1) |
If you pitch your tent under an old gum tree, an over-hanging bough may drop on you. (See case studies 1 below.) |
2) |
If your tent is pitched under any tall tree during a thunderstorm, you may be zapped by lightning. (See case studies 2 below.) |
3) |
If there is no fresh water near your tent site, you will have to carry all the water you need. |
4) |
In cold weather it is good to set up in a sunny spot, but in warmer weather, you need to set up in the shade. |
5) |
If you pitch your tent on a slope, you will roll downhill all night. |
6) |
The more tents there are, the more space you need in order to have enough room to move around. |
7) |
Don’t set up your tent near ant nests or bee hives ... especially jumping jack ant nests! |
8) |
The area around your tent should be open & clear because otherwise a) stuff will get lost; b) you’ll trip over stuff or get skewered by branches, etc. (especially at night); & c) the jungle around your tent could be a snake or fire hazard. |
9) |
If you set up your tent in a dry watercourse, but overnight it rains, you could get flooded. |
10) |
If you don’t check your tent site for broken glass, you may get holes in the floor of your tent (or worse). |
11) |
Ground that is very compacted aint great for pitching a tent because a) it will be hard to drive in your pegs, & b) puddles will form if it rains. |
12) |
The problem with camping on black grimy sand is everything gets stained. |
13) |
The problem with camping on fragile vegetation is the vegetation gets trashed. |
14) |
If you plan to have an open fire, you will need a site where fires are a) permitted, & b) safe. |
15) |
Where you are camped away from toilets, you will need a toilet area that is a) private, & b) away from watercourses. (If it is a mixed gender group, you will need 2 toilet areas.) |
16) |
Beautiful views of sunsets, etc. make the camp experience enriching/wicked/fully sick. |
17) |
If you want to experience serenity you need to a) tone down the noise, or b) camp at Bonnie Doon. |
18) |
If you camp within 50m of a river or estuary in northern Australia, you may be eaten by a crocodile. (See case studies 3 below.) |
A) Teenager dies as tree smashes into campers' tentBy Dan Oakes, November 5, 2007 A 19-year-old Niddrie man died early yesterday after a tree fell on his tent at a picnic ground in the hills behind Lorne, 140 kilometres south-west of Melbourne. The man received severe head injuries and died in hospital. Three friends sharing the tent were uninjured. B)Tree falls on tent in DwellingupDecember 12, 2008 A 30m high tree fell on a tent (at the Lane Poole Reserve, Dwellingup) last night at 10pm, the tent contained 8 people, they managed to get out of the tent before it came down, the loud cracking sound must have woken them if they were asleep. Three were injured and one is in a critical condition, the Reserve has been closed while they (CALM) investigate. From http://www.perthstreetbikes.com/forum/f20/if-tree-falls-forest-does-anyone-hear-73700/ C)Tree kills girl in freak school camp accidentFebruary 2, 2005 A falling gum tree killed a teenage girl as she slept in her tent on a school camp, but left a friend lying beside her unhurt. The 16-year-old student from Sydney's private Queenwood School for Girls died instantly when the 10-metre tree fell on the group's remote bush campsite in the NSW Southern Highlands overnight. further readingBrookes, A. “Preventing death and serious injury from falling trees and branches,” AJOE, 11 (2), 50-59, 2007. To view this article on line, visit: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/oent/staff/brookes_papers/preventing_death_serious_injury.pdf |
Kitty Dawkins is among those who have been hit by lightning and lived. She was 11. Her family was camping near Byron Bay in northern New South Wales four years ago when when a thunderstorm struck. Earlier in the afternoon, unaware a storm had been forecast, the family had moved their tent to a site under a large tree. Weather warnings three days aheadBy Hannah Martin, March 29, 2009 01:00am Kitty Dawkins is among those who have been hit by lightning and lived. She was 11. Her family was camping near Byron Bay in northern New South Wales four years ago when when a thunderstorm struck. Earlier in the afternoon, unaware a storm had been forecast, the family had moved their tent to a site under a large tree. It is thought a piece of wire wrapped around the tree acted as a conductor. When a lightning bolt hit the giant paperbark, the extreme voltage surged across into the tent and burned through a foam mattress Miss Dawkins was sleeping on and into her body. She suffered serious burns to about 20 per cent of her body. Read more: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25255937-3102,00.html |
Woman rides croc to rescue manOctober 11, 2004 - 4:06PM A 60-year-old woman jumped on the back of a four-metre crocodile as it dragged a man from his tent near a beach in far north Queensland. The crocodile let go of the man but then turned on the woman, pulling her towards the water before another person shot dead the killer reptile, said wildlife officers. Authorities said the two were lucky to survive the dramatic attack, which took place at 4am (AEST) today as they slept at Kalpower Holding at Bathurst Bay, nearly 300km north-west of Cairns and near Lakefield National Park. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/11/1097406462131.html |
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