What's up with <span class="highlight">Dubbo</span>??

Hi Harry
Stayed at the Dubbo City caravan park a few times on the way through
in on site cabins and found it ok.just rememer to book as Dubbo is a busy place.
As for the danger havn't experienced any,just a sign of the times could be any were,and lock your gear up.

Free camp about 10k's north of Dubbo at Brocklehurst. It is a roadside stop and gets trucks coming and going through the night so it can be noisy. I have stayed here many times and never had problems and wouldn't expect problems either, as it is a bit far out of town. Also at Brocklehurst, there is a turnoff to some "gardens" (can't remember the exact name) which are 3km's west of Brocklehurst, there is a beautiful riverside camp down there but it just looked like a "local" hangout that might get a bit of riff raff from time to time so I steered clear of it. Still worth finding this place for yourself and making up your own mind as it was very nice.

As far as the rumours go, Dubbo can be a nasty place in some parts (namely west Dubbo) but like any town it has a lot of nice locals that would give you the shirt off their back also. The Zoo is great and the family should really enjoy it. I wouldn't suggest taking the family for a walk through town after about 8pm.

Have a great stay in Dubbo region and I hope you see the nicer side of what used to be a lovely place.
Regards, Trevor.

i stayed at the caravan park on the hwy just near the zoo - about 20min walk - very nice park with good facilities. there were (maybe still are) a number of issues re local people and family fueds and not liking tourists but in the end no real problems and certainly nothing as bad as burke. enjoy the zoo as it is great - make sure you check out the meerkats then think back to meerkat manor - they realy are vicious little bastards much like people at times. rgds

We stayed at the Dubbo City Caravan park In July this year. On arrival we were warned by the managers to be security conscious and not to leave stuff unsecured outside the van and to lock up your cars and caravans when away from them. While we were there someone had their van broken into while they were visiting the one next door. There is a security guard who patrols but its abig park so I don't think that was too much of a deterent. The park is clean and well kept and as good as any I've stayed in in that respect. I must say I was not all that comfortable after being warned but we had no problems. Dubbo is a big place and not a bad town with quite a large shopping centre. I guess that like most towns there are areas of problems. The zoo is great.

Toolmann

Hi, all haven't been there for a while as we are now Mexicans but we used to do the zoo every nsw labor day weekend and stay at the Wellington Caves Park.
Sensational setting and the caves and surrounds are an good explore.
'tis 30 mins from Wellington to Dubbo.
cheers,
dasher

We stayed at the Dubbo City park (Top tourist) for a couple of nights two weeks ago and had no problems. Did see a security gaurd on site. But you have to wonder why they have a big slideing gate that needs a code to get in after 7pm and the park is surrounded with barbed wire!!.
We have just returned from 8 weeks through WA and I think it is more a duty of care thing that they have to warn people to be security concious. To me its common sense, but i supose that there are people out there that will take stuff no matter how security minded you are.

Athol

Stay in Orange, its only up/down the road from Dubbo.

I must have missed something. We stayed at the Dubbo Big 4. Close to the zoo. A nice park and no problems. I did notice though that thy have a very good security fence all round.

In my experience Dubbo no problems compared to other places (Moree for example). Perhaps we were just lucky.

What's wrong with Dubbo? This'll get a bite for sure. Ready? .............

Sydney without the beach!!!

But seriously there are issues in West Dubbo but they tend to stay in a fairly specific area.

There is a riverside camp spot out near the Zoo. There is a historic farm house touristy thing called Dun...., Dumble..... somethng like that and just down past it is a spot you can camp by the river.

I know a guy who stayed there in his caravan years ago and reckons it's great. Free too.

Duncs

we stayed in the big4 in august, no probs great club next door. enjoy
steve

Hope you enjoy the zoo. I took the kids about 9 years ago. Very disappointed. Just animals in paddocks and a fair distance away. We took our bikes... had heard that you could ride around. ... and we did. Nothing special though.

Just didn't live up to expectations. Maybe the old Melbourne Zoo was just so good compared...

Stood and looked a few rhinos in the paddock. Could have been cows. Got close to some koalas.... just like in my back yard.

