I'd be very interested in how the general 4x4 or off-roading family view their activities when they pack the vehicle and head out for a month's, a week's or even just for a weekend's excursion into the rural splendours of our country and for that matter our southern African neighbouring states.

In my opinion, the facts speak for themselves and that each and every corner of the country has already been explored by our forefathers when they blazed the trail 3 centuries ago, documenting their discoveries and recording new scientific information. Thereafter the adventurers came in their footsteps and glamourised these journeys and wrote romantic travel journels and stories of great hunting exploits and brave encounters with the native inhabitants.

The final evolution of travel into these wild places to the leisure market or holiday maker occured once technology had advanced to the stage where the man in the street could also undertake these journeys on his own. Traveling the country, investigating, learning and enjoying the richness of the envoronment.

We are, therefore, tourists. Tourists not of the mainstrean. Tourists who want to travel in a style in which we feel that we could actually be the explorers and adventurers of old. Tourists with flexible itineraries. Tourists who travel to rugged and remote destinations where we often have to be self-sufficient. But tourists nonetheless is what we are.

With that comes a huge personal responsibility, because we generally don't have with us any other person ensuring that we behave ourselves in thhe appropriate manner. We have to monitor our own driving style, our waste management, our noise levels, our polution footprint, our interaction with local inhabitants and importantly our attitudes.

The fact that history has proved over recent times that we are not always capable for doing this, has lead to 'others' forcing us to do so. Hence the need for the National Offroad Workgroup (NOW) and various subsidiary bodies who will now monitor our activities across a broad spectrum of values. Our offroad activities will be drawn more and more into line with the norms and practices of the general tourism industry. Destinations will be rated. Training will become formalised. Guides will assume the responsible role for your safety and enlightenment.

I just hope that we will all embrace our new status as Tourist and that we will all co-operate in permitting other families to enjoy theirs.

This is true whether you travel offroad as a group of individuals, whether you travel with a club or whether you travel with a commercial operator.