Because much of inland NSW is under water the bugs population is massive.
As I drove through this state from north to SW the bugs sounded like heavy rain in the windscreen. The washer and wipers just couldn't cope, despite a thick blend of "Bug Off" in the washer bottle. The headlights, driving lights and indicators were dulled by the thick coverage of stinking, dead bugs. The number plate was barely readable.
Every front-facing surface was absolutely covered, from the roof rack to the front bumper. YUK!!!
So if you'r driving through NSW take care and be prepared.
As a result of the water the roadsides are also soggy and slushy. Take care to stay on the black top.
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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.
Not a locust to be seen. The bugs are tiny, even minute, as well as mozzies, and a few other beetles splatter themselves across the front of every vehicle on NSW roads at the moment. My car stinks and the blow flies just love it. I probably have caused Rosy to be fly blown. Yuk! Every forward-facing surface is splattered black, and they don't wash off easily. The black, sticky bug jam is hard work to remove. In 1997 after a very wet wet season there was a plague of minute black beetles. The Dept of Ag identified them as rove beetles, and they fed on the lavae of wrigglers/mozzies. Unfortunately no plague was too good for the mozzies. This black, sticky, stinking mass invaded anywhere there was light overnight, and headed out toward the sun, through the fly screens in the morning. I had to sweep them up, and at the worst, one morning I swept up 7kg of these beetles - 2 or more could sit on a pin's head. There were more outside in the grass and on the verandahs which I didn't bother sweeping up.
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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.
OMG, I have never heard of all that before, except one night at Greens it got quite windy and we had all sorts of bugs getting in to the vans. Have you tried Mr Sheen in the purple spray bottle. Thats all I use on Myrtle now for cleaning and polishing after a recommendation from another grey nomad.
thanks to your report Cruising Granny I have put an insect guard over the bullbar to protect the radiator as we will be moving south in a couple of weeks.
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Jenny and Barry
2009 Roma Elegance / 2013 Colorado. Permanent travellers 2011-2015 now just travel for 4-6 mths
Try spraying a coating of good ol' WD40 on the front of your vehicle and other front facing surfaces (not the windscreen of course). I've found it makes removing the bug bodies a lot easier.
Cheers
Hurls
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Mark & Chris
You are only young once but, you can be immature for ever.
Old trick that's the best thing I know of to clean bugs off. Grab a handful of green grass (doesn't seem to matter what sort so long as it's green), dip it in a bucket of water & scrub the bugs off with it making sure to keep dipping it as required. Must be the chlorophyl in the grass melting the chlorophyl from the splattered bugs that makes it so effective. Doesn't scratch the duco provided the grass is green & kept wet.
Darrell
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Love the bush & our native environment. Conservationist, not a bloody Greenie.