Not sure what all the fuss is about.. but maybe it's come on in the last few years.

Maybe I'll take my grandkids when I get some and see it in a whole new light.

I stayed at the Big4 park just near the zoo about a month ago... nice park lots of warnings about make sure you lock everything up.

I took my kids around the zoo... you'll love it! If you can get there early ( between 6:30am and 6:45) they run a pre opening tour... was only an extra $30 for the whole family and the kids absolutely loved it.... not sure if it runs every day though.

The morning I left the park - I met a guy that had his window smashed on his defender and some stuff stolen from his truck overnight. It was parked in the van park next to his camper! I guess he must be a heavy sleeper.. poor bugger. His site was on the fence though - so I guess someone jumped the fence in the middle of the night...

Otherwise Dubbo is no worse than many...

Have a good trip....

Mark

Harry you could try narromine approx 40kms west great little country park [n/mine rosegarden] no security worries here, stayed here recently and would consider it a good alternative to dubbo, park overlooking paddocks, good amenities not expensive and not much else.

Hi We stayed in the top tourist park at Eaqster and had no problems. As said advised to lock every thing and be carefull but dont we all do this anyway.

the Zoo was great the kids loved it we drove our car around and saw every thing and some things twice

Go with an open mind and enjoy yourself

Scott

>> What sort of place is Dubbo?

Its a toilet that is waiting to be flushed of bleep .

There was another thread on this about a month or 3 ago

I've never been there, but how about considering Peak Hill - between Parkes and Dubbo. Reports on "Badgers"
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~badger04/parks_n0.htm#region
are good, and contributions from the manager as a member of the caravanners forum indicate someone who cares and reasonable costs.

Peak Hill Caravan Park, Peak Hill
Manager's name is Pauline & Leighton. Ph: 02 6869 1422. Peak Hill is 48km from Parkes on the Newell Highway - an excellent alternative to Dubbo or Parkes if travelling on the Newell highway.

Hi Harry..
First off I have been lazy and NOT read the replies above!...... But we were in Dubbo recently and can tell you this much.......

It's a much bigger town than we thought it would be and probably has as much hoon activity as any town of that size. We found the locals quite friendly, had a great feed of pies and cakes from "The French Hot Bread Shop" in the town centre...... Stayed in a caravan park on the highway in town, I think called the Dubbo City Caravan Park. We got it confused with another park closer to the zoo, called the Dubbo Caravan Park (I think). The one nearer the town is, well, noisy.. Friday night all we heard was sirens, alarms, screeching tyres etc etc.... big town noises! On the Saturday night, we stayed at the zoo as part of the Roar and Snore Program something I can highly recommend. The Western Plains Zoo is fantastic. If you don't do the Roar and Snore, at least get there early for an early morning tour. It is well worth it. We had our trailer booked into the caravan park from Friday till Monday am, stayed at the zoo sat night and to be honest we were a little concerned because of the signs everywhere about thieves etc... but everything was still there when we got back Sunday afternoon.

I have some pics and a story here from our whole trip, but some zoo pics are there as well.

Next time we go, we would stay at the caravan park nearer the zoo, we couldn't hear the town noise from the zoo itself.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Brian

We stayed at Dubbo, as we do the Bris - Melb run with kids annually [family down there].
Stayed in Dubbo caravan park [? big 4]in a cabin,: very nice safe, expensive and nearly booked out.

Maybe I'm deaf, dumb and blind, but Dubbo is not somewhere I'd have thought of being too dangerous. Maree on the other hand was a little wild, but if your staying in a caravan park and not swanning around town at 2am in the morning half tanked you should stay out of trouble.
Have fun, andrea.

We heard several bad stories about vans being broken into in some Dubbo caravan parks (even while owners were sitting in their annex!)

Then we were told about a great spot to stay right near the zoo. It is the Red Earth Vinyard. They are just behind the zoo and gave us power and water. All it cost was to buy a bottle of wine from their celler. The wine was great and we ended up buying 4 bottles and staying a few days!.

Very secure place, as they lock the gates at about 6pm and go home. So several campers camped there with us gave them security at night and in return, for them to keep a eye on our van while we visted town and the zoo.

It was a good, mutual trade!