Greenhill Lake Reserve (Ararat, Victoria)

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

Greenhill Lake Reserve (Ararat, Victoria)

sandsmere · Guru

Sounds as though the caretaker should be cleaning the joint up a bit instead of worrying about Dads taking their kids for a look around . cry

Rip and Rosie · Guru

In this day and age, a single man travelling with a child that is not his own, or even related, raises suspicions.

I'm sorry, but that's how it is.

The world has changed, and there's no going back.

Happywanderer · The Master

Can see both sides to the story sorry to say. You say he knows you and you have been there before. Never with a child and this time with a child. Not yours. Alarm bells will ring.
If he has that much time on his hands why doesn't he spend it cleaning the place up and why didn't he approach you first and ask.

When I opened this thread and saw the heading my thoughts were, Oh good another nice place to add to my book for while travelling around Vic in the summer. Then I read the thread, I will put it in my book but with a big NO across as a warning not to go there.

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

I'm all for making sure kids are safe etc. I'm just a bit concerned with the actions. If there was something inappropriate happening then its justifiable, but to do so simply because we went for a walk to the lakes edge is a bit overboard - most kids I know like to explore. Add to this the caretaker(s) are well aware I'm a qualified childcare worker and hold all relevant checks and cards.

I don't know what their game is - suffice to say they would do better if they put some effort into getting the place fixed up.

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

If you're looking for good place try the Brisbane Ranges just outside of Geelong, there are two campgrounds there, Fridays and Boar Gully. I've never stayed at Boar Gully but I do frequent Friday's camp groun on a regular basis. They have hole-in-the-ground toilets and fireplaces and its a nice spot. Well worth a look if you're down this way.

Happywanderer · The Master

Where exactly do you go in from to get to them Stew. I drive down that way a lot, coming in through Anakie. So will be worthwhile knowing how to get to them as there is no freecamping at all once you get down to the Bellarine Peninsula.

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

Yeah unfortunately the Bellarine shire local laws men are pretty hot on anyone camping down there, even if your in a fully self-contained van as I found out. I drove down there coming back from Lorne in the middle of the night and was buggered, the intention was to go back to Geelong via the Bellarine coast. I stopped over and had the local laws guy banging on my door the next morning and said there was no camping and why hadn't I seen the sign (I came in the opposite end to this sign). The sign itself is the size of a lunchbox and wouldn't be the easiest to see at night anyway.

Brisbane Ranges - Friday's Camp Ground:
There are two ways in, this is the most safest.

Get yourself to Anakie, lets say the General Store. Then you head towards Ballan from there, so continue along the road away from Geelong. You will go through a fair few twists and turns eventually on the right you will see 'Butchers Road', this is not the turnoff you need, just a locator. Keep going and further up on your left you will see (after a right bend) another track running off which has a blue sign (think it says Peppercorn 6Km or similar) it doesn't actually say the road name which is Durdidwarrah Road. About 50 meters in you will see a farm house on the left with a big shed near the roadway, this will let you know your on the right track. Follow this down past the reservoir, you will go past Lease Track and a few others eventually you will find the campground on your left. This is by far the easiest way to come in. You can come in on the Steiglitz side and its only about 3 K's or so from Steiglitz, but after the little bridge it can be rough and prone to washaways due to the gully.

You won't get annoyed by to many people out here, and the rangers are through nearly everyday. Stockup on supplies before you come - as the nerest supermarket will be either Bannockburn or Geelong. Same goes for fuel etc. There is a water tank here but its not fit for drinking - basically use it for showers/cleanup etc. I wouldn't be letting the rangers know if you are planning on having a camp shower, not sure what their take is on it best to err on the side of caution there.

Internet/phone access. Pretty dodgey, mobile phone is better then it used to be (mine uses the Optus network) and HSPA is dodgey at the best of times, although I have a Yagi for mine so I'm pretty right.

