Desert Dollars

That's great to hear re: Cactus.

sandycrack wrote:

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.

Sandycrack. Hi mate, hope ya well.

Such a great little synopsis of a wonderfully kept piece of Australian surf culture, good on ya.
I reinforce and vehemently agree with all you stated.
I mentioned earlier this year that I was so impressed with the care of the environment by the great couple Susie and Chris who are the caretaker managers. They are very hard workers, often forgoing a surf to keep everyone and everything as clean as possible.
Ron Gates, the land owner who still gets about early in the day on his SUP is also to be commended for his dedication to the environmental cause.
I was there with two mates for three weeks in January, so impressed with the revegetation efforts by the aforementioned, but equally impressed with the efforts by surfers to not walk through the Dillon Bush ( Nitraria billardieri) , blue-bush (Maireana sp.) and other members of the saltbush family (Enchylaeana and Atriplex sp.) . That family now being Amaranthaceae, formerly Chenopodiaceae.
I was there also in January in 2024 and nothing had changed in 2025, it’s so well run as a camping/surfing enterprise.

The behaviour and great vibe was so noticeable on my last two visits. Back there early January 2026 for five weeks.

Lastly, the ecological warrior, the Singing Honeyeater who is a nectivorous bird, does the most revegetation work of any entity at Cactus, it supplements its diet by eating the seeds from the saltbush Enchylaena tomentosa and craps them out all over the place.

All heralded and cheer for that bird. AW