UNsafe places to stay
Submitted: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 10:26
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Member - Alan (WA)
Hi
Reading Post ID 33390 got me thinking... I know about
Halls Creek - but I was wondering if there were many other spots like this that people would avoid staying.
Spending 6mths on road next year with my wife and 2 kids (then 10 (girl) and 8 (boy)) in CT and would like to plan around such spots. Happy to drive through......
If you could provide some
feedback that would be great.
Thanks
Alan
Reply By: maroni - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 10:34
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 10:34
alan we travelled up north 2 years ago going again this year, also when over east last year, travelling in camper van, i think just be careful and lock up things when you go away for the day, we have lockable compartments on camper so things got locked away when we went away from the camper for any length of time. i think when you travel you can get a pretty good idea of
places. don't know if you are going over east , i was told not to stay in
bourke, but to stay north of
bourke at kidman
camp caravan park, that was one of the nicesest parks i have seen and very safe.
hope this helps abit
cheers for now
AnswerID:
170193
Reply By: Footloose - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 10:42
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 10:42
Alan, stayed in
Halls Creek twice (once after the riots) and never felt unsafe...uncomfortable but not unsafe. We also had our two small children with us.
You can be unsafe anywhere if you're unlucky. Strangely enough we did feel unsafe in
Katherine, but that was the result of tensions there at the time. Today most travellers would probably think that it was a very safe place.
I honestly have to say that I've felt most unsafe in capital cities ! Seriously.
Remember that you're on someone elses turf, listen to your gut feeling and use commonsense and you'll be right.
Have a great trip.
AnswerID:
170196
Follow Up By: David from David and Justine Olsen's 4WD Tag-Along - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 12:14
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 12:14
I have to agree.
I've never felt unsafe.
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Follow Up By: Trevor R (QLD) - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 15:12
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 15:12
Yeah, agree with footloose. One of the worst nights (where I actually packed up and left at midnight) was in a caravan park in
Airlie Beach but you couldn't say this place is one to miss. I have stayed there on numerous occassions and this one time was one to forget. Narrandera is another place that can get hairy but is usually very nice.
Cheers Trevor.
FollowupID:
425586
Reply By: V8Diesel - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 11:32
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 11:32
Wiluna WA. I was there a bit in the early 90's. Might have changed since then, but I doubt it.
Been locked in the pub twice when there was trouble. Once a local copper got cut in
the neck in a dispute, second time the 'traditional land owners' were all going mad outside and one fella donged another on the noggin with a
rock and he died from what I was told. Not good in anyone's book. There is (was?) a locked compound out the side of the pub where you could park your Cruiser. The black bar was seperated from the whities and had two different grades of mesh bolted across the windows.
A deeply depressing, squalid and violent place.
In the mid to late 80's I saw two gins screaming obsenities and going each other with bottles at
Fitzroy Crossing Pub (Crosssing Inn?) before it was evetually stopped. Nice bit of 'street theatre' for the tourists.
Roeburne wasn't too flash either, but I have never had any problems there myself.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - uncle - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 12:15
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 12:15
This all starts to sound what Nowra is like!!
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Follow Up By: Footloose - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 14:34
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 14:34
My bro was on his first trip to the States and staying in Las Vagas. A guy was shot dead outside the front door of the Casino. (Bros is an ambo type and went to see if he could help).
Now going on this topic he should have left and never come back.
He's done 3 trips there since, and rekkons he never felt unsafe.
Personally I rekkon the place is far too dangerous :)))
Wiluna can be a wild place but quitened down a bit now I'm told. (mines might have something to do with it ) I didn't feel unsafe there except when I ate the local food. (but I was just passing through...as was the food! ). Someone had a sense of humour as there was a sign on the pub "Welcome to paradise !" Not exactly sure what they meant !
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Follow Up By: Member - John L G - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 15:34
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 15:34
V8
I don't think
Wiluna has changed that much and the grog is still the problem.
Last there two years ago and as we drove into the town and past the pub a lump of 4 X 2 came sailing from the crowd gathered outside onto the bonnet and into the windscreen, thankfully not breaking it. It must have been pension day.
It is true tho, the whites drink in the small bar out the back and the front bar is for the indigenous towns folk. You will have noticed that the front bar has been nuilt with very wide and high counter tops to provide security for serving staff.
Defintely a place to stop and go.
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Follow Up By: V8Diesel - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 15:45
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 15:45
Fear and Loathing in
Wiluna. Ahhh yes, the Club Hotel. Metho on tap.
Reminds me of the 'Sportsman's Bar' at the Hotel
Kununurra. Wrote a little song about it many years ago that goes to the tune of 'Hotel California' by the Eagles. Here's the chorus...
Welcome to the Hotel
Kununurra
such a lovely place
to get off your face
plenty of goon at the Hotel
Kununurra
spend ya cheque in here
buy wooblah and beer.....
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Follow Up By: Footloose - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 16:04
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 16:04
V8, you do realize that the first bit of that song will now stay with me forever LOL
I was going to call the police to one fraccus in
Kununurra until the
camp park manager explained that it was just a normal night at the Ok corral. I was sure someone was geting murdered.
