Been a while since we posted anything here. We've been holed up in Darwin putting some coin back into the coffers!! Our adventures have been limited to weekends when we go fishing and camping so my posts have been more on fishing sites.
Since we've been here, we've had to contend with Sand Flies and Mozzies - we're not that far from the mangroves of Buffalo Creek. Kris (aka Mudflaps) suffers far more than I do with the biting insects and she hates to use DEET. We've been experimenting with all sorts and I've made some videos (I'm the vlogger, Kris is the blogger) on what we have found works for us.
There's 3 main videos and another on how to refill a gas bottle for Thermacell (I like how these things work!). I know some of the Grey Nomand patrons use skinny data connections but for those who have some band width then here is the first video:
(Tip: Click the title shown in white font 'How to Stop Biting Insects 1' and your browser should open another tab with a bigger view of the video. )
This video is on the use of chemical repellents. The second is on non-chemical repellents and the last is about other tactics we employ to keep the ***** away!
If anyone wants to see the other videos and wants me to post them then please let me know.
Baby oil and Dettol 50/50 works great for sandflies,,, my Father had blisters as big as your thumbnail when we went to Darwin River Dam and fished below the wall in 1985.
Every trip to Darwin after that and in the boat he used baby oil and Dettol,,,, never had another problem
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Why is it so? Professor Julius Sumner Miller, a profound influence on my life, who explained science to us on TV in the 60's.
Agreed Baz. We found it works really well on sand flies. If you react to them then it is a great alternative. As I said in the 2nd video, our biggest issue is the being smothered in oil in the humid weather. I've heard of others using coconut oil but not tried it myself.
As far as non-chemical repellents go, I saw that the Yanks use lemon eucalyptus! It works on mozzies but you'd think us Aussies would've been on to that?
-- Edited by ColinEast on Monday 18th of March 2019 08:55:45 PM
-- Edited by ColinEast on Monday 18th of March 2019 09:00:41 PM
Here's the other videos. This is the second and as I said with Baz, we found baby oil and Dettol work!
Tip: click the round, blue icon to open in a new tab and get a better view.
This is the last video that talks about some of the other tricks we use to keep the ***** away:
And if you're interested, when there's masses of mozzies then we use a Thermacell. This video is on how to refill the gas canisters if you're out bush and can't get to a shop to buy more!
Lemon eucalyptus works very well first you need to buy it overseas because that's where most plantations are(China and Brazil) so we Australia aren't that smart, another Australian tree grown more commonly overseas for profit (Macadamias).
There is a particular chemical in it that insects hate, just 20 drops per ounce of witch hazel plenty of recipes on youtube. ps don't bother buying it from India the stuff I received was either watered down or fake.
USAs Plant Therapy was reasonably priced with quick delivery. .
Hey Kebbin, This intrigues me. I was in California once and it felt like being in Adelaide with all the gum trees around. So, is lemon eucalyptus a type of Australian gum tree? If so, do you know what state/s it comes from?
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