herded into caravan parks...moo

Joe,
Must be nice to have plenty of money so that expensive caravan parks do not worry you!
Never ceases to amaze me that when someone asks for a little advice there is always a response which borders on a lecture and has no relevance except to further the cause of caravan parks in their aim to close all free camping areas and then they can charge what they like as there will be no other option.
Colin

I don't know about the original poster, but most of us who plan on free camping budget extra in the purchase of the set-up so that we can be self-sufficient. I find that a lot of caravan parks are not particularly family friendly.

I don't think that the costs can be compared that simply when it is long term travel. With four kids, it is usually about $60 - $70 a night for a caravan park. Why on earth would someone pay that when they can stay in a provided free camp? No one has ever beena ble to explain to me satisfactorily that four kids use an additional $35 - $40 worth of resources EVERY NIGHT. They use more water, but that much?!? We did at one place because they had so many kids facilities it was our entertainment money. If we were just charged a base rate, then it would be different, but at double or triple the base rate because of kids it is not an option.

Spot on Farouk,

Seems to be a lot of this "lecturing" going on on this site of late, all we need is constructive advice, or don't bother responding!

By the way, I agree that often the charge for kids is to steep, we only have one 9yo, so it's not to bad, speaking to other travellers some with 3 or 4 kids, ads an extra $30 or $40 a night, if there anything like my young bloke, the only water he uses in 2 or 3 days is when he brushes his teeth !

Cheers....Browny

Get one of the Motoring Books which show the quality and price of places to stay. We never pay more than $30 for an overnight stay, sometimes only $10.

Ok at the dearer ones we sometimes forget to mention the kids are staying, my way of protest.

The other option is to have a shorter holiday, I know we should all have 365 days a year on holiday but then reality sets in.

yes i guess you are right, i have plenty of money so expensive caravan parks dont worry me at all, i look at the year and plan my holidays, try as best as i can to fit it in with the kids holidays but that mostly does not work, i get dates and then know the climate of that time of the year, i then plan a trip to fit in best as practical as possible for the climate, i then work out the costs at the MOST expensive i will come across, i check me bank, yep i can afford it and off we go, if and when i cant afford it i stay at home, that way the kids are not taken on a trip where dad and mum are constantly complaining about "how expensive it is" or "what a rip off" ..... they alway see us happy, we enjoy the trip, we RESPECT the park owners and the job that they are trying to do as we did OUR JOB and that paid for the trip we are on, if we think it is to expensive we simply dont go there, if we did the kids would call us stupid for doing so and rightly so ... you know some people complain about fuel prices, dirty fuel, poor service and a few post later complain about the "monopoly" of big operaters ..... if we continue to run down the small operators we will have COLES and WOOLIES own every fuel station in aussie and fuel will cost us a heap more than it does now and see who complains that "service" is gone, prices are "fixed" ..... and the same for parks, we NEED competition and we vote with our FEET and POCKETS not by posting shallow complaints, if they were really bad and expensive they simply would not be here now, business is REALLY HARD at the moment in the tourisim market so we need to support then as best as we can, trust me, we really need them, yes a minority do want to camp free and good on them but they are also the vocal minority, a tad like Bob Brown ....... and maybe Julia but i wont go there eh
Ok thats my "lecture" .....
Cheers guys and dont forget, we are "Doomadgee Roadhouse", we will soom be investing in accomodation, caravan park and major up-grade to our storage/power supply/freezers/chillers so we can survive the wet season, probally around a million bucks, sorry but we will be to expensive for those that cant afford it, we will have a really nice pool, but again expensive, we probally will be VERY expensive for fuel so dont bother to fill up here and it most probally will be contaminated even though we spent $650,000 on the tanks, filters, pumps and assd gear and move about 2000L per day we will still gladly rip you off, we carry 140,000L of fuel so we dont ever run out and that means we have to fill it chocka block full at the start of the wet just in case and we have got down to 6000L so it is only just enough, that will cost us HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of DOLLARS to keep it full, just so we have fuel for when you need it .................... last bill 2 weeks ago was $96,000