I was lucky, I stayed out of pubs for the obvious. Until I got to one place where I'd developed a taste for it so I walked down to the pub. Past closing time ol son. Huh ? 7pm ? Yep, I own the pub and I close when I want. That was
Coral Bay. I'd gone 2000k without a drink and when I wanted one ....
well....
A busload of German touros were headed the same way. "Ja, ve vill deink lotz of ze booze" said one to me. Boy were they in for a shock !
Must have done lots for overseas tourism...NOT
Didnt do much for my impression of the locals either!
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Follow Up By: Gramps (NSW) - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 16:55
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 16:55
Ahah uncle, I see you've been to the Greenwell Point Pub :)))))
Regards
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Follow Up By: Member - uncle - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 17:44
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 17:44
Yeah been there ages ago,but it twas a quet night! I'm not a local pub goer these days, usually carry my own medicine and enjoy the quiet one around the fire.However,it gets nasty after the port starts and we're dancing around the
camp oven!
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Follow Up By: Footloose - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 17:52
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 17:52
Uncle, the mind boggles !! Hate to tell ya mate, but if I ever come across that sorta thing in the bush. I move on LOL
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Follow Up By: Gramps (NSW) - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 17:52
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 17:52
hahaha I can remember a group of us playing touch football on the road out front of that fine establishment with some of the locals. Needless to say touch turned to something rather more physical until the local constabulary arrived and asked us all to move on or spend the night at their '
campsite' LOL
regards
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Follow Up By: Member - bushfix - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 12:11
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 12:11
the last chance tavern in sth hedland, can get a bit tasty.
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Follow Up By: V8Diesel - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 12:15
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 12:15
Hahahaa.....didn't think of Port. Good work.
How 'bout 'Misty's Tavern' out near the airport. mmmmmmmmm nice.
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Follow Up By: Member - bushfix - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 12:26
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 12:26
don't recall a tavern near the airport. sometimes we went to the Last Chance but usually it was the beer garden at the Pier Hotel, now that was fun!
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Follow Up By: V8Diesel - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 12:59
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 12:59
Mistys is on the LHS of the road out of town when heading towards
Broome, just next to the big BP. I think it was part of the caravan park. Nightclub licence. A charming venue.
Ahh yes the Pier in Port. Spent some very humorous evenings in the 'beer concrete' there. The perfect venue for all those who rejoice in listening to Staus Quo distorted through crap speakers whilst viewing the 'pleasures of the dance' with a running commentary from a speed adled tatooed ex-con bikie / Arthur Daley wannabe.
Had a few ripper nights at the Pier Hotel in Esperence too.
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Reply By: Member - Peter R (QLD) - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 12:25
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 12:25
When on the track just ask fellow travellers at
camp sites or caravan parks.
The word soon gets out about
places not to stay , and you can plan accordingly.
The same goes for "must stay"
places .
Pedro
AnswerID:
170210
Follow Up By: Footloose - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 14:36
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 14:36
Agree totally. Found many spots I never knew existed, thanks to fellow travellers on the track. And avoided a few.
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Reply By: Bonz (Vic) - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 17:57
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 17:57
Wilcannia scare the carp outta me, I would NEVER stay there in a month of Sundays.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Andrew W (SA) - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 00:55
Friday, May 05, 2006 at 00:55
With you on that.
The rig get sized up the moment it slows to 60, and they are picking their break and enter
tools before the front tyres hit the kerb front of the
shop where you have stopped to buy a drink.
Ciao for now
Andrew who likes
Cobar better.
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Reply By: Mr Fawlty - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 18:01
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 18:01
Bourke & Willcania are two
places to not stop at overnight, Shame there is some very interesting historic Buildings I would have loved to have seen but there was a fight going on at the servo with broken plonk bottles & at
Bourke windows were smashed on the Jack & stuff stolen...
Pt
Augusta is another place that has an unsavory reputation though at both the Van Parks the 12' tall fences with razor wire on top do provide some security...
AnswerID:
170265
Follow Up By: V8Diesel - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 19:59
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 19:59
Hahaha...had a few humorous evenings in old Portagutta. One was particularly entertaining, driving around the BBQ area of the 'Standpipe Golf Hotel Motor Inn' at 2.00am in a
well known Australian actor's 110 Landie whilst listening to Johnny Cash tapes. We all got in a bit of strife over that one by the Indian bloke that owned it.
Stayed at
Wilcannia a numberof times. After dark the '
Wilcannia 500' starts and the locals have demo derbies around town. I stayed at the motel there one night and discovered whoever installed the dunny, or built the bathroom, couldn't read a plan because it was intalled 90 degrees out. I had to ride it side saddle.
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Follow Up By: geocacher (djcache) - Monday, May 29, 2006 at 00:01
Monday, May 29, 2006 at 00:01
Stayed a couple of nights at the
Port Augusta Big 4 park on the way to the salt in March.