On the computer side of things if you do have wireless internet and find your having problems where it appears to drop out, or your little modem light changes colour indicating a change from HSPA to WCDMA or worse GPRS/EDGE ring a ping. Simply use the run box (or command prompt) and type: ping -t yahoo.com and press ok for run or enter if your in the dos command prompt, and this will send continous packets, CTRL+C will kill it. It can help keep the connection alive.

If your still stuck with these directions let me know and I will make up a map for you.
If my mapping is correct, the GPS coordinates are:
37°51'34.37"S 144°11'25.11"E

Sandra K · Senior Member

Agree with the sentiments expressed, these are the times we live in.

With regard to the reserve, if you feel strongly about the state of the amenities etc why not copy and paste this into the local government web page?

Just a thought.

Wombat 280 · Guru

You never know he could have had a previous run in with the rock spiders of the world . As the do gooders won't allow us to tattoo the ones we catch then they have become a protected species . Like that low life who took his own little girl and stabbed her to death just to get back at her mother. Now we have to feed cloth and house the low life , we can only hope they put him in the main prison population and let the law of the jungle take it's course

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

Wombat 280 wrote:
You never know he could have had a previous run in with the rock spiders of the world.

Ironically the prison where all these scum are locked up is just across the other side of the lake and they do volunteer work there from time to time.

As for the local government/council, they don't care its essentially a liability to them and the council is embroiled in dramas at the moment with a renegade mayor who is embattled by claims of corruption and obstruction of justice so I'm told. Only good thing for the lake would be to have the DSE take over the running of it.

Cruising Granny · Guru

What's the difference between having a sleep instead of driving tired, and camping?
I understood free camping was more about parking up for a night, and moving on the next day to do it all again.
I also know people set up camp for extended periods of time for fishing expeditions etc at rivers, coastal camps, lakes etc.

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

Hi Granny;

Good to see you still here, I didn't recognise your picture till now.
Some local laws people don't see it that way, in their minds all they are interested in is having you off their turf so they don't chewed - survival I guess.

I can't comment for other states but I find it rather ironic here in Victoria on most roads we have these 'rest if tired/sleepy' signs plastered everywhere - not such a bad thing you think? It would be great if there was somewhere to pull over near most of these signs. Very few are near anything that resembles an off-road parking area, or the opposite the signs are after the parking area.

The governments (I guess its them) spend thousands of dollars on advertising campaigns convincing people to pull over when tired and have a snooze, but its a half-hearted attempt as until they actually make parking areas at regular intervals we are still going to see accidents which are attributed to driver fatigue.

PeterInSa · Guru

Stew,
I think its all down to the $ and return on $'s spent. Just back from a trip to the US and some of their major parks need a lot of maintenance, spoke to a local about one park, and his comment was " we are a capalist Society our County ( cannot recall correct term but the equivalent to our councils) wants some benefit from mowing the grass/maintenance etc and if we complain they will just put up our charges and waste the money elsewhere"

Cruising Granny · Guru

Hi VK3FEMT, nice to see you too. The avatar is my new job.
I've noticed some states take the rest thing more seriously than others. Some promote the "rest", and even put a distance to the next rest stop. SA does this, and they're even putting a lot of work into the infrastructure of these parking bays.
I think it's mainly aimed at the truckers who need to stop when the log book says so, but they're pretty handy for the rest of us.
Some councils however are removing their shady parking bays. Mostly because of the mess left behind by the campers.
So they've removed the bins in the remaining bays. The theory is you'll take your rubbish away with you. In an ideal world this would be a good theory, but it's still a theory. I take mine, and I trust my fellow GN's would take theirs, but there are those who do not.
Some even throw their rubbish next to the bin, if you can understand that.
The promotion of not driving drowsy has wide coverage, but to put their money where their sign is, they need the parking bays.
Another issue for the plebs to push. Who's turn is it?

