Ricardo1709 said...
I heard it was a yellow one that was to be a prize in some competition coinciding with a movie he was promoting but I might be wrong,I did read how he kicked out all the surfers who had shacks built at Cactus after he bought 1,000 + acres from a local farmer think I read it in Surfers Journal- best mag going around i reckon
That's a little unfair on Witzig. There's a book on the history of Cactus - I read it in the Penong Pub a few years back - and, if memory serves me right, it was basically the Health Department that ordered the destruction of the shacks after several outbreaks of hepatitis due to poor sanitation and feral surfers with little personal hygiene. As a result of this, to allow people to still camp there, Witzig set up the campsite as it stands. When he purchased the land he did try to set up a campground, but most people shifted towards the point Caves was on. The permanent vans on the right that you see as you drive into Cactus are where, once again if memory serves me right, are the leftovers from that era.
Permanent shacks and crapping in the dunes was only sustainable for so long. One particularly noxious shack was known as Hep House. Apparently the conditions were very third world before the health department stepped in.
The book is worth a read and has some classic shots of young surfers who are now semi-legends and elder statesman.
