Nanny states have spread and we are now a Nanny country

[joel0407]

It's gone to far.

I went out to Gunlom Falls in Kakadu national park on the weekend. It was my first time out there and it has been close since the dry last year up until about 2 weeks ago.

I thought it had been closed as you have to cross the South Alligator river on the way and I thought they had been waiting t for the level to drop.

I checked on Friday and National parks website stated "Open", "High clearance 4x4 required" so I thought cool, I might have a bit of a fun drive along the way.

Turned out the river was at least 1m maybe more below the causeway and the track that required a "High Clearance 4x4" could be passed in a standard commodore. Now I'm not saying it could be done in a WRX or SS commodore with low spoilers but your run of the mill Honda Civic could do it with only a little bit of careful driving. There was a Toyota coaster bus down there.

The track was rough and while I'd take an old car down there I wouldn't do it a new car. They could have said the road was unsealed and corrugated most of the way with a rocky ungraded road for the last 10km.

Now how far does this go. It's like the boy who cried wolf. Now how do I really know if it's going to be tough and I better take the shovel, snatch strap and test the winch. As far as I can see the only next level they can go is impassable or closed. If they needed a high clearance 4x4 for that track then I'll be fine on there idea of an impassible track.

I thought the NT of all the states was the least Nanny like so I imagine the rest of Australia must be getting pretty bad.

Happy Days

[bob10]

Part of the problem may be either, the website has not been up dated, or, if they said open to all vehicles, and Joe Blow ripped his muffler off, Joe Blow might take legal action against the department. Sad, but true. Bob

[BMKal]

I learnt to swim as a kid at what you now call Gumlon Falls. Used to ride out there on a pushbike.

Grew up in Moline and El Sharana, and this was one of our favorite swimming spots. Even played cricket out there on the old concrete pitch.

Back then though, the name "Gumlon" had never been heard of - it was known by everyone as "UDP Falls". That was up until the greenies and PC brigade found out that "UDP" was an acronym for "Uranium Development Project". :o

I also learnt to drive around the same area - in Series Landrovers. My father worked for the mining company (United Uranium NL) which held most of the mining leases in the area - the company vehicles in those days were all Series Landrovers.

Last time I was up that way, the locals at the Pine Creek pub still called the place UDP Falls. There's a lot of other brilliant spots around the area that most people (including the Kakadu Park Rangers) aren't even aware of. ;)

Next time you're out that way, the South Alligator Rockholes & Falls (in behind the old South Alligator crusher & mill buildings which are long since overgrown and difficult to find if you don't know where they are) is a great spot. Flying Fox Creek, which is up the other way along the escarpment (past El Sharana and close to the Coronation Hill lease) is also a brilliant spot - used to be a great swimming spot, though it's now full of handbags on legs since the days of the bounty are over. :p

[joel0407]

Part of the problem may be either, the website has not been up dated, or, if they said open to all vehicles, and Joe Blow ripped his muffler off, Joe Blow might take legal action against the department. Sad, but true. Bob

Well it's not the website is not updated as the falls have only been open for a couple of weeks and the has not got any better since opening.

All they need to say is not suitable for low clearance vehicles.

Happy Days.

[joel0407]

I learnt to swim as a kid at what you now call Gumlon Falls. Used to ride out there on a pushbike.

Grew up in Moline and El Sharana, and this was one of our favorite swimming spots. Even played cricket out there on the old concrete pitch.

Back then though, the name "Gumlon" had never been heard of - it was known by everyone as "UDP Falls". That was up until the greenies and PC brigade found out that "UDP" was an acronym for "Uranium Development Project". :o

I also learnt to drive around the same area - in Series Landrovers. My father worked for the mining company (United Uranium NL) which held most of the mining leases in the area - the company vehicles in those days were all Series Landrovers.

Last time I was up that way, the locals at the Pine Creek pub still called the place UDP Falls. There's a lot of other brilliant spots around the area that most people (including the Kakadu Park Rangers) aren't even aware of. ;)

Next time you're out that way, the South Alligator Rockholes & Falls (in behind the old South Alligator crusher & mill buildings which are long since overgrown and difficult to find if you don't know where they are) is a great spot. Flying Fox Creek, which is up the other way along the escarpment (past El Sharana and close to the Coronation Hill lease) is also a brilliant spot - used to be a great swimming spot, though it's now full of handbags on legs since the days of the bounty are over. :p

I'd love to check out some of these places.

It's getting a bit dangerous out there too with quite a few Buff and pigs about. The Rangers are quick to get rid of illegal hunters but not too worried about the damage being done by feral animals. The camp ground was pretty ripped up by pigs. The ranger also commented on the number of wild brumbies that had been through the camp ground since it opened.

Happy Days.