Wonderworld · Member

You are right about the hoons Stew. The Council is making a big deal about how great it is to camp at the lake and what a good review it has now in the free camping magazine. What they don't tell you is that you're hassled morning and night to pay a "donation". Here is a copy of what I've put on the net about how, in effect, you're made to pay $5 and that the crowing of the council of the good publicity in the free camping magazine is a nonsense.

The Ararat Rural Council has declared Greenhill Lake to be a free campsite yet campers are approached twice a day for a $5 donation; no receipt given.

http://council-services.ararat.vic.gov.au/news/view/news/229-green-hill-lake-media-information-sheet

The Greenhill Lake Development Board, a band of volunteers who mow the grounds - the sum total of what they do - ensure travellers are hit up morning and night for a $5 donation. No receipt is given as its not legal to collect camp fees.

Wearing fluro vests with signs announcing Greenhill Lake Development Board (the Deputy Mayor is the President of this volunteer Board) they approach each camper morning and night trying to elicit a $5 donation ostensibly for the upkeep of the place.

If you point out that the lake is a free camp as declared by the Council, you get the spiel about how their volunteer organization looks after the place and a donation would be appreciated.

If you refuse, you are made to feel unwelcome and asked how long you intend to stay! Tens of thousands of dollars lies in the volunteers account. So what activities are undertaken by the Board to warrant the claim to a $5 donation?

I understand the volunteers are forbidden by council to remove graffiti or clear overhead branches to ensure access to sites, etc. Their sole task consists of mowing the place and approaching all campers/caravanners for $5. The $5 coaxed morning and night from campers does NOT go towards the upkeep of the ablution block, any power bills, toilet paper, hot water, road maintenance etc. All of that is paid for by Council. Government grants are obtained for proposed works and inmates from the local prison undertake work there too.

Locals know the score, that the area is a free campsite and refuse to pay for what is a council declared free camping ground.

If council has its way, and if the money collectors do too, houses will dot the town end of the lake. The subdivision has been knocked back, but the President of the volunteers Board, the Deputy Mayor, spoke in favour of the proposed subdivision on a recent bus tour for seniors.

The lakes future as a campground is under review. Proposals include leasing it to someone to create a private caravan park, handing it back to the DSE to maintain, or handing it over to the volunteers Board.

Ararat Rural Council:

"The Green Hill Lake Development Board (a local incorporated community group) has asked if Council is willing to hand over the management of the reserve to their Board, and this has prompted Council to re-examine the current risks and issues involved in managing the reserve.

Ararat Rural City Council has reviewed and identified a number of risks and issues that need to be immediately addressed, including safety fencing, new warning signage, fire risk systems, and fire equipment. The implementation of some of these may be staged, and some need to be undertaken before this coming summer camping period. Some of the other issues involving considerable expense, such as upgrading toilets etc have been identified as being required in the longer term.

As part of this review, Council also looked at the potential consequences of charging camping fees at the reserve, and this would require Council to fully implement the current Caravan Park Regulations, and lead to a number of changes to strictly regulate the camping area. This would potentially change the whole nature of the reserve, and include changes to the form, position, and number of camping and caravan sites, and would likely have a very negative effect on the quality of the natural camping experience at Green Hill Lake.

For the time being Council has chosen to discontinue camping fees, to allow the community time to consider the best management options for Green Hill Lake."

http://council-services.ararat.vic.gov.au/news/view/news/229-green-hill-lake-media-information-sheet

More information about what Council is considering can be found here:

http://www.araratadvertiser.com.au/story/376955/spruce-up-for-green-hill-lake-reserve-at-ararat/

So if you dislike being hounded morning and night for $5 when you are not required to pay, just say NO and wait for the response! And if you dislike handing over money as demanded morning and night with no receipt given, that's because it's illegal to ask for fees but not a donation.

The issue is not the $5; it is that despite it being a Council declared free campsite, campers are pestered morning and night for a donation. What will happen to the approx $30,000 in the volunteers' account if they are not granted management of the area? Who benefits from the rezoning of the land adjoining the lake? Is there any connection between the proposed subdivision and rezoning and those on the volunteers Greenhill Lake Development Board?

