I rarely travel on or near the east coast and I also rarely stay in caravan parks. I prefer the inland and bush camping or a simple camp-park in a small inland town with very few facilities.
Recently, circumstances have caused me to not only travel along the east coast but to stay in van parks close to, or on, the coast. I have also needed to stay in a place for a few weeks at a time which is also very unusual for me as I like to move on after a week or so.
So why am I bothering you with all this useless information, you ask. Well, I have begun to form a differing view to what is the traveller.
I had always formed the opinion, from observation, that the greater majority of travellers have fairly ordinary vans towed with functionally fitted out tow vehicles. I think a fair description would be vehicles and vans that are practical and focussed on function rather than an emphasis on style or elegance perhaps. People were down to earth, approachable and one could perhaps suggest homey.
As a result of this seemingly misplaced opinion of mine, formed from my previous observations, I always found it hard to accept the apparent results from the various surveys pushed by organisations etc regarding the worth and value of the travelling wallet to the economy of towns. The figures and, perhaps the lifestyle, depicted by the image conveyed in those surveys did not closely equate to those I usually encounter around this land.
Given my experiences in recent months, it seems I have lived a sort of sheltered life.
Caravan parks I have experienced along the east coast, generally speaking, are quite well laid out, religiously laid out with clearly marked bays for vans and often grassy patches amongst the wall to wall vans together with rules and restrictions to a myriad of things. A pleasant feature is that the amenity blocks are usually well-maintained, clean and a pleasure to use. I have found there are some exceptions to this but generally speaking of a higher standard that I am used to. Albeit, the site fees are also of a higher level than I usually accept but circumstances have decreed the need to loosen the purse strings.
In addition to the eye-opening created by the accommodation I have savoured recently, I have not seen so many near-new, very expensive and large vans. These vans are usually dragged by an also near-new ute of all makes and models or a Toyota/Mazda/Ford or similar SUV, loaded to the gunnels with an incredible array of items.
With a widely varying expertise the van is positioned on-site, the awning rolled out, the annex walls run out and affixed and then the array of items is removed from the vehicle and from within the bowels of the van. The annex is then suitably turned into a very comfortable home resplendent with chairs, tables, Webber-Q, a cupboard or two ... and even a small fridge in many cases. Not even unusual for a roll of carpet to be laid out on the concrete slab.
It seems that these travellers seem to have a pecking order of those with whom they converse or even acknowledge. Experience shows that I am not one who apparently fits that order.
OK ... I dress in clean clobber nothing flash mind you albeit a bit well-worn I guess. But it is usual for my neighbours to lounge around the van in clobber that I would wear to go out to the local RSL for tucker of an evening. When they head off for an evening out to the local club, I doubt I would get that flashed up for a funeral.
I must admit the average amount of money tied up in these rigs surprised me. Obviously, I have either failed to take enough notice of the set-ups of other travellers over past years, or the modern/recent traveller is more well-heeled on the coast route.
I have encountered travellers full-time or part-timers over the past eight years of every age range. From chats with them I have found an incredible range of occupations prior to their retiring. I am unable to advise the range of occupations of my new observation group as it was difficult to stir up conversation on anything beyond the weather.
However, I would suggest that over the past couple of months, those I have encountered in the coast van parks are well beyond 70 and most in their early to middle 80s.Nothing wrong that I say just an observation. However, the agility and mobility of some gives pause for thought in how their reactions would be when driving their rig and something unexpected arose on the highway.
So there it is for what it is (or isnt) worth.
My circumstances are such that I will be forced to remain on the east coast of QLD, heading north against the south-headed throng of travellers escaping the heat.
I wonder if I will continue to encounter similar parks and travellers or if the past couple of months have been an apparition.
Cheers - John
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Yes John you sum it up , It makes me laugh when people on this forum talk about all the money free camper spend in towns and if they don't go to these towns the town miss out , The money these people spend in the towns where they stay would make the money we spend look like little lunch money .
Hello rockylizard This is only my opinion, so I could be wrong
In one respect I agree with brickies, in regards to the major tourist towns, but I seldom see the smart set, in the smaller, off the beaten track towns
Because you are observant, you will most likely see more of the same, as well as many other different types of travellers, as well as some very highly cleaned ablution blocks, as well as some not so clean ones I know people who live in my general area, (another town), who go north for the winter, and stay in the same caravan park for their three month duration of following the sun.
Sometimes when I stop for a cuppa between camps, I will casually ask other travellers who have stopped, which way they are heading I do notice that those who mention the name of a caravan park, are usually smarter dressed than those who mention the name of a free camp.
Perhaps the caravan park travellers, carry an iron to iron their clothes
I can only say, from my own experience, that the cuppa tastes the same, no matter who I am talking to
But there is more of them out there than us and spending big bucks , They are not real traveller but take there mobile from caravan to caravan park and stay put for long periods and eat out lots .
