Ships of the desert end
fuel woes for nomad Claus

RISING fuel costs have given many caravanners the hump ... but not so for one traveller in Australia's outback.

Grey nomad Claus uses camel power to haul his somewhat unusual RV – a converted motor van which has had its engine stripped out and a special cross-seat fitted stage coach-style.

His unusual rig even comes complete with an array of solar panels on top.

"He was one of the real characters you meet in the bush occasionally," commented round-Australia caravanner Bruce Moir, who came across Claus on the remote Great Northern Highway near the Sandfire Roadhouse in Western Australia.

"He was walking, leading his camels with quick gait and a spring in his step. Just to prove he had all the time in the world, he allowed his animals to graze on their favourite shrubs while travelling on the verge of the highway.

"The fuel for his camels was there in the desert for the taking."

And when asked where he had come from, the chirpy traveller, who declines to reveal his surname, told Bruce: "I've come from somewhere and I'm going nowhere. I wander here and I wander there. Where I don't care, just as long as the weather is good."

But while Claus has solved the thorny problem of high fuel prices, caravanners and other travellers thousands of kilometres away on the nation's eastern seaboard have slammed Queensland State Government's decision to axe its fuel subsidy, which has sent prices at bowsers in the Sunshine State soaring.

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