Campground design - Finchley - Yengo NP

Hi

I think reverse in/drive out is fine. Doesn't need to be completely level.

The set-up in Ben Boyd National Park for Camper Trailers is quite good and addresses the problem of encroaching further into the bush, whilst providing good access for trailers, eg no bollards.

Cheers

Hi Beddo
Things I look for in a camp site
Clean toilets
Clean water ( drinkable )
Gass BBQ's good
Showers ( cold is OK ) saves water
Flat areas for tents and swags, grassed if possible ( log barriers to stop people killing the grass )
Shelter

Ray

Hi Jeff,
Are you involved in the NPWS ?
I agree, Finchley needs an upgrade urgently, not very attractive in its present state.
Having a camper trailer myself and 2 young girls, (+SWMBO) I do like a fairly flat area to park the trailer and fold out the tent section, so the total area would probably need to be about 7 x4 meters,( I suppose it depends on the trailer type and size.): reverse in and drive out is fine. A communal fire place sounds good but some people prefer to have their own fire place (and their own space) as well. I think most campers come prepared with their own gas stoves and bottles so I'm not sure about providing gas BBQ, I think that would take away the "bush" experience.
Look forward to reading about the final upgrade plans.
Rob

Happy New Year Jeff,
What's this ? National Sparks & Wildfires asking what we need. Great.
Back in / drive out is great.
As to size, it depends on the config of the camper, Mine folds out to the side, but others to the rear.
For mine, that is trailer, foldout tent and anex, I would need a min 6.5 mt x 4.0 mt.
That would be plenty of room.
Gas BBQ has the advantage of safety for the bush fire problem but that about all.
Keep up the good work.
Hope to catch up with you again when we get a chance to go back to Big Yango.
Vince

Hi Jeff,

Can I start by saying that my wife and I spend a lot of time camping in National Parks and we really appreciate you taking the time and trouble to seek our opinions re Finchley which by the way is looking a bit weary.

Our camper trailer is the flip over type which measures, when open and awning up, about 6.5 metres long by say 4 metres wide. So we would probably fit in Rob's 7 x 4 metres but manouvering might be a problem. We like the way Dunns Swamp is set up. Large open areas for camper trailers and seperate bollarded areas for tents. Reverse in drive out is fine provided theres room to manouver.

Never been to a site anywhere that was absolutely flat so close enough is good enough for us.

Pit toilet is no problem but would have thought NPWS would prefer to put a composting loo in if they could.

Mate, gotta say a gas BBQ is a must along with a couple of picnic tables. There are times when a camp fire should not be lit and when ever we see a gas BBQ at times like that we know we can still have the barby and not be doing the wrong thing by lighting the fire. Never seen a gas BBQ yet that wasn't used extensively.)

Don't think a communal fire will work. You can bet the fire will be hogged by one particular group to the exclusion of others. Sorry but I think individual fireplaces are the way to go. (incidently, what are the chances of NPWS coming up with a fireplace that will accommodate the use of a camp oven more easily as well as the traditional BBQ). We've always used the BBQ fire place as the fire to sit around at night.

Kind regards.

I too am very impressed by the fact the question is even being asked. Thanks Jeff.

Haven't been to Finchley so cannot offer direct feedback.

We have a flip over type camper which would be at least 6m-7m long when open. About 2.5m wide without extra canvas and 5m wide with all canvas on. But we usually only setup the full canvas if we are staying more than 3 nights.

Our flip over job doesn't require a super flat surface but of course the soft floor campers and tents are obviously better on a flat spot. A gentle slope to the back of the camping spot is good in wet conditions.

We always have our own water, toilet, and cooking facilities. But a campfire is always a great addition. The communal one sounds OK but we find often the first group can kinda commandere the fire place. So smaller fire places I think are better.

Thanks again for asking for feed back. Hopefully we will get up there some day.

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for asking for our feedback. We loved Yengo when we were there, but you are right Finchley doesn't reflect how nice a park it really is. We have a campertrailer which would fit the space that has already been mentioned here, BUT, I'm not all that fond of being right on top of other campers so I would appreciate a bit more space. We have a soft floored campertrailer, but can cope without an absolutely flat site. The showering is no problem (we carry our own), but a composting loo is a great idea. (The best of those we have come across was in the Aroona Valley in Flinders Ranges NP) I think that a communal fireplace is probably unnecessary, but the gas BBQ idea is a good one. Water would be good too. The dust issue needs to be fixed, it was the first thing that struck me at Finchley - I'm not sure how you do that, but possibly grassed sites. I would suggest using screening plants to prevent people encroaching into the bush, and might also be an attractive way to divide sites.

Hope all this is of help to you. Keep up the good work
Anni

Hi Jeff

I echo the thanks of everyone else for asking the question. good to see.

We are new to "bush" camping but have already picked up some tips form recent trips. We are tenters so cannot comment on the camper side. Following our 2 cents worth based on camping in SA Nat parks....

a couple of sites we saw near Robe had designated sites off a central common. each site designated by bollards (in ground posts) and each site had large tan bark or wood chips on the ground - I guess this helps drainage.

In Katarapko NP (near Berri) some sites were also designated same as above whilst others were open. Some had individual fireplaces - steel circle with post and swing grill and hot plate - very nice. here saw the best toilet design ever. was a long drop but with a large roof, concrete floor and extra large cubicle - to suit wheelchair access. each toilet also had a water tank (fed from roof) and a external hand basin. Looks pretty expensive but I was impressed. I am going to recommend this design to our Vic parks service.

On stopping entry to places we should not be going. saw many types but best seemed to be large rocks placed in the way in ranks, ie mulitiple one behind the other. Also saw piles of dirt in same manner with short space between.

Good Luck

I havn't personally visited this site but may main complaint is tent sites where it's almost impossible to drive in a tent peg.I know it's hard to bring in dirt but a campsite needs some dirt, some sites are mainly crushed rock and they might be flat but thats all.
Regards Charlie

Would sugest a minimum area of 40ft x 40ft per campertrailer space, when set up fully ours is 18ft x16ft under canvas alone ,drawbar,guyropes,window awnings ect take up more room still .