Mitchell Plateau new entry fee

What am I going to get for my 50 bucks? Bugger all I expect, but so what is new now everything is being handed over to them.And what will happen to the fees collected? I hesitate to pass an opinion on that subject.(and don't anybody bother to tell me I'm racist I couldn't care less)

Well then there's one decision made. Under those circumstances you probably won't see us up that way at all. Not paying $50 to anyone after rattling our teeth on the road for a number of hours. Given that we are self contained they'd want to be offering hot showers and flush toilets under palm trees for that.
Jan & Mike.

Looks like we'll be seeing Anne next year and the region by air.Hey its our land to-no stop!!!

Anne,

Thanks for that info. A sign of the times, I guess. I am sure that given time facilities will be developed. $50? that's 3 packets of cigarettes for smokers or 25 cans of beer for drinkers. Funny, people pay $300 per ticket to go and watch some ageing rock 'n rollers make inane music for a few hours but don't want to pay to see a pristine part of Australia . Oh well. Glad I saw it all before it became popular.

Cheers,

Funny, before i emigrated to Australia i was told this is free country to travel unrestricted by all. Excuse me for my observation that setting up a camp on the side of the road and demanding a fee without any road maintenance and facilities sounds like good old highway robbery.
I suppose it is just a question of time before CSR coppes the same treatment.

$50. What a rort. Where's the money going and for what ?.

well i reckon it would be better to go and buy a big fat JOKE book at least you would get better value for your money ,why i say JOKE book because thats what it is a bloody JOKE cheer,s peter

Hot topic this one! Anne, you should set up a camp on your in road & collect $50 from every indigenous person who wishes to pay you a call!
Maybe one on the road to Derby or Broome to catch them also!
Sure they have in the past been treated badly & get ripped off by white traders ( as we do too) when in towns but I guess that is a product of location.

Well at least you get your 50 bucks worth when you become a member of ExplorOz.

A lot of you have you have simply presumed that "they" will simply waste it on all those nasty things that us whitefellas sell them. What if they don't ??
What about if they did improve the road a bit and the place became more accessible and more tourists arrived. They make more money, the road gets better and even more tourists arrive. So much so that The Gibb River Road ends up sealed. Some bright spark from Sydney decides its a great place for a resort and leases the area .. Surfers on the West Coast , metre maids , retirement villages. What an enterprise !!!!
Do you really want the road upgraded?

There are too many assumptions being made about Mitchell Plat based what services someone has experienced else-where. Whilst I have no problem with making a comparison to determin value, based upon an individuals experience, and we all have a different opinion/gripe about different places, how can you get so worked up about the issue before you have all the facts, find out first how it will all operate and what are their intentions. You don't know that yet.
For my money it's not expensive for a three day package. Last year SWMBO & I stayed at King Edward camp for three days and there was no fee. We got to use a beautiful site by the river, used the absolute cleanest ever long drop toilets, got excellent local info from the caretakers, swam in the coolest safest river, were given fire wood on our first night, told where to find good bush art, swam up the top at Mitchell Plat and used the toilets up there, got to take some great pics etc - you get the storey? Now if we did the same again this year we would be paying $8.33 per day each. Almost sound too cheap.

This year I have to pay $90.oo to whitemen so as to cross the Simpson. I get some maps & the rest goes to the bureacats to keep some guy in a job issuing the passes and another patrolling the desert to make sure I have a pass and to pick up all the white mans (and womens) crap that they leave behind. So the B's and the W's are as bad as each other if you want to consider and compare it this way.

Value is in the eye of the beholder.

Wow !
I knew people would be interested but what a response. Let me try to reply to some of the questions. The toilets at the King Edward River camp and at the Mitchell Falls car park camp are provided by CALM as are the camp hosts and rangers. As I understand it there is no fee being introduced to camp in these areas.
The road is maintained on a share cost basis by Mitchell Plateau Bauxite, CALM and the local Shire. It is not a 'main' road, it was a private road which I understand Mitchell Plateau Bauxite needs to maintain in an ' accesible' condition as part of holding the leases up there.
I think they were the main ones I could give answers to, as for future plans for the money re facilities, I have no idea.
Goran, you will need to contact me direct for a reply to your first question.
cheers, Anne

I have to laugh at some of you guys - talk about sweat the small stuff!

You lose half of what you earn as income tax before you even spend it. Half of what you spend on fuel, grog etc goes in tax. If you buy a TRUCK worth over 60 grand, they throw on luxury car tax, stamp duty, registration, and then tax all those taxes again. You buy a house the states slug you stamp duty (20 to 40 grand).

We have three inefficient levels of government all triplicating bureaucracy, but all blaming each other for inadequate services, but all retiring on massive unfunded superannuation that you and I pay for.

And you carry on like kids who've had their lolly ripped out of their mouth over a lousy $50 (which is probably the best $50 you'll ever spend).

If it gives the traditional owners something to do and a source of income other than the crippling welfare handout then I'm all for it. If as a bonus it keeps a lot of whining, tight arsed tourists out of a fanatastic region, then I hope they quickly increase it.

See you in the Kimberley

Further to my post at the beginning of this discussion,my complaint stems from my last two visits to AYRES ROCK where we were charged a fee to go to the rock and then had it suggested to us we should not climb it due to "cultural signifigance".On attempting to use the facilities (on both occaisins) the discusting condition of them prevented anyone entering. The huge fees collected were not visible in any improvements to any way to the areas.
(Sorry about the ayres rock thing but the name only got changed when there was a quid to made for the locals and now even their kids are going hungry according to the papers)