OK......... point is Richard Branson once took a flight ...... he got stuffed around by the checkin, he was delayed, he was certain he was ripped off for what he thought was not an expensive flight .... so he got on to the forum of "flyoz.com" and complained about everything he could....... no hang on, he actually sat down and started his own airline, because he was positive he could do it cheaper & better and he did, if you can do it cheaper & better you are more than welcome .....
Cheers guys
J&M&KidsnDogsnCatnCow (cow is a new addition to the family)

Jeez mate, after a wrap like that for your roadhouse you better hope Mr Branson doesn't decide to call in. He might just decide to start his own just over the road from you guys..........lol.

Just kidding I suspect he is probably busy figuring out if he has enough loose change in the ashtray to buy Qantas.........I hear it may be going cheap soon.
Oh well I guess that's market forces at work.

Cheers Pop

Understand the tome Joe and frankly I don't mind paying a higher rate in the smaller areas if for nothing else then to help keep them afloat. But............I do not like some of the over the top pricing that we are starting to see on the eastern seaboard.......$48 pn for me and the missus to put the 9x9 tent up on a piece of grass and park 50 metres away and a 300 metre wander to the crappers and showers is IMHO a bit tooooooooooo much. If it hadn't been nearly dark o'clock when we arrived I wouldn't of put the tent up. In fact if I'd know the area a bit more I would've gone to one of the motels...for just $20 more.

Oh and this particular park didn't have all the facilities that are normally provided in the top shelf parks ie kids playground, pool, TV room, camp kitchen etc. I won't bag them out here but I have bagged them out personally and in writing. What irks me even more is that this particular park is council owned and operated. Off the soapbox now!

Wow, well after reading the long winded, self promoting rant/lecture above by Joe & Mel, which provided absolutely no help whatsoever to the OP, and some of their other "you are a freeloader if you free camp" posts, I have made the decision to NEVER stay at the Doomadgee Roadhouse in any of my travels up that way.
I'll still be nice and wave as I drive past on my way to the next free camp though :-)

Cheers
Pezza

Pezza,
Well said mate, I have come across quite a lot of people who think they are the greatest but to post a reply like Joe did certainly was the best..

Even tho he has supporters who will/may patronise his Roadhouse there will be a lot who will give it a miss unless they have no option and to warn people to stay away because he will be too expensive sort of beggars belief!!

Regards
Colin

Pezza, I'm sure Joe will miss your $1.50 you would have spent.
He'll probably be having a better chuckle at you as you wave on your way past.

now, now children ...........
You know i dont want everyone to drive past ..... i would far rather they called in and said "hi", you can have a coffee on us, rest and relax, dont buy anything at all, we have had some already this year that have broken down, i dont think they spent a thing with us, but stayed with us the night, and enjoyed a beer (or few) with us .... that is my point guys, you have the feet and the money and they vote .............
Try as hard as you can to plan ahead and check prices BEFORE you stay, if to expensive DONT stay but please dont bag them .... when they do close and you are in desperate need of accomodation, van broken down and it is pouring rain ............. you will be ever so glad you did bite your lip and stayed there in the past .........
Oh and it is "self promoting"as we are paid up business members, oh and also private members, supporting another small business ...... what comes around goes around i guess so, hope i see you pop in one day for a cuppa on us .....
Cheers all

And more places get closed and it just makes it harder for others.

Josh

Agree with Fisho.... be discreet. Don't leave a mess and work the odds. Lots of places in Tassie welcome overnight stops.... hopefully more little towns across OZ will follow suit.

Skull, been in the position of pulling over for a rest because I was too tired to go any further. Now this spot was about 70kls from a town so I am not sure what the local shire ranger was doing that far out but he told me in no uncertain terms to move on or get booked. I said ok give me a look at your ID so I can get your name so that if we are in an accident and survive I can tell the attending police about being ordered to move on. The response..... well ok but make sure you are not here when I come back tomorrow...

