Free Camp, Well nearly
Submitted: Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 00:08
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Member - Dunworkin (WA)
Hi, don't know if anyone else has come across this one, last Tuesday afternoon about 3.30pm we pulled into a Shire run caravan park, the caretaker does not live on site but there is a
sign for you to contact them which I duly did leaving my name and contact number clearly on the message bank as there was no answer. We waited a while and then decided to find our own powered site and parked up. Night came and went, Wednesday came and went still no reply, thinking the caretaker maybe on holidays we spoke to some locals who said they were still in town. Thursday came and by night time we were starting to wonder where we were going to pay our CP fees, decided to go to the Shire Friday morning as we were leaving on Sunday.
We spoke to another couple that appeared to be tourists and they stated that they had been there since the Saturday and had not seen hide nor hair of the Caretaker or the cleaner (One and the same) I had been doing a quick clean as needed in the ladies ablutions. The other couple also stated that while they had been there some others had come and gone without paying any fees. We did go into the Shire and pay our dues but I don't know about any of the others that had stayed during that week. How good would it be if one could travel around and get free powered sites everywhere we went.
Cheers
D
Reply By: daedster - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 00:18
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 00:18
Yea good on yer, huh, it's people like you that keep these
places open, it's cheap convenient and
well deserved of paying for, how often have we pulled up late at a site, to find firewood, loo paper AND cleaning stuff, that's
heaven sent thanks to honest people funding this, and more often than not the caretakers own free time is in there too.
Ed, 4X4 tourer
AnswerID:
444732
Follow Up By: Member - John L (WA) - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 09:01
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 09:01
Wouldn't be the little northen wheatbelt town we stayed at on a weekend - same story but gave the money to a semi-permanent and 3 months later got a thank you receipt from the shire! They seem to be better staffed in wildflower season. Cheers Heather
FollowupID:
716878
Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 17:29
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 17:29
Hi Heather, no wasn't the little wheatbelt town, I understand that Shire run CPs may only have volunteer caretakers (which is a different story, don't mind chasing them up) but this one is actually paid to do the job, daily clean as
well. From what I gather things were changing fast
Cheers
Deanna
FollowupID:
716918
Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 17:45
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 17:45
Hi daedster, yes it is fantastic to go to some of these out of the way
places, it's amazing the effort that is put into some of them. These smaller
places need our support to keep them going, much better than being cramped in with people breathing down your neck. LOL Gota love the bush.
FollowupID:
716923
Reply By: Rainman WA - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 10:05
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 10:05
We had three prebooked sites at a caravan park in Nerang Qld and rung ahead on the day of our arrival to advise that we were on our way only to find the "management" had gone to
Brisbane for the weekend when we got there.
We set up
camp as we intended to stay a week and thought we'd pay on their return. Meanwhile, the kids went for a swim in
the pool only to find there was a blind mullet adding to the atmosphere. My wife removed the offending item so it was off to the showers to clean up. They were filthy and looked like they had been that way for some time and of course there was no
toilet paper, so we supplied our own.
The next day our kids watched a woman being beaten up by her partner in the
camp kitchen, so needless to say we packed up and left and I'm afraid to say never paid for our two nights. We found a much nicer park down the road on the
Gold Coast.
AnswerID:
444747
Follow Up By: Harry and Ann (WA) - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 11:45
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 11:45
well seems how you had to supply your own
toilet paper , fish the fish out of
the pool, counsel the kids for violence trauma. I think they should pay you. cheers.
FollowupID:
716891
Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 17:32
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 17:32
Hi Rainman, Harry and Ann hit the nail on the head, circumstances like that I don't know that I would be breaking my neck to pay either. Although we did run out of
toilet paper as
well but I just took tissues in there.
Cheers
D
FollowupID:
716919
Reply By: Motherhen - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 16:00
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 16:00
Hi D and good on you for being honest (of course you are, but some may not go out of their way to pay). Did you ask the Shire what the process was? Perhaps off season it doesn't pay them to employ a caretaker.
We have been to community run caravan parks, and they have been: Call the volunteer caretaker on specified mobile number on arrival and they will come, someone does a round late afternoon, or other campers tell you you'll find the caretaker round the corner and two houses up the street (key needed for amenities) unless he is out for the day in which case he will come around in the evening (to bad about needing the key but there was a
toilet in the day area and you can always ask a neighbour to let you into the showers).
Motherhen
AnswerID:
444776
Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 17:40
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011 at 17:40
Hi Motherhen, great to hear from you. We already knew that there was a paid off site caretaker/ cleaner at this particular park so wasn't surprised to have to ring, they never did call us back, hence finding our own spot. There is a lot more to this story that I don't feel comfortable putting on a public
forum as it is none of our business, suffice to say the proverbial hit the fan after the complaint went in, (Not us, we didn't complain) we just wanted to pay our fees before the Shire closed on Friday night. The park is actually fairly popular (and why wouldn't it be if you don't have to pay) as there is quite a few touristy
places around there.
Cheers
Deanna
FollowupID:
716922