[BMKal]

I'd guess a lot of places are deteriorating now that we're not allowed to go out and shoot the pests.

Don't ever remember any problems with pigs or wild brumbies out that way, though the buffs have always been around. I've got a photo somewhere of our school teacher's VW Beetle after an altercation with a buff on the road into the falls. Tore the front right guard completely off the car. Still driveable though. :D

I've got no idea how many restrictions there are on access to some of the areas up that way now. When I was a kid, we used to be able to go pretty much anywhere - but that was before "Kakadu" even existed. ;)

Even going up into the bottom end of Arnhem land wasn't a problem - was just a matter of speaking with the local aboriginals and asking their permission - they'd often travel out there with you and show you the "sights". I went to school with a lot of them - they were only too happy to take you out there and show you their country.

My parents were always fanatic campers. We were off somewhere different in the old Landrover and tent whenever they had the chance. No TV in those days - not even radio reception out that far. My father had an old Lafayette radio receiver with a dipole aerial rigged up between two long bamboo poles in the back yard so that they could listen to the BBC for the latest news.

Not far from where the Mary River Roadhouse is now located on the road in from Pine Creek, there is an area of river flats and a lot of shallow billabongs. This is where we used to have our school sports events. Athletics etc on the flats and swimming races in the billabongs. There's no way I'd go swimming in those same water holes now - don't really fancy being on the menu. :o

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Just being pedantic here, but the word 'state' used in this context is usually taken to mean country (or nation state). Because the term state referring to a self governing region within a country is not universal. e.g. Canada, France and Italy have provinces while Australia, USA, Germany and Mexico have states.

Just wanted to make this point because the whole country has been a nanny state since the 1980s and while NT may have been the least nanny of the States and Territories, the fact that they only have partial self government the control from Canberra guarantees nanny rules pervading the whole place.

[DiscoMick]

Public liability, duty of care and insurance issues mean that government departments and landowners generally have to be super careful about what advice they give or people and their insurance companies will sue the pants off them if anything goes wrong to try to recover the cost of repairs.
Saying 'not suitable for low clearance vehicles' would provoke endless arguments about what 'low clearance' means - how low is 'low'? Better to say only suitable for 'high clearance' and err on the side of safety, from the property manager's viewpoint.
Sad, but true.

[joel0407]

Public liability, duty of care and insurance issues mean that government departments and landowners generally have to be super careful about what advice they give or people and their insurance companies will sue the pants off them if anything goes wrong to try to recover the cost of repairs.
Saying 'not suitable for low clearance vehicles' would provoke endless arguments about what 'low clearance' means - how low is 'low'? Better to say only suitable for 'high clearance' and err on the side of safety, from the property manager's viewpoint.
Sad, but true.

Same as what 'low clearance' mean, what does 'high clearance mean'?

So a WRX is low clearance. Well a standard Subaru Impreza might be medium clearance and a Forester, Tiguan, X-Trail be high? Where does that leave Defenders, Discovery's and Land Cruisers?

Their is nothing wrong with be a LITTLE bit cautious but by saying "high clearance 4x4" they now have no where to go. The next step is impassible.

Like I said now it's like the boy who cried wolf. I can no longer trust what they say. If they say the road is open but impassible well if they thought I needed a high clearance 4x4 for what I drove on the week end then I'll get through an impassible road without an issue.

Happy Days.

[Tote]

We really noticed the lack of "public safety" measures in the US while we were there. Want to walk to the edge of the Grand Canyon and look over the drop, sure, just walk over there past where the fence ends.
Grade separated railway crossings? Not unless its a freeway, those 4 tracks up the middle of the main street have mile long trains running at 100km/h plus on them, don't queue across the line, the train won't stop...
Roadworks on the freeway, lights and speed limits, yep, miles of concrete barriers to keep the workers and the traffic apart, nope, best you don't walk on the freeway, those cars are bigger than you and won't stop either.
Quite refreshing to see the subtle difference in culture where you are expected to take responsibility for your own safety.

Regards,
Tote

[joel0407]

We really noticed the lack of "public safety" measures in the US while we were there. Want to walk to the edge of the Grand Canyon and look over the drop, sure, just walk over there past where the fence ends.
Grade separated railway crossings? Not unless its a freeway, those 4 tracks up the middle of the main street have mile long trains running at 100km/h plus on them, don't queue across the line, the train won't stop...
Roadworks on the freeway, lights and speed limits, yep, miles of concrete barriers to keep the workers and the traffic apart, nope, best you don't walk on the freeway, those cars are bigger than you and won't stop either.
Quite refreshing to see the subtle difference in culture where you are expected to take responsibility for your own safety.

Regards,
Tote

Wish we could be a little bit more like that here. How will we ever evolve if we continue to protect and think for the stupid?

Happy Days.