In the Gippsland area, you can't take any fruit out whether you brought it with you or not. The idea is that any fruit you bring in may get affected/impregnated whilst there. There used to be a Quarantine Officer on duty at the exclusion zone. Polite enough but insisted on a thorough search of vehicles. (Used to cause some shocking back ups.) He was only there during the 'holiday season'. Perhaps the fruit flies had an agreement with the Quarantine guys not to infect fruit out of the holiday seasons. He's no longer there. Just an honesty bin with a sign directing you to dump any and all fruit at that point. I have never seen anyone stopped there.
-- Edited by Keith19837 on Wednesday 13th of June 2012 10:20:38 PM
Don't buy fruit and veg in Mildura and think that because it is sealed (and that it says it is ok) you can take it in SA, because you can't and if you buy any fruit and veg in SA keep your receipts. We off-loaded our fruit & veg at the border heading south from Alice Springs and re-stocked at the new IGA (brilliant) in Coober Pedy only to drive into a fruit-fly zone before Berri BUT you can keep it if you can prove you have bought it in SA. I presume it could happen in other areas too.........on on
Thanks. We off-loaded twice - going over to SA and then coming back into the zone from the none-fruitzone in SA itself. I restocked at Renmark and then we kept seeing the signs as we headed east - I was going to show them the Renmark receipts if we had been stopped - but they only inspected people going west. They do say though that you can be 'spot-checked'.
The "fruit fly" or quarantine stations are particularly strict at the Vic/SA border into SA, the SA/WA border into WA, and the NT/WA border into WA. There are honesty bins along the way in other regions, but the Riverland is particularly fussy, as is WA. They are very protective of their fruit and veg industris. You will have to forfeit your fruit, veg and honey, and in same cases nuts, at these border check points, and the one as you come into Ceduna from the west. These stations have been active for many years and it's well known to regular travellers. I lived in Ceduna for 4 years and the locals get a sticker so they don't have to stop every time they go through the fruit fly as the locals call it. When I've come back from Border Village on the job I have been waved through whether I'm escorting a truck or not. In my travels I've been surprised at the apathy of other regions, especially Qld's Atherton Tablelands and pineapple and strawberry country. The same for northern NSW.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
Its a bit of a joke really Cant take fruit from one state to another yet they allow fruit to come in from other countries with known problems and get distributed through out Australia
