End of the "free" camp

I have been searching for the past 70 odd years for a way to get something for free. The only thing I have found is Fresh Air But then I still have to pay to drive out of the city to find it. Is there anything that is FREE?

The Fresh air maybe free but watch that carbon you breathe out .. some woman is taxing carbon and she might just do it to exhausted breath one day!!!!!

Gone Bush. You are 100% correct, "free" council camp sites impact on the local ratepayers, businesses might get some benefits but the local residents pay to maintain the site through their rates, no such thing as a free lunch !
We often stay at the Thora free camp site (NSW) where local volunteers clean the toilets and provide toilet rolls and soap and ask for a small donation, doubt they cover their costs.

rr

There is merit in the "user pays" ethos but it hasn't suddenly become "user pays" out of fairness to the locals. It's because the freeloading dopes in council have spent all the ratepayers' money on perks or other stupid and unnecessary projects and there's nothing left in the trough - so like the fresh air tax we are now paying, we have to pay to set up camp and even set foot anywhere where we might be enjoying ourselves that used to be free. I haven't noticed anybody near where I live complaining about any "free" tourist facilities.

Hmmm yeh well I stayed a week at the free camp at Longreach on the way down here to freeze your ass off country, it's situated near the old hwy bridge and is very popular , I did hear a story about it where the council was going close it but the whole town rose up in favor of the tourists and it's still open, why.... because it brings trade to the town, while I was there I spent money in the town , I bought fuel, groceries, and visited the museums that also gave money to the town. Every night the camp is packed out and generators going , no one complains, by 9pm it's all quiet.

.

We have now modified the title of this post as it must have been submitted as a page comment on the Lifetime Membership, which was confusing.

I am a tight A....., but having made 30+ trips to this area over the years, I agree with you. Have a smaller fire set up, (can be done in a 9kg gas bottle - old and cut down of course :) ) and spend the money on the camp site. If not happy stay in a caravan site and see how much you will pay.

And I though all great and good campers cleaned up after themselves and removed all rubbish ...... don't tell me you don't do this??

Here is someones idea of having a great time away.Its a sure bet it will be cleaned up before there next trip back there (look it just disappeared ,sarcastic)..Lets get another one going.There grubs and it of course affects us all..



This is N.E of Lcola in the Barkly River area on the way into Butcher Country,which can be accessed by 2wd vehicles not just 4wdrives.

Looks like a UHF arial in there right at the start of the clip ?? 4wd maybe ?? Either way as you said, bloody disgraceful..................No wonder as well as charging (which I dont have an issue with) there shutting places down due to morons like this who leave their bleep everywhere......

No I don't RC524uhf.

Kimba10,
If you have a good look at it I think you will find it's a fishing rod.
Cheers Dave.

Hi Dave yeah I reckon your right. Can see the pattern on it where the rings are..............

Your spot on guys it was a fishing rod...from memory they abused it and it failed where the reel screws onto the rod...So rather than take it home and dispose off it properly they just made another trash heap for someone else to dispose of...

Fred,
He is burning Qld red cedar. At $170 that fire should last about 15 mins.

RA.

Fred,
Nothing is half as entertaining as the wood powered bush TV mate. LOL

Hello.
Americans call it Survivor Australians call it camping.

hi
read your thread with interest and have come to conclusion that what your not excepting is that things just arent what they used to be and you need to adapt to the changes regarding fees this is 2012 not 1960 its a fact of our current lives i grew up in the 1960's as well and have moved forward with the timesand other changes too numerous to mention
i personelly dont mind the small and moderate fees attached to camping areas and the rangers who keep a check on a daily basis and tidy up the sights and put in improvement where needed
i too am some what taken back by your wood supply cost and how you state you had to buy fuel etc
well hello i and everyone else also have to shell out for these items plus food at home and/or when we go camping or travelling
theres also a fee attached to dying in case you werent aware of it!!!!
in reality isnt that what living costs are generally about ???????
like they say you can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time
enjoy the good times while they last as they are fast disappearing when it comes to the old world standards cheers

Even the humble explorer went further afield to find what he wanted ... I, and my family, will do the same. I would rather stay at home and play on line "World of Tanks" that become a cotton wool camper - one might as well weld a draw bar to their home and tow that with the amount of 'junk' some take camping. Got my mind on a nice tree north of Oodnadatta.

I have tons of firewood available I can sell you for that trip :-))

G'day RC524UHF,

I hear you.

It's a pity so many people feel the need to bag you out instead of listening. They could have ignored your post but feel the need to have a go at you.

There's plenty of places out there. When you find another good place keep it to yourself. Don't let the whingers know about it or they'll be ringing up the Council to get the garbage truck up there.

Have fun,
Steve

RC524UHF
Just to quote you "Judge me as you will .. BUT its our camping style in the true sense of the word "Camping out" as we see it."

