Difficulties paying for camping in National Parks

Happened to us out near the Sundown National park....there was a self registration desk thing but no paper to write details on...or you can call the number but we had no reception...so do you drive back 40km to pay or do you just go in?

We just went in, we tried to do the right thing but the tools provided was not good enough.

simple answer to that, pay by cheque .....
We had a problem years ago in WA where some had the keys to the box and most coin/notes went into pocket, and i may add it still is rife now in most parks with the cash box collection system ........
Pay by cheque and if it is legit it will show up on your statment, if it is just the normal national parks riff off scheme that is rife all over Aust then they will be to lazy to bank it and YOU have done the correct and just thing and paid for the fees as requested..... it works and works really well
But i never told you that eh...

Cheers
"What charter boat"

We have encountered this several times.
1. Were told by info centre could pay at the campsite, so headed 45km out to camp to find a phone we should call to book a site and pay by credit card. No signal so camped free for 2 nights. If ranger had turned up we would have happily paid.
2. Got to camp site and no envelope to put details on. Again free camped for 3 nights. Ranger turned up the day we left so I did the right thing and went to talk to him. He said because we are leaving don't bother paying.
3. Arrived at campsite to find a sign ring number to book. Used our sat phone to ring only to get told their computer is down and I will have to go find a ranger. I asked where the nearest ranger station is or for a number to ring them on. They said they don't have that info, they only book sites. Decided to free camp again. When we got to camp another guy camping there and been there a week already and never saw a ranger. We stayed 4 nights and no sign of anyone.
One ranger said they stopped using money boxes cause people would smash them and take the money so they were loosing funds. I explained they are still loosing them cause it is nearly impossible noe to actually pay the fee. "Good for you" was his reply. He basiclly said if you try to do the right thing and can't, don't worry.

Josh

It seems many of us have had the same problem - ready and willing to pay the fees but thwarted by NPs themselves. Is such cases I don't worry any more, just have the money ready if a ranger appears or check to see if envelopes have been replaced since our arrival.

Of course there is the other problem too - people who come in and say to other campers that they are only staying the night and will be gone early. So what! If you stay for even a few hours you are a cheat if you don't pay.

Min

G'day Folks

We've had similar issues. Maybe the NPs could have a system whereby we could ring a 1300 number once we were back in range and pay by credit card. Maybe some wouldn't pay but those of us who appreciate the facilities and opportunty to be in a NP would do the right thing. It would be interesting to see the NP balance sheets, to see how much fee collection costs, how much they get, and what percentage it is of total park running costs.

Cheers
John

Its not only national parks that have a fee collection problem , our council run and maintained c/van park loses $ bigtime , the council office which is not on site but only 750 meters away is open from 9am to 4pm weekdays and from 9am to 11am on Saturdays , fees are only $12 per night for a powered site and the 3rd night is free yet the system is abused , take this weekend as an example , a convoy of 6 ,yes 6 Ultimate camper trailers pulled in early Saturday afternoon and set up camp , non went to the one and only pub or shop on Saturday or on Sunday so not 1$ spent in town , all 6 packed up and gone before 7am this morning , and to top it off ,every toilet roll taken ,
you wonder why locals call " tourists" terrorists. And yes there is plentiful signage offering alternatives for paying the fees at either the pub or the shop.

Yep, had the same problem a couple of years ago at Millstream NP. A collection box at the gate and no one around. There was a notice saying that the Ranger would come and collect the camping fees. We put the correct money in the "honour" box ($10 admission I think) although how that was collected and administered I have no idea and for the 3 days we were there we never saw hide nor hair of any rangers and talking to others there at the time no one else had.

ob

It seems that we all have had this issue at some time, you would think some simple system could be set up.
Cheers Tony

After visiting SA a few years ago, we found over there where our national parks pass allowed us to camp so no looking for money or change. I wrote to DEC or Calm as it was then and sugested they use the same system,I sugested taking an average of the number of nights stayed per family over a month, some would loose some would win but certainly easier to manage.

Howdy - Last year, myself and a friend ( in 2 vehicles ) were driving through a national park to get to our destination which was outside the park. The sign at the entrance said it is $5 per vehicle to camp in the park and a lock box provided to put your money in. Well I'm guessing the rangers were listening to our conversation on the cb somewhere close by and went to the box to see if we paid our fees. Obviously there was no money in there so they decided to catch up with us because they must have thought we were camping there and were ripping the NPWS off. Well it took them 1 1/2 hrs and 80 kilometres before they caught up with us ( we stopped for a beverage ) and proceeded to abuse us for not paying - well, when they found out we weren't camping they were very apologetic, especially when they saw we had no camping equipment at all. After a very polite lecture on how much it costs to maintain a national park we offered to donate $10 each. They then apologised that they couldn't execpt the money as they didn't have a receipt book with them ! We said our farewells and they got into their $75,000 Landcruiser ute complete with 60 litre Engel in the back and returned to where they came from ! I'm guessing the $10 fee ( had we camped ) wouldn't have covered the diesel they used chasing us nor the wear and tear on the vehicle and the tyres. I now realise why it costs so much to run the parks. I have always paid my fees when required and appreciate the effort of the rangers etc but I think they could spend their money a bit more wisely !

Happy Travelling

Gazz

had similar issue with Charlie Morlands campground just North of Brisbane.
Dirty Weekends book said it was self registration, but when you got there, there were no envelopes to do so, the rangers hut down the road was also closed so we couldn't pay there either.
i camped the night and rang the DERM number that arvo when i got home to make my payment of $5.50 or whatever the amount was. the lady on the end of the line was surprised i was bothering and nearly said do you really want to bother, when she remembered the calls are recorded....lol
i did the right thing and paid even though i probably could have not bothered.

Thanks all for your feedback.

It seems this is not an unusual problem and although we may wish to do the right thing sometimes its just not possible. Doubtless there are some who will take advantage of any facilities provided, though I really do wonder why anyone would want to pinch toilet paper, especially if it's the "government issue" type.

Also there does seem to be a fairly common misconception that having a "National" Parks Pass entitles you to free camping. Not so unfortunately.

We can only hope that one day we just might get a truly "national" park system with some consistency in the rules and requirements to go with it. But I'm probably dreaming.

Cheers,

Val