Cheers Pop

Coral Bay is worth paying for!!! Probably our favorite place in Aus!!

Absolutely coral bay is worth every cent. I caught a 50kg black marlin off coral bay so it is high on my list of favourites. Amazing place to visit.

Josh

Now isn't that interesting. I thought Coral Bay was terrible 'value' for money at the caravan park. We were located on a small sandy square out in the full sun. At the time the caravan park was chokkas and the facilities all stretched to their limits.Not to be confused with Coral Bay the place- fantastic I agree. However to put it all in perspective- Coral Bay is a reasonably remote area so I wasn't expecting the same facilities as say 'Mandalay' down in Busselton.Plus- going camping at peak seaon to a place like Coral Bay- you have to expect it to be busy. Its all part of the 'experience' of camping. Some things you just can't compare on a dollar value.doc.

Coral bay caravan park=$33 a night
Catching a 50 kilo Marlin=Priceless.
Your right OZ Doc, somethings ya just can't put a price on

Josh

I agree!!! Big 4 are great and generally have great amenities.. The daily cost of staying in good Caravan Parks is sometimes easily forgotten when you see your kids having a ball in the pool.. I know that is the case with us,,, regards Michael

good post and well done......you dont happen to work for "camps six" hahaha just kidding ..... you have put that very well

Jomahk
You are right in one aspect of your reply and that is that we accept the price of fuel but only because there are no other options so we have to pay, but your advice to caravan park operators does tend to place you in the category of somebody who has plenty of money and has no consideration to the many pensioners out there who need to free camp and reasonably priced caravan parks who charge a reasonable fee so that they can enjoy caravanning in there retirement
There are plenty out there who have fees of around $22 a day and not this $30-$40 range and could easily charge more, Buronga NSW and Gracemere Qld to name a couple and for you to advise the caravan parks to keep on with their exorbinant charging does tend to place you in the elitist bracket. Perhaps you have a vested interest!
Colin

So many of the parks are now owned by investment companies such as Discovery and Aspen there is an opportunity for other operators to cash in and attract the famil market.

And Jomahk why bother entering a conversation when you interrupt with posts like this. How about finding something better to do with your time....

Hi Mark

While Tasmania has been a shining light of town businesses gaining from the free campers in the lovely spots provided, that too is changing, with a number of freebies recently closed (mostly in the name of "competitive neutrality").

However the mainland is huge, and most of the population is on the eastern seaboard. Over much of the rest of Australia are large amounts of open space and camping options are usually easy to find.

As i said before, there are just a few coastal Shires who say 'caravan parks or nothing' - so we go inland and have a much nicer time touring and meeting wonderful people in towns who want us to stay and are willing to provide services free or low cost so we can. If i am told we have to go into a caravan park, i hear "go to the leper colony with others of your ilk" and that is not what we purchased a caravan for so we will move on.

Day only means day not night, and although a few places say something like 'no camping but caravans or self contained can stay overnight', mostly camping means sleeping be it in your caravan, car or a swag.

If you respect the signage, and don't stop on private property without permission (with permission opens up another option), leave no evidence of your stay, you won't fall foul of the law.

Mh

Well Said Landy, you are spot on the money !!!

Cheers Steve.

Hi Geoff,

I think you missed the point all together...but I hope you feel better after your liittle vent.

First of all, I am not whinging but looking for solutions. I just dont want to spend my money on caravan parks that charge too much and dont want to feel like they are my only choice.

I really dont need to use water, power, and facilities much as we are self contained. So just need the low cost option of pulling over somewhere from time to time.

If you think you have the cheapest and best holidays around...you might want to broaden your horizons and get out of your backyard.

Last of all, I am home mate! Maybe I will be your neighbor! You sound like a swelll guy.

Mark