Derek from Affordable Batteries & Radiators replied:

For how long and where ?

Are there road signs ?

Do you have insurance ? :-)

Hairy (NT) replied:

Gday,
In the Nt....as long as you don't annoy anyone...eg, cattle pads, stupid places etc, and your commfortable with it......Absolutely nothing.

Cheers

Member - Duncs replied:

My family nad I once camped in the park in the middle of a small outback NSW town for the night.

I have seen more than one couple overnight in the centre of one of the larger towns in western NSW. Just pulled up walked from car to caravan and spent the night. Don't know that any of the authorities even noticed.

Can't testify to the legalities but I have seen it done.

Duncs

Derek from Affordable Batteries & Radiators replied:

There is a great book out called Camps Australia and is now in the 4th edition.

It is well worth keeping in the car.

I have used it often for free camping or just to find a spot for the night.

Camps 4

Member - Phillip S (WA) replied:

I have seen people just pull up in a car park and spend a night...next morning take off only to come back and do it again for another night....sometimes up to 3 nights then disappear...I think they were careful to choose a spot that was not odvious...I live next to the Australind estuary and see this often...there are rules which say you cannot camp within so many k's (not sure how much) of a caravan park and then there are the local shire rangers..."move along please"...I think they are polite most of the time but you never can tell....one stiff fine and you might think twice next time.

Motherhen replied:

Although we use Camps Australia Wide as a back up, we usually find our own secluded and quiet spot - like tracks running into the bush, old roads, and our favourite, flat and clean old gravel pits. Maybe not all spots we have stopped are strictly legit, but we leave no mess, and are after all just resting for the one night. Beside a highway is noisy (trucks all night), whereas beside a rural road is quiet after dark. We do no stay in towns, although i have seen people do so, even in the centre of the town where i live. We have just returned from two weeks around the WA Goldfields with the F250 without caravan. Apart from the weekend at a motel which i had won, we camped out every night. Some were recognised free camp sites; others just nice spots we found.

Some Shires object to free campers, so watch signage. Others are coming to realise that free campers stay longer an spend money in their towns. We noticed that the WA wheat belt towns of Newdegate and Dumbleyung have new toilet blocks complete with free hot showers - how civilised.

Member - Doug T (Qld) replied:

When I camp out like that with a Caravan I do the same as I do without the van when as a Pilot, Go to a truck parking bay, of course there is a warning here, NEVER park behind the truck , and keep well away to give him his personal space , Of course most Truck bays in NT have the sign with a Caravan Crossed out [vice versa as well ] , But the idea is to avoid the Truck bays and leave them for Truck Drivers, it's easier for a Car and Caravan to find a spot than a Triple Road Train when he can't get into a bay because it's full of vans, I found that one night at Kuttabul Truck Bay, I had to press on to the next one.

Doug

Willem replied:

We spent 5 years on the road towing a 27 footer doing just that...........stopping wherever we could find a space. Some camps were too close to the road but other camps were in brilliant places. We free camped for 90% of our time on the road. It is a great time for travelling. Go for it!!!

Cheers

Member - Davoe (Nullagine) replied:

probably nothing. i have camped in pub carparks at streaky bay, Broome, Esperance, kalgoorlie. and have camped in the Middle of Derby, semaphore breakwater etc etc

Members - Chris/Lindsay (VIC) replied:

I was advised years ago not to camp in an obvious spot within about 5klms of a town as the local lads might come for a spin looking for trouble. We have always got out of sight up a track just as a precaution. I suppose it also depends on who is in your group. An attractive teenage daughter needs to be looked after!
Christine.

Alan H (Narangba QLD) replied:

For just an overnight stay, we often look for gravel pits/dumps along the road which seem to occur about every 20k or so. Some are not suitable but a lot of them are and often being used by others. As we usually travel non-highways, the traffic is not a problem after dark.

We also try to keep at least 20k from town to avoid troublemakers.

Wizard1 replied:

I assume you mean a little off the road not the actual verge.

We used to do it all the time, especially in NT and SA. We drive along until we find a suitable spot off the road then pull up for the night.

Best spots are where they stock pile gravel for road works, flat, good drainage and you can park behind the stacks.

The other are road side rest areas which have had people create their own camp areas to the rear of the area. They can be upto 200 metres away from the road.

Plenty of time we've gone to a spot out of Camps or similar guides to find them packed or unsuitable, so we keep going and pull up at a spot of our own choice.

We get at least 50 metres away from the road. I always do a foot recon first to check the grouns, especially if there's been rain and to ensure I have good access and turn around for the van.

DIO replied:

Depends just where in relation to the side of the road. In general, I would have thought it too dangerous from both passing traffice and 'unwanted visitors'. I've always tried to get a kilometre or so away from the road/highway. A lot more peace of mind. Your choice.

Godlike Chef replied:

We camped in parking bays an the way up to Broome last year and again this year. I believe that as long as you are 20kms out of town then you should be ok but check with the local shire ranger is advisable. I know in Broome there is nowhere to camp for free as the beach car parks all have no camping signs and the fine is around $1000!!!!! (so I personally don't think it's worth the risk) you can however find places like Willie Creek where you can camp.

Member - Royce replied:

Don't tow a van, though I've had a trailer on behind lots of time. For the last 14 years, I've propped wherever I like. Never been bothered except for the start of the year in Tassie. Some police asked what I was up to... parked in suburbia mind you. I said "I'm working at the local school in the morning and stopping here for the night.... okay?" "No worries mate" they said!

Yep. I pull over in the middle of suburban Melbourne. Pull the curtains and settle in. Never a problem. If you don't bother anyone.... they don't bother you.

Cheers Royce

Member - Debbie R (SA) replied:

Hi Mel and Michael
The LGA or Local Government Act, does prohibit camping on Council property or streets and roads, It is an expiatable offence and ignorance of local law is no excuse. Whilst I know a lot of people do it, there is another good reason not to do it, if a vehicle hits you or your van, and it is proved you were illegaly stopped or camped, not only are you not insured by your own insurance company, you are also responsible for the other parties damages.
Regards Debbie

Motherhen replied:

You get a 'feel' for finding the right place after a while. If we are travelling in a hurry, we have driven till dark and stopped anywhere we can pull off the road just a bit. We do not drive with a caravan after dark. Mostly we have been on holidays and start looking early afternoon for the perfect spot, and get less fussy as the day _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx on. Be aware of the danger of fires if bush camping in summer.

We have only been challenged once. We had been unable to get camping space in the Cape Le Grande NP camp sites as it was January holidays and they were packed, so we abandoned plans to climb Frenchman's peak and drove inland where we found a patch of bush (which had been camped in before us). Next morning a park ranger came and said we were parked in a nature reserve, and you can't camp in a nature reserve (there were no signs). He asked us if we were staying long, and we said we were almost ready to leave. He then indicated we should park where we can't be seen from the road.

I would argue that we are not camping but just stopping to rest for the night. Camping is a 'a group of tents or caravans or other portable accommodation". Stopping in a self contained caravan is not camping in my opinion.

Travelling out without the caravan, we have just had 2 weeks around the Kalgoorlie region. Some of the spots we stopped were designated free camps with enviro toilets; others were gravel pits, or along tracks into the bush. It's a great life.

Motherhen