Picking Good Outback Campsites.Here are a few tips for picking Outback campsites and avoiding hazards. • Keep away from bull ant nests. They are usually a couple of inches high, like a small volcano with dry vegetation piled around the sides. The ants will travel many metres to bite you and it hurts. 
• Pick a spot far enough away from rock formations to make it difficult for scorpions to get into your bed. They hurt too, but not as much as bull ants.• Set up your camp a short distance from a waterhole if there are any signs of mosquitoes. If you can, pick an area in the breeze so the mosquitoes won’t bother you as much. Don’t forget the old bushies repellent. Throw a bit of dry cow dung on the fire. Even though my mate reckons it only keeps the mossies out of the fire! 
• If you are camping in a group, set up your camp in a circle. Have one common campfire in the middle and your tents or swags in an outer circle behind the vehicles.• Don’t camp under River Red Gums on hot still days. This is the time they feel a bit stressed and may decide to drop one of their branches. I reckon it is actually safer to stay near gum trees in the wind than on hot summer days. • Don’t set up camp in creek beds. You have to see something like the front of the flood in the Finke to appreciate how fast and how far this water can travel. • Take your rubbish with you when you leave. It’s not much fun to find the perfect camp then have to clean up someone else’s rubbish. • I always light the fire before I do anything else. It seems to give the place a sense of ownership and comfort. A really good Outback campsite will remain etched in your memory for years, so will a horror one!
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