The Grey Nomad travellers such as us need to see more towns like this embrace our needs and in return we will then help and support the local traders in that area.
We use C.Parks when and if we want to. They are there to attract and serve us. It should be our choice if we want to use C.Parks.
Jay&Dee
The picture in the story says it all. Firstly, beachside car parks are not there to be used as free camp grounds. Secondly, I would be very surprised if any of the vehicles in the picture had any on-board facilities, such as toilets, showers etc. You have to wonder where the occupants might choose to answer the call of nature if they weren't parked right next to a public convenience.
On the other hand, campers in fully equipped vehicles who choose to camp in appropriate areas are doing nothing but good for the communities they visit. We all have heard about the needs of country towns in recent times. They all are desperate for tourist dollars which is why so many of them roll out the welcome mat and make such an effort to attract visitors. Why some Councils turn a blind eye to the freedom camping movement is hard to understand, unless of course, they are being pressured by vested interests. Surely not!!
Many people in very expensive motorhomes choose to free camp as they don't have to put up with noisy kids on bouncy castles and they like the area they stop at (how many CP's are at or near tourist points??).
Backpackers will stop anywhere in a city, at a beach - wherever they can find a place to park and with public toilets nearby (or use the grass/bush and let the used paper blow round which really winds other travelers and local residents up) and often are drunk and noisy at night - not all, but from our experience, many of them.
Don't confuse free camping though we those that want to, but for whatever reason don't want to stay constantly at CP's. We fall into this category. We don't leave rubbish or black matter behind, damage anything, but choose to free camp because there is either no CP nearby or those there want to be paid each day with a gold nugget for dirty and old conditons with dusty and uneven van sites
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
Well said B & B, And I might add you are spot on about the conditions of some C.P.'s .
On our recent trip from Albany up through the central Wheat Belt, coming out onto the Great Northern Hwy, just a little shy of Geraldton,
We passed through many small back country towns, now most had C.P's but the general condition of them was pretty average, one thing I did notice was the prices were not far behind what you would expect to find near the City's.
One Park in particular which recently had a publicity stunt running, trying to attract tourists, with cheap rates for Seniors, must have had an expiry date, as we found they wanted very nearly $30 per night, NO reduction for anyone, and an "take it or leave " attitude.
I noticed there was only one other Private van on site, All the rest were Mine workers, although they didn't seem to be doing much apart from drinking and singing at the top of their voices.
The condition of this Park was a disgrace, it had been set out originally with plenty of thought but, the present Caretaker must have had a "couldn't care less" approach to his job, for one thing, we never say him at all, the bins were chocker block full of rubbish, there were broken and falling trees all over the park,
One thing that really put us off was the " Free B.B.Q" free alright, no one in their right mind would use it for fear of food poisoning, the top plate which was S/Steel looked like a miner had done a dance on it, and the surround which must have looked nice when new, now had tiles broken and missing.,
After one night, we were out of there. with the thought,
If these Country Towns want tourists to visit, they had better look at themselves first and give the traveling public something to attract them, not try to grab as much as they can with these third rate conditions.
There , I've had my rant, very disappointed with this trip, think we will head East next time. !!!
K.J.
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From Coast to Coast, We'll see it all.......One Day
I am currrently at the Ballarat Pioneer Park site ... a 12-month trial of this Free-choice camping site is happening here
One of my happy-hour neighbours has described their upcoming holiday ~ amazing stuff
Via some sort of TV or phone marketing arrangement, they have 4 caravan parks organised for "10-days stay for $120 - $150 each park"
From Bairnsdale to Eden to Tuncurry to Nambucca Heads - these parks are making a huge effort to bring in custom in the down-season by offering these low-rates deals
It's a wonder that ALL the van parks don't try it ~ after all, it's cash flow in business that keeps a business going
We were in Albany W.A. last week for a family thing just for one night so needed the convenience of a CP and was slugged $48 for one night for an UNPOWERED site. Yes it was during the school holidays. Toilets were discusting & septic system wasn't copping very well either. We won't be in a hurry to go to PanoramaCaravan Park ever again.
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Steve, Di & Ziggy We named our Motorhome "Roadworx" because on the road works "On The Road Again" Ford Transit with 302 Windsor V8 conversion, C4 Auto, 9 Inch Ford Diff All Lighting L.E.D., 260 Amp/h AGM, 530 Watt Solar + Kipor Backup Gen.
The picture in the story says it all. Firstly, beachside car parks are not there to be used as free camp grounds. Secondly, I would be very surprised if any of the vehicles in the picture had any on-board facilities, such as toilets, showers etc. You have to wonder where the occupants might choose to answer the call of nature if they weren't parked right next to a public convenience.
On the other hand, campers in fully equipped vehicles who choose to camp in appropriate areas are doing nothing but good for the communities they visit. We all have heard about the needs of country towns in recent times. They all are desperate for tourist dollars which is why so many of them roll out the welcome mat and make such an effort to attract visitors. Why some Councils turn a blind eye to the freedom camping movement is hard to understand, unless of course, they are being pressured by vested interests. Surely not!!
Fastcoach..
I concur with you 100% on all your comments.
But we have a huge job ahead of us to educate "OTHERS" in the benefit of free camping.
Of course you are right, some councils fail to see the benefit for other traders in the shire other than you know who.
On the other hand, many caravan parks( ooops should not have mentioned that) are owned and run by the very same council.
We can but try to convince the councils / shires concerned of their short-sightedness on this issue.