How dare you call people on this site that don't feel that the world owes them a living " a cotton wool camper " just because we choose to camp in a paid camp ground when we feel like it.

I have spent many years camping in a swag by the camp fire, I have also stayed in caravan parks and even after a long day grabbed a motel room.

Judge me as you will, but just because I can afford and choose to travell this country any way I like does not make me a cotton wool camper, I can walk out my front door tomorrow with nothing more than the clothes on my back and survive for months.

Any way I feel better in the knowledge that if I camp in a paid camp ground I wont have to listen to you in the next site whining about it.

Plastic Camping aka Cotton Wool Camping (and too many mods and cons) to me is Camping back as I enjoyed it not today's nanny ways of doing and dragging extra weight along. However I will leave your answer you are seeking to you own imagination as we all have our preferred methods and ways of camping that may or may not suit others and I am only expressing MY views how I camp; along with my disappointments of yesterday that has put a change as to where I seek my camping places. There is, I am sure, another town/community that has free camping near by and they will, when we find them, get our support and business ... until change catches up there.

RC524UHF, does that mean you have one of those mod con radios and not an old 27meg CB?

My niece, around 30 yr old, told me I was "Glam-ping" recently. lol. Bob

Love it. We Glam-ping every school holidays due to work com so thats an average 4 months out of the year, couldnt rough it that often. Bugger if id pay that much for fire wood but.Our neighbours are burning off, im over smell of fires, we have to stand in the bathroom for internet atm, now thats roughing it lol. The other day i had to sit in the car over the hill to send an assignment, thats roughing it. Ah dear talk about rave on.

I reckon she's right Toyo, you ARE Glam-ping mate!!

Ha Ha. Good on ya Bonz.
(replied on the iphone the other day but it didn't go through)

Rc,
for goodness sake mate lighten up.
Your happy to spend hundreds of $$$ on fuel to travel up there and then hundreds of $$$ on wood to burn but you wont spend $28.00 to camp in a clean and tidied up campsite.
If people want to take all their plastic stuff with them how is that hurting you ?
All I can say is I hope I never have to share a campsite with your attitude.
cheers
Patrolman

true Phil, try $5.00 a night (unpowered) at Windorah c/p on the way to Birdsville this year

Was there room Rob, thought it would have been packed. $5 is great, clean hot showers and the rest.

"Drive further RC....." My thoughts too!

I know everyone sees things differently, but Quorn is a tad on the tame side through my eyes. A very nice place to stop, but not a destination I'd choose.

There again, we're all different & that's what makes life interesting! ;)

By the way, as an ex infantry soldier who has dug many a hole in the bush to sleep in & had to take down my hootchie & sleep in the rain because hootchies shine when wet, I find the references to "cotton wool camping" & "plastic camping" amusing! ;)

Ex-RAAF ADG here .... so "we" are on the same wave length as to hootchie camping .. THIS is the camping I still enjoying now at 60 years of age.

Quite simply, a fool and their money are easily parted. There's nothing anything anybody could say to this person to make him change his mind.

I dont think he was expressing a need to change his mind just to share his thoughts, and I doubt he's a fool

Hi RA,
I am not sure that there is much at Warren Gorge in the way of facilities.

As far as I know there may not even be a pit toilet, although if there is, it and rubbish bins may be the only facilities.

Cheers, Bruce.

Bruce,
I have never been there and I am sure you are right.

What I was trying to say is nothings free. Many are travelling now and I have watched first hand what is happening and the stress it is putting on local councils. I am sure we will see more of the charges being applied due to the numbers and the amount of up keep it takes to keep these areas serviced. An instance of this is a road or track that has no reason for being there except for the fact it goes to a pretty place.

The larger towns get the economic benefit. But the small towns in the area are where people avoid buying things because of the extra cost. So the shire gets screwed.

RA.

I was not dissagreeing with you RA infact I was merely saying that there was not much there in the way of facilities.

I was planning to go there in Oct but an injury has put paid to that plan for this year.

SA has a lack of facilities for the touring public from what I have seen in the short while I was in that state in both 07 and 08.
That is not to say there is not plenty to see and do, I really like SA.

I have also witnessed first hand the sorts of problems outline by yourself and other responders with rubbish left piled high in camp sites and bottles left on a fire to burn away, all this when 200 litre rubbish bins were provided. It turns out they were locals from the next town. Not travelling public as such. And that was a beautiful FREE camp and I would gladly have paid $10 per night for that as it was on the waters edge where you could put your tinny in and go fishing.

Frankly, from what I have seen SA needs to lift its game a bit.

For $7 per night I can get a much better camp than that which Warren Gorge provides. In fact I can get a waters edge site near Tamworth for $5 per night. For $10 per night I can get flushing loos and firewood provided in a National Park here in NSW at Apsley Falls near Walcha.

