 Flinders Ranges, Outback South Australia |
 by Philip Game
The Outback sets its own priorities: too many visitors take liberties with it. If you get it wrong out here, you may not see home again. Is the easy availability of camper vans and guidebooks creating a false sense of security?
Here are some newspaper headlines from within a 48-hour period…
"Ill-prepared Geman tourist tries to travel stock route". A 36-year-old man set out on a rough, remote desert road with one litre of water and a packet of biscuits.
"German tourist taken by crocodile" A German backpacker ignored the safety warnings to go swimming at midnight in a dangerous lagoon.
Some years ago, an Austrian couple bogged their camper van on the shores of Lake Eyre, the vast inland salt lake. Before help came, the woman died.
On a trip through the notorious Simpson Desert I was appalled to see that a lavishly illustrated guidebook used by one of my companions marked one of the sand tracks as a thick red line across the map – suggesting a route that anyone can follow!
More images
|