Let's face it some people like the ammenities so the van park is for them, others like myself can afford to be in caravan parks but choose not to and it has nothing to do with money,I find camping alongside rivers and nice biig open areas where we can have a nice warm fire and other people sitting around it ,it's hard to beat it's sort of tribal just love that kind of life style don't you.
but haveing said that we're not going to limit ourselves to bush camping,although we love it ! the caravan park comes in handy when visiting coastal areas ,charging batteries, laundry Ect so let's have the best of both worlds is the way to go in our opinion..
people who buy the big rig and play the big man in the the caravan park are few and far between and if you think owning an expensive rig sets you apart your just fooling yourself.
As some of us say Rocky, we all move around the playground in different ways. I do some of everything in the way of where I stay I spose. At present I have had to come to a stand still north of Newcastle for the night due to a small change in plan and 74kmh side winds. So far since leaving Townsville I have stayed in rest areas, a camping ground and tonight is in a CVP as that is all I could quickly come up with due to the strong wind forcing most sensible caravanners of the road for the rest of the day.
Now, Rest areas...people have been friendly and chatty and not just about the weather. The camping ground...well I was out the way and kept to myself due to not feeling 100% so better not chatting, all good now though. The CVP....no backing into a spot as a nice drive though site was mine for the night and the people next to me chatted about, yes the weather but I wanted to get in out of the strong chilly wind. You are right though I personally find CVP people less chatty and in some cases clicky even but hey, not all and we all do our own thing.
Just out of interest mate, Rocky didn't happen to be in Rocky did he?
Try to enjoy the coastal areas mate it's not that bad really. At least you are seeing diiferent sights. Heaps of road works though.
Keep safe on the roads and out there.
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Live Life On Your Terms
DOUGChief One Feather (Losing feathers with age)
TUG.......2014 Holden LT Colorado Twin Cab Ute with Canopy
DEN....... 2014 "Chief" Arrow CV (with some changes)
We like to free camp and we like Caravan Parks. Don't fit into the I have category, van is 14 years old and Pajero is 9 years old, both treated well. What determines
where we camp is usually the weather or population. At the moment we are in Condobolin Caravan Park, our intention was to stay out at Gum Bend Lake, a great free camp,
but with forecast heavy rains we chose the CP. Went for a drive out to Gum bend today and the amount of water on the ground justified our decision. Usually we try to follow cool, not cold, weather but if it very hot or very cold a caravan park wins out. Also if a town or area does not offer a free camp we stay in a caravan park, so many miss out on seeing great things because they do not support towns that don't offer free camps.
Lots of people like the solitude of remote bush camps, not sure if they are full time travellers or just part timers with a house to go back to, we travel full time and
can afford caravan parks if we wish. I spent many years tramping around the bush because it was my job, now I don't really miss it if I don't go into it all that much.
Maybe I took this the wrong way but as a new member it sounds to me like you're saying that unless I travel on back roads free camping in my stubbies and thongs I won't be classed as a fair dinkum traveller. I think Tony Bev hit the nail on the head by suggesting that there are a lots of different types of travellers out there each with their own idea on how they want to get around. Hey rockylizard if these smarty dressed, rich people staying in their east coast caravan parks are ignoring you don't lose any sleep you probably wouldn't enjoy their company anyhow. Just wondering in my younger years I travelled all over Oz and during the last 20 I filled up 2 passports - this is going to be my first van so does that qualify me under your standards as being a real traveller ?
Well, Rocky John, don't worry too much about those with upturned noses. There is a distinct difference between the mindset of tourists v travellers, which has apparently become obvious to you amongst the current RV aficionados.
As a fellow traveller, you're welcome round my camp fire anytime- though it will very rarely be in a coastal CP!
Cheers,
RambleGambol
I have reread rockylizards post and also comments from a couple of the other responders that still seem to me to be a little condescending towards other travellers and their different lifestyles. My comments were meant to be a little tongue in cheek suggesting everyone has their own ideas about what is the lifestyle that suits them best. If I'm a little slow in seeing what the real message was meant to be then maybe rocky can straighten me out and I will definitely apologise publicly to him for any misinterpretation. Personally we aim to take the same approach in our travelling as Ron-D/PlainTruth although we will have a new van and tug we didn't actually buy them to impress anyone - we bought them because we believed that it suited what we thought we needed. Since then learning from the experience of others on this site we may actually have gone completely overboard and in a few years may replace it with something smaller.
I agree with John on this. C V P travellers seem to have a different mind set. When you speak to them about free camping, they often either don't know about it or they say it's just not for them, they can't see themselves out in the bush at night on there lonesome.
Rons point is spot on. C V Ps can offer comforts for some, but i don't need to pay for a jumping castle and games nights ect. Also people wth small children seem to be most likely to use cvps.