The real problem is I think that Warren Gorge has received Australia wide publicity in Caravan and Motorhome 2 issues back but then so did Quorn.
Are they about to cash in on that or are they getting prepared for the onslaught. As you suggest, maybe the latter.

Cheers, Bruce.

Bruce,
don't get me wrong the more discussion on these things is more than healthy.

I never took it that way at all and I do respect and listen as others.

One of the big problems for states is infrastructure. When all the people arrive they have nothing in place to cater for them so the local taxpayer, whether it be state or local council foots the bill to upgrade or cater for the increased use of the area.

Right or wrong Australia is shrinking under the increase of population and disposable income.

Times they are a changing.

Bruce all is good and happy travels

RA,

Only a matter of time Peter, but I doubt in our time. Like they say, the only 2 certainties in life are death and taxes :-(

'i paid taxes'...
I've never understood that statement. Everyone pays taxes. When I hear that I think the person that says it means they think they are special because they paid taxes and deserve special recognition.

Of course everybody pays taxes, but what are they for?
They are (in part) to pay for publically available services and facilities that we all need and use.
I help pay for the road past my house but everyone can use it. I get the same consideration when I visit another town.
That is the way it should be.

Local ratepayers don't pay any more or less for the National Parks in the Flinders than I do. Nor should they. They are public facilities.

Our "local" National Park is at Belair in the Adelaide hills. It is just a couple of km from home. We used to visit with our kids on a regular basis, but we can't afford to take our grandchildren.

Cheers,
Peter

If you drive through Europe you have to pay to use public toilets just about everywhere, even at the garages.

Hi Peter,

I think there is a misunderstanding by the general public on what public facilities are. There are plenty of public facilities in metropolitan areas, but the cost for these in country towns are significantly more. It generally is the local councils that are burdened with these costs.

I'm not saying you've got no right to complain, I just like to present other views to help everyone get a better understanding.

Belair is a beautiful park. There are some cute geocaches within the park too.

I struggle to understand though how a person can afford the petrol to go from belair to the flinders but yet cannot afford to take their grand kids out.

To me, anything under $10 for an overnight stay is a steal. I could understand if they were asking $50 for basic services, but this is only a modest amount.

Peter_n_Margaret

We all pay taxes, I talk to the Director of National Parks ( Parks Australia) from time to time, in a recent discusion he mentioned that it was easy to get capital funds for infrastructure, but it wasn't that easy for operational funds, therefore a user pays system comes into effect, I find this a reasonable request.

Lyn, that is the best reply by a country mile that I have ever heard on here. Good onya luv.

Fred

Fair statement Lyn.

fluridated water is a hell of alot nicer tasting than the fluride treatments we would get from the travelling dentists van at schoolbecause we only had rain water

as for looovly tasting rain water

i remember looking into various tanks we drank out of at school/home and other places and there was a mat of at least 1/2 a metre of mice floating in all the tanks in varying stages of decay

it was the early 80s eaverything was full of mice


rose coloured glasses any one?

Lyn,
I have drunk water from a bore that was about 50 times the max world standard for fluoride.

i have also been subjected to radiation from bores for 12 months.

I want to know where you get this rain water from LOL.

I glow in the dark and have good teeth,
RA.

The other thing for us country folk to deal with are those damn TOLL ROADS, you just can't avoid them. Everyone of the city folks have one of little beepers somewhere which evidently every time they beep you just spent another $5. If you don't have one of the beepers someone must be sitting somewhere cause you get a bill and a pretty photo of your car. There is even one in Sydney that goes under the the water ..............but they didn't put any windows in it so you can see the fishes.

I've also wondered why ............in the city if you do a wheelie it's call hooning and the cops come and take your car for a month. Wish we had the same laws in the country for when the city folks insist on driving on our roads in the wet in their 4WD's leaving us wheel ruts to contend with for the next few months until the grader comes around again.

In Adelaide the Free camping area is in the South Parklands, you will have to be prepared to share with the homeles.

""Could some of you city folks please give us country folks a heads up as to where all the free accommodation is in the big smoke ""

Anytime your passing through my suburb your welcome to park your camper in my back yard and Ill even hook up the town water for you and you can have access to any of my 3 fully flushing toilets and Ill even let you use the shower with hot running water for free, I do ask you get your husband to put the seat back down when he's finished.

I would let you park on the front lawn but its a bit steep so you will be rolling out of bed. Actually I just thought you wont even have to disconnect the trailer or put it up. We are having an extension built in the next 2 months so you will be able to to have a nice queen size bed with amenities right next to you as our old main bedroom will be becoming our guest room again all for free, you may need to boot the cat off your feet like I do, just wait till you hear it jump then put your foot in the air and it will divert back to ground level.

