Desert Dollars

It's been a long time between trips to Cactus for me. Almost 20 years to be exact. The north west of WA is a different story. I was at the Bluff the first night Oggy did a round of the camps asking for a pittance in rent money. I spent 2 full winters camped at the bluff prior to that eventful evening and have been a regular visitor ever since. Like most crew I accept that paying to stay is an essential part of the equation to finance the work that is needed to maintain the camp and fragile desert environment. But a recent visit to Cactus has left me wondering just where all the bucks forked out by Northwest surfers is actually going ? The campsite at Cactus was immaculate and a credit to caretaker Chris and Ron Gates. It cost 20 bucks a night with discount weekly rates. Firewood was delivered free to campsites every evening and the flushing dunnies were spotless. It was a hard task to find rubbish of any sort laying around anywhere and the surrounding environment looked as healthy as it's ever been. At the same time I have watched rent prices at the Bluff and Gnaraloo continue to rise while the environment gets hammered and the annual bouts of gastro are now just a part and parcel of going there. It's hard to spot where anything positive is being done with what must be a substantial amount of money surfers are forking out to camp in the northwest. While it's impossible to put a dollar value on a big green spinning desert barrel it maybe time that we asked for better value for money from those people running the places up there.