Great spot. A bit to look at when you start to look around. Previously it had only been somewhere I drove through on the way to somewhere else.
They have really tidied up the water front near Woolies. Very impressive.
They've also built a
camp for the mob that move down to
the beach for the inland scorching summer. A few locals said it's made a big difference.
Drove into Yuendemu (spelt wrong) on the Tanami for a look after the
shop shut. Couldn't get out of town fast enough. That place is either a tip or a warzone or both.
Dave
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: geocacher (djcache) - Monday, May 29, 2006 at 00:21
Monday, May 29, 2006 at 00:21
Actually come to mention it I spent a night in
Wiluna on the night the royalty
check from the mines got handed out ($800 to everyone over 18 I was told) and the pub was doing a roaring trade. We stayed out the back and while it felt better while the gates were shut I don't think there were any real issues - apart from the fact that one of the local ladies took a shine to one of our mates and wanted to show him a good time (after which he probably would have qualified for benefits).
Same goes for
Halls Creek. Stayed at the
Kimberley Hotel there before we hit the Canning. Back bar and
pool area were lovely. We ignored the rest of the town until daylight. By then it looked fine.
Dave
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Reply By: Member - Duncs - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 12:01
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 12:01
Alan,
I've travelled a bit. Was through Wildcannia on Monday all quiet but that was mid morning and there was plenty of time for things to warm up.
I would recommend that if you are there you
check out the Highway first and if all is quiet have a drive around and see how beautiful it could be.
The only place I have felt threatened was
Coen up on
Cape York. On the way north it was pension day and the publican was doing a roaring trade. We felt quite uncomfortable, to add to the concern, just north of town as we headed out a truck load of drunks swerved towards us and through VB cans at our car.
The only place I have had gear pinched was at
Port Lincoln. Apparently you are safer if you get a site away from the edges of the park.
Like others have said, you'll get a feel for
places if it doesn't feel right move on. We have never felt unsafe
bush camping. Get out of town and off the main road bit and you should have a quiet restful night.
Duncs
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - vivien C (VIC) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:54
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:54
Going on a trip around Australia for six months with your family is a fabulous thing to do. Your kids will get so much out of this trip...
mine are grown up now but still speak of all things that we did "way back then". They remember so much and learned so much about Australia too.
There have been very few
places that we ever felt threatened. As others have said, ask other travellers and rely on your own instincts about what is safe. If you stay in caravan parks in towns where there has been trouble,
camp away from the fences.
We camped a couple of times in
Borroloola where it got pretty noisy as the hotel is not far from the
campground. Apart from the noise and a few humourous comments that we heard and still get a laugh out of...we had no trouble.
The main thing is to get out on the road and enjoy it all. There is so much to see and to see it with your kids makes it even better.
Happy travelling.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Andrew W (SA) - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 00:59
Friday, May 05, 2006 at 00:59
funny you mention it - the missus was asking about Borrolloola tonight.
I won't tell her that - she was interested in Limmen National Park - anyone been out there lately?
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Follow Up By: Member - vivien C (VIC) - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 07:31
Friday, May 05, 2006 at 07:31
We camped twice at the town caravan park in Borrolloola...second time we were there for their Show and Rodeo week end. That was just great. I ended up having to go into the arena to judge the Miss Borrolloola Rodeo Queen! A bit nerve wracking!!
I haven't been to Limmen National Park just driven past...have read about a place called
Lorella Springs which sounds as if it would be really good.. Would love to get out to
the Lost City in the NP though.
If you haven't been up into that area the helicopter tour out to
the Lost City near
Cape Crawford is
well worthwhile and the Carabirini reserve between Borrolloola and
Cape Crawford is a mini
Lost City.
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Follow Up By: Member - Andrew W (SA) - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 08:21
Friday, May 05, 2006 at 08:21
Thanks for that info Vivien.
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Follow Up By: Member - vivien C (VIC) - Sunday, May 28, 2006 at 15:26
Sunday, May 28, 2006 at 15:26
Andrew
Just read an old post on
Lorella Springs Post 14575....far from complimentary and saying not at all like depicted on their website. Just in case you were thinking of going there...
Viv
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Reply By: geocacher (djcache) - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 22:29
Friday, May 05, 2006 at 22:29
I'd be betting there've been more campers killed by gum trees in Australia in the last 10 years than any other cause mentioned above. I can recall at least 4 in our immediate area in the last few years and that's only the ones when I was on shift!
Dave
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Follow Up By: Bob - Sunday, May 28, 2006 at 17:25
Sunday, May 28, 2006 at 17:25
Where do you live?
I wanna XX it off my list
Bob
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Follow Up By: geocacher (djcache) - Monday, May 29, 2006 at 00:25
Monday, May 29, 2006 at 00:25
Ususally occurs along the Murray under Red Gums but any Eucy will do.
There are two advantages to not camping in the shade of a big gum
1/ You might wake up in the morning (no guarantees but lifes like that - just your chances are definately better...)
2/ Your solar will work better so you can turn the fridge down, use more power and drink colder beer (or bundy)
Dave
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