But like Ron says sitting around an open fire ( with a port ) next to a river with open land is where i lay my hat. Ron also mentioned laundry. We do our laundry at a local L/Mat in towns as we go, won't use a cp. But i have paid $2 to empty the ****ter at a cvp (couldn't find any other d/point)
Rocky, my main man. As usual your posts are well thought out and elicit much discussion among the posters. A couple of years ago I purchased a 24' Sterling (contrary to SWMBO wishes at the time) and apart from some problems with the slide-out, it has served us well up to now, but it did not take me long to realise that we could have purchased a 21 footer and had just as great an experience. By the way, I don't think that anyone would describe the Jayco as a "flash" van. So we have a 6yr old van being towed by a 6yr old vehicle driven by a 79yr old bloke (SWMBO would not have the confidence to handle the rig) We mostly free camp and like you Rocky, we have up to now, steered well clear of the East coast as we mainly prefer the inland, a little bit like Desert Dweller who likes to sit up there on his rock, we find the locals much nicer people and definately a lot more friendly.
I have had people look at us when we pull into camps, maybe because of the size of the rig, who knows? but when the old boy alights from his beloved tug, resplendent in baggy shorts, thongs and a three day old growth on his chin you can sometimes hear the sigh, relief or trepidation??? as the grizzled old bugger makes his way round on a meet and greet. I have always treated people the way I would like to be treated and have found very few that I could not get along with, that said, there will always be those who consider themselves to be a cut above above the rst of us and to them I say,
"You don't know what you are missing out on" We have made many friends on our way through our caravanning life, people who are the salt of the earth, and I hope that we can continue to do so for a lot longer yet.
I think that the present van may be the last, but who knows? when things get too tough maybe we will join motorhome mob.
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Those who wish to reap the blessings of freedom must, as men, endure the fatigue of defending it.
Thanks rockylizard for initiating this discussion I really learnt a lot about the different ways people view travelling but I still agree with mezza56s last sentence -
"it's disappointing that there's an under lying cynicism in some of the posts here toward those that chose a different path".
According to the Websters dictionary -
Traveller - a person who is travelling or who often travels, a Gypsy or other nomadic person
Tourist - a person who is travelling or visiting a place for pleasure. A member of a visiting sports team.
Nomad - a member of a people who travel from place to place to find fresh pasture for it's animals and has no permanent home. A person who does not stay in the same place a wanderer.
Everyone be it tourist, coastal CP stayers or free campers fit into the first 2, those that haven't got a permanent home base probably fit into all 3. Think about this from the other side maybe when there are very experienced travellers especially in a group either at a CP or a free camp site the less experienced traveller may feel a little intimidated and in order not to look foolish stick to themselves. How can you tell these less experienced travellers they are more than likely the ones that have the flash new vans and tugs and an "incredible array of items" that they will never need in a million years (like me except I'll be the one greeting you with a beer in each hand wearing my thongs and unironed shorts). I hope in most cases they are not trying to show off and it's just because of the lack of experience that they are carrying all this useless stuff around with them. On the other hand like I said earlier to the rockylizard if they think they are better than you and don't consider you worthy of their attention don't lose any sleep about it as you're probably not going to enjoy their company anyhow.
Yeah B/B I think you can interpret the O/p in a few ways depending on what slant you want to put on it,personally I don't find it offensive its one persons view,some will agree with it some won't ..
Travellers' opinions is also great food for thought. Where we travel and the reasons we travel to those places are no doubt different to all of us in the playground. Some love free camping others hate it. Some enjoy 5 star parks for ultra conveniences and others prefer basics. Some are chatty and some are withdrawn. Some like tents, others vans and others RV's. Some rig out with the latest and greatest and others basic and less functional. Are we not mostly different by our own independence?
I have a friend, who rigged out on tug and den big and beautiful, forking out close on $200,000. Me, around $40,000 all up. I primarily free camp but don't shy away from CP's depending on reason of trips. My mate is a 5 star traveller expecting 5 star conveniences. Chalk and cheese.
Still mates though.
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Cheers, Richard (Dick0)
"Home is where the Den is parked, Designer Orchid Special towed by Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited"
"4x250W solar panels, Epever 80A charger and 3x135Ah Voltax Prismatic LiFePO4 Batteries".
Rocky, thanks for your interesting post. I pretty much find the same as you with regards to all your points except maybe one. After over twenty years of dragging various vans around, I have managed to upgrade the van to a larger shower van which is much larger and shinier than the last one. I hope if you come across it that it would not stop you from saying a big g'day. Having 'one of those' vans makes me no different than I was with the old small van and tug. Tonight I arrived back from 3 weeks travelling around the Southern Flinders Ranges and Yorke Peninsula in SA. Didn't even see a caravan park.
Your van was the latest thing out and new and shiny once as mine is now. I am looking forward to my new van being old and faded in due course with all the memories it will contain.
Cheers, John
-- some of the friendly wildlife I come across camping this last week.
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