The Magazine for Australian Travellers

July 2005

GREAT PLACES TO GO

Visit Mt Augustus in Western Australia, a “sleeping giant” that is bigger than Uluru.

Not far from Mackay in Queensland is an area known as the Pioneer Valley, where rainforest, sugar cane and wildlife help to make a visit extra special.

Waterfront camping in NSW

These four national parks, hidden among the ranges, are sure to leave you with fond memories.

Campsite reports

This month our campsite reporters have found some superb places to camp in South Australia, New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria.

CARAVANS & MOTORHOMES

Tough and elegant

Trakmaster’s Nullarbor caravan won’t mind being taking through the rough stuff.

GOOD GEAR & GADGETS

Walkabout

This month we’ve found some excellent books for travellers, where to go and see koalas in the wild, how to have a special bicycle holiday and much more.

CAMPERS’TALES

Bush trailers

If you plan to take your trailer off the bitumen it, and your vehicle, must be prepared. Dick Eussen offers some practical advice to get you there and back again safely.

Campfire safety

2005 Australian of the Year Dr Fiona Wood talks to On The Road about burns prevention and first aid in the
outdoors.

In luxury on the Ghan

Pat Hayes takes it easy on a journey to Alice Springs aboard the legendary Ghan.

Campfire cooking

An expert on camp oven cooking shares some secrets on how easy this methods of cooking can be.

2004/5 index to 12 months of On The Road

JUST FOR READERS

My Favorite Place

This campground in the Northern Territory is a pleasure to stay in and has won for a reader a pair of fantastic daypacks from Snowgum.

GETAWAY VEHICLE

Affordable and honest

Kia has updated its Sportage
soft-roader.

CATCH A FEED

Stay safe, stay alive

Paul B. Kidd offers advice for every owner – and occupant – of a small boat.

REGULAR FEATURES

Readers’ letters

A reader urges others to learn what their four-wheel-drive can and can’t do.

Dr Fiana Wood (left and above right) wants campers to think seriously about how they manage any campfire to minimise the risk of camping- related burns.

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Take care with fire

The 2005 Australian of the Year is Dr Fiona Wood, a plastic surgeon who heads the Burns Unit at Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia. She is well known for the revolutionary spray-on skin technology used to treat burns victims of the Bali bombing in 2002.

Dr Wood is very concerned about burns prevention. In Australia, each year one in every hundred of us has a burns injury.

Cooking over an open fire is one of the joys of a camping holiday. But what is fun can easily turn to pain when someone, often a child, touches a hot billy handle or tries to pull a foil-wrapped delicacy out of the coals.

Fiona talked to On The Road about burns prevention and first aid in the outdoors.

Can you give us an easy-to-remember first aid rule for treating burns?

The first step in burns first aid is very simple – put the burn under cool running water for 20 minutes by the clock. If there is no running water use a wet towel as a cold compress. Change the compress every few minutes when you feel it getting warm.

Don’t cool a burn with ice. That can cause cold damage in addition to the heat damage.

The main thing is to keep the surface clean and pain free. If all you have is a wet flannel until you get to the next place, then that is what you use. When you have cooled the burn for 20 minutes then you wrap it in a clean dry sheet or towel. Or if you have a sterile dressing, then that’s terrific.

Dr Fiana Wood (left and above right) wants campers to think seriously about how they manage any campfire to minimise the risk of camping-
related burns.