildlife.