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© 2020 AFPNew Zealand to crack down on defecating backpackers
By William WEST WELLINGTON©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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© 2020 AFP
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tooheysnew
So they should - that’s disgusting.
the very least they could do is dig a deep hole & bury it
Haaa Nemui
Freedom campers... no worse form of tourist.
Hung Nguyen
"I always go before I leave home."
I agree with the NZ Tourism Minister Stuart Nash that good habit is hard to break.
Apart from this morning routine, I always have a shower right after that just in case.
Peter14
I guess human defecation is so much worse than all the bids, animals and fish that do it where ever they like in nature. It is hardly likely to destroy the environment as people were doing that before toilets were ever invented and the world was not destroyed.
Yes dig a hole and bury it. Common sense applies. Children are less able to hold it for another 50km to the next toilet. God forbid someone has a case of the trots in the middle of nowhere. If this is a real problem then educate tourists. Sell little packs with a hand trowel and toilet paper and wet wipes.
Some people may camp out for three or four days and going before they leave will not help tomorrow or the next day.
The NZ military when on maneuvers do it, because soldiers take armored vehicles but none have a potty on board. It is unpleasant to think about but it is a natural thing that everyone does. Stay well away from roads or trails and bury it. Problem solved. It works for the Army.
Daryl
I think there have been enough ''crack downs'' already.
nandakandamanda
Peter, part of the problem is the very stuff that you recommend people buying. Quote: " Sell little packs with a hand trowel and toilet paper and wet wipes."
The rest is at least biodegradable.
Sal Affist
I thought this was about backpackers but then the article discussed people who travel in campers and relieve themselves outside the camper. A trowel, folding shovel or spade isn't too much to carry, in order to bury the waste. And even if there is a group, only one is really necessary among all of them.
Peter14
Toilet paper will degrade when buried. As mentioned, as a former soldier, the military does it every time it goes out on maneuvers and they are in small and very large groups. The trowels can be made with engraved pictures of NZ and it becomes an interesting souvenir of their holiday. A family group is in no way like a thousand men and women out on maneuvers for 30 days. As mentioned, common sense applies. They cant not go, so what is best to cover or hide the natural requirement to expel waste? Just cracking down is no fix. Provide education leaflets for tourist with the sensible options available.
fxgai
Are there many tourists in New Zealand these days?
Sven Asai
I wonder who is more crazy, those despicable tourists , or NZ neither thinking about nor capable to set up sufficient sanitary equipment at touristic routes for its visitors , but cracking them down instead. Seems to be a tie. lol
Wolfpack
I find it hard to believe that people would squat in the woods and not bury it. And the problem is so bad that it has to be regulated by the government! Too many people lack common sense.
Strangerland
Have you never been backpacking in the woods for a few days? Trust me, it's not that hard to believe at all.
WilliB
Err what? I agree with the sentiment, but firstly, what does Corona have to do with that, and secondly how do they want to monitor the misbehaving backpackers?
fxgai
Yeah... so it sounds to me they are complaining that them pesky foreigner tourists are sh!ting here and there.
If it were local tourists doing the sh!ting they could take action immediately.
It’s confusing, but this is the country that doesn’t want foreign tourists now anyway I guess.