Wonderworld · Member

Jules there is a donation box, been there for ages. If you decline to stump up the $5 you are given an envelope and told to put money in there and put it in the box when you go. I've been going there for two years now, and always paid my way.

After two years of paying my way, I discussed the matter with one of the fee collectors. He then sent around the other fee collector to talk me around to resume paying the "donation". When I still declined to pay he asked me how long I intended to stay. I replied a couple of days and he said incredulously : "And you're not going to pay!"

From then on no more waves or giddays from them after two years paying the donation!

-- Edited by Webmaster on Thursday 15th of November 2012 05:45:37 AM

sandsmere · Guru

As I said before , they are certainly doing a lot more than mowing the grass at the moment .

The toilets , showers and grounds in general are very clean and tidy .

Wonderworld , can you fgive us a link or proof that the council has said that is a free park ?

Or proof that the money collected is not being spent on the park ? Because some money definately is .

People refusing to pay $5 pn. for flushing toilets and damn good hot showers is one of the main reasons

so many cheap parks are getting closed . And that affects us all .

-- Edited by sandsmere on Monday 12th of November 2012 03:36:04 PM

oldboar · Senior Member

Something smells a tad odd here unless there is two campsites with the same name near Ararat. Sandsmeres report on Free/Budget Campsites is completely at odds with the one on this topic.

Darrell

Wonderworld · Member

Hi Darrell,

No same place. Supposed to be free, but self appointed fee collectors ensure you don't get out without contributing to their sizable bank account. See the other posts on the lake for info. Very pretty place, but something very fishy.

sandsmere · Guru

Just had a chat with a local businessman in Ararat this morning .

He said there are a few people with their own agendas about the campsite , but most of the locals are happy

about it .

Sounds like local politics to me .

jules47 · The Happy Helper

If you refuse to pay the $5 "requested" - what can they do? Call the police? Bodily try and remove you from the site? I don't think the police could remove you unless there was a pretty valid reason - lighting a fire on a fire ban day, throwing your rubbish all over the place - I don't think so. And to try and bodily remove someone - well, they are leaving themselves open to charges of assault etc.

Just refuse to pay - and go about your business - there really is not much they can do while the campsite is a designated free camping area by council.

Maybe if they just had put up a "donation" box, cleared daily to foil theft, they would not have a problem, Rocky Creek in North Qld is a good example of this donation system.

And I remember being horrified reading Stew's post re his treatment at Green Lake, not the police's fault, but surely the caretaker would have been better off getting his facts straight first.

neilnruth · Guru

I agree with oldboar, seems a bit odd to me that a post from July 2011 has been dug up for commenting on.

Wonderworld · Member

Odd? This old post was drawn to my attention by none other than Max one of the fee collectors at the lake. Conspiracy theories are useless. It's also the second site that comes up on the net when you key in Greenhill Lake Ararat! I don't know what the go is here, but the issue is that the lake is a free campsite, is listed as such, is stated as such by the Council, yet travellers are harrassed morning and night for a "donation". It must be understood that the prime purpose of the lake is to cater to waterskiers and jet skiers first and foremost; it was built for that purpose. It also must be understood that the future of camping at the lake as we know it will change drastically if the Board are given managing rights. Some may recall what happened to Lake Fyans when it was handed over to another operator. The lake is a free campsite, donations welcome by the Board, not mandatory; travellers are the main source of income as they are ignorant of the fact that it is a free cmapsite. It is listed in all recent publications as a free campsite. The council have deemed it a free campsite.

-- Edited by Wonderworld on Tuesday 13th of November 2012 07:55:18 AM

-- Edited by Webmaster on Thursday 15th of November 2012 05:40:24 AM

sandsmere · Guru

If it's worrying you so much Wonderworld , I suggest you go to the appropiate government department

and let them know about it . They will , of course , ask for proof , as I did .

To other people travelling in the area . It's a damn good campsite , and worth the $5 per night .