Bloody cat, useless animals.........

Lyn W3

That is GOLD

The only problem is those city folk don't understand our sence of humour.

Just thinking it doesnt sound like Lyns lived in the country long or they would know closing roads just for a bit of rain is a fairly new thing

back in the day a bit of rain was the cue for us country young fellas to take to the roads for a good old time of country mayhem

even if you wertent so young just driving the 100ks or so of slippery dirt track for a game of footy was a mission

just because there was a bit of rain you didnt go and hide inside with closed roads

get outmore,
I know what you mean, we used to drive 100k to Goondiwindi on a friday night come hell or high water.

Mate a couple of years back got bogged on the Mckinlay, Gilliat road, so he walks the excavator of the float and drags the whole rig for the next 12k. That would have left a few scars. Bloody tourist.

RA.

Lyn well said im still laughing. Im currently deciding if i should park the car at the gate knowing the rain is coming, have to go to town later and i wont get out the drive. Biggest problem is the friggin slimy bastard i just seen there. We had to go the long way to get to the house because i had mexican riding boots on, but that road is black soil. Now thats roughing it. Hehe

Theres no need for personal jibes Imperial

Apologies. I agree it was unnecessary but am becoming increasingly frustrated by the constant demand people are making for others to provide them with free facilities. No repetition. Regards, Imperial

Nothing wrong with free camping passionfruit. But to complain because a previous free site now charges a minimal fee just sounds a bit cheap and silly. Then to go and drive all the way to oodnadatta just to save $28, well that just seems stupid.

passionfruit,
But Warren Gorge is a stone's throw from Quorn and accessible in a Barina.

Good suggestion, Allan.

Funny the way the stats go. 2236 views of this thread, & heaps of replies/follow-ups, because someone didn't want to spend $28.(His choice)

A later thread, on Fatigue, and just before a holiday weekend, has struggled to get just over 500 views, and a mere 3 or 4 replies.

Human nature, i guess???

Bob.

Yep, it's all in the headline Bob. Just like newspapers.

Now if the thread had said "Death from Fatigue" then it may have generated more interest.

We humans really are a pathetic lot. Well, most of us. lol

Hullo Robin

You raise an issue that is a little more complex than you seem to imply - fuel excise, who pays and where is it spent.

Just to touch on a few points. Firstly, the excise raised that could be attributed to travel on rural roads, including highly trafficked rural freeways such as the Hume, Pacific and Bruce Hwys, barely starts to cover their cost, both contruction and maintenance. The fact is that rural roads are heavily subsidised by excise on the fuel used in urban travel. This fuel excise is collected at the Federal level.

Secondly, there are three tiers of govt in Australia responsible for road construction and maintenance, namely, the Commonwealth for the national hwy system, state govt the main road system and local govt the local road system. Whilst local govt is responsible for a significant percentage of the total length, they are generally lower cost roads. However, local govt in rural areas generally have a lower tax base.

To the case in point. Warren Gorge is not a Commonwealth or state responsibility; it is maintained by the local council. They have installed a (relatively) new abultions building on the right as you enter the camping area and regularly keep it clean, empty the bins, grade the roads and keep the place tidy. For my part, I have no problem what so ever in paying the minimal fee of $7 / night to camp there.

If you do want to get excited, note that as well as the excise on diesel, there is a 18c/l levy to pay for the damage to roads attributed to heavy vehicles. This was introduced instead of the old log book based method and is a more efficient way of collection as well as reducing the avoidance endemic in the old system. The issue here is that all diesel sold through the public service station network is levied, including that sold to light vehicles, even though light vehicles including 4WDs contribute very little to pavement damage due to their axle weight (damage increases as to the 4th power of weight and so really only starts to become an issue after about 3 or more tonnes per axle. Given the increased percentage of light vehicles now powered by diesel engines, there is real case for devising a practical way of making sure only heavy vehicles pay this levy. This would restore the cost difference previously enjoyed by diesel.

Maybe start talking to your local federal member! :-)

Cheers
Andrew

Good post Andrew.

Re: "....there is real case for devising a practical way of making sure only heavy vehicles pay this levy."

Maybe put the levy on large truck tyres instead of on diesel?
Tyre life is proportional to load and mileage.

That might be a fairer levy, from a truckie's view too, Allan.

With a triple road train struggling to do much better than 100L/100km(1km/L), when loaded, the tyre idea might suit them.

Generally, trucks get pretty good mileage from tyres(certainly better than I get off my toyota LOL) and a 11R22.5 trailer tyre would be cheaper than a Cooper or BFG in say, 285/75R16.

You thought about doing some consulting for the government, Allan? (They need all the help they can get!!!)

Bob.

Whatever way it was done Bob, the outcome, or rather income, for the government would be required to be the same as before. In fact the cynic in me says it would need to be a little better. LOL