I enjoy freedom camping but have just spent a few days at a CP in central Vic. as I like to support them when it suits. My site was very muddy and it sloped front to rear way too much in my opinion. I needed to use my ramps on the rear wheels to lift the van enough at the rear to get the front low enough to level. Luckily I have recently removed my jockey wheel and am now using a flat plate which allowed me to lower the drawbar to the ground. The van was still a little nose high.
For me this is not the first time I have had to do a bit of engineering to allow for badly sloping sites both front to rear and side to side, I realize CP's have had a rough time lately but if they want repeat customers poor sites do not help, c'mon guys lift the standard a bit please.
Bicyclecamper said
06:13 PM Aug 9, 2021
I have found the same problem when camping by bike. Many a tent sight has either been too stony or sloped, and all that means is you slide down in the tent at night. I have been caught a couple of times, after paying, because they told me a the office that the sites were level, . I also have been denied a chance to look so then I just leave, and Stealth( usually illegally) camp, some place nearby to the town.
-- Edited by Bicyclecamper on Monday 9th of August 2021 06:17:13 PM
Radar said
07:01 PM Aug 9, 2021
I could not agree more, I am really over caravan parks and there level sites.
Concrete pads when it rains come straight for the caravan.
I can understand showgrounds being a bit how you do but caravan parks, no way.
I bet there motel cabins are nice and level, consistent power and water.
My rant for the day.
Wanda said
10:51 PM Aug 9, 2021
Yep, with you all the way.
Currantly in the Pilbara WA and am so fed up with over the top prices for a piece of dust.
$58 a night at Kymberly Land Kununnara without a concrte slab, just a dust bowl. Its been like it all the way over from the NT.
Caravan parks are all the same, dust bowls, no wonder people try and free camp so much.
I have NO issues paying when caravan parks are your only option, but really the prices they charge for what you are getting are outrageous, a total rip off, but what choice do you have when in certain areas!
WA, a bloody long way to come for most of us but can't help getting the feeling we are getting shafted
Maybe I will feel better tomorrow
Ian
oldbloke said
11:27 PM Aug 9, 2021
For me it's just value for money. Most are not. Hence we do a fair bit of free or Donation camping. Unlike many, I donate.
vince56 said
08:16 AM Aug 10, 2021
Just thought: The number one reason for a Caravan Park is somewhere to park a caravan, strangely enough.
Unfortunately there is far more attention paid to creating playgrounds, jumping pillows, bbq's, tennis courts and mini golf than the basic need of a decent site to park on, which is 90% of the reason we are there.
Wanda said
09:55 AM Aug 10, 2021
vince56 wrote:
Just thought: The number one reason for a Caravan Park is somewhere to park a caravan, strangely enough.
Unfortunately there is far more attention paid to creating playgrounds, jumping pillows, bbq's, tennis courts and mini golf than the basic need of a decent site to park on, which is 90% of the reason we are there.
Yep exactly, its a pity caravan park owners just don' get it hey!
Expensive overnight parking!
Gundog said
11:05 AM Aug 10, 2021
We are on the reverse side of this picture we dont free camp full stop, I am not prepared to suffer self entitled fools who have a range of imaginary rules ie generators because their needs are different to mine.
For long stays we choose caravan parks, short stays showgrounds rec reserves etc, we never stay at Big 4 and the like parks which are are aimed at a different market segment than us of the full time traveller family.
Our experiance is the over priced coastal CP's are not an option, prefering staying at smaller towns or parks on the edge of bigger places, like Gracemere, Toorbul, Bakers Creek, Proserpine. I have never encountered a park with a site that is so sloping that it requires too much work to level the van, but then again I do my due dilligance when considering a park using Wikicamps to garner the information about a potential stay.
What do we love about caravan parks, the mere fact you dont need to drag 200kg plus of water, 240v power available where I can watch a movie or sport any time of the on my 42" Tv without worrying about draining the battery, good long hot showers, A good crapper where I can go to sit and think while I $hit and stink, when it gets a bit hot I can run the AC 24/7 and the portable AC in the annex, a 9kg gas bottle last over 12 months, if it gets a bit cold a $12 fan heater heats the van real quick.
Tony LEE said
01:18 PM Aug 10, 2021
Actually gundog, many of us really appreciate your sacrifice in never camping outside of caravan parks and the like, simply because it leaves the rest of the world just a little less crowded to enjoy the peace and quiet, and the view.
Thanks
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mEUu3ffDGpndrk3i2
Cupie said
04:00 PM Aug 10, 2021
Gundog wrote:
We are on the reverse side of this picture we dont free camp full stop, I am not prepared to suffer self entitled fools who have a range of imaginary rules ie generators because their needs are different to mine.
For long stays we choose caravan parks, short stays showgrounds rec reserves etc, we never stay at Big 4 and the like parks which are are aimed at a different market segment than us of the full time traveller family.
Our experiance is the over priced coastal CP's are not an option, prefering staying at smaller towns or parks on the edge of bigger places, like Gracemere, Toorbul, Bakers Creek, Proserpine. I have never encountered a park with a site that is so sloping that it requires too much work to level the van, but then again I do my due dilligance when considering a park using Wikicamps to garner the information about a potential stay.
What do we love about caravan parks, the mere fact you dont need to drag 200kg plus of water, 240v power available where I can watch a movie or sport any time of the on my 42" Tv without worrying about draining the battery, good long hot showers, A good crapper where I can go to sit and think while I $hit and stink, when it gets a bit hot I can run the AC 24/7 and the portable AC in the annex, a 9kg gas bottle last over 12 months, if it gets a bit cold a $12 fan heater heats the van real quick.
Yep, we're much the same & rarely Free Camp, but we do use BIG4 et al from time to time ... whichever has the best location. In recent years we have started to use Showgrounds on occasion.
vince56 said
04:34 PM Aug 10, 2021
Hi Gundog,
I haven't seen info in Wikicamps re sloping sites, maybe I look in the wrong place?....
If you haven't had badly sloping sites then you are lucky, it has happened to me on many occasions.
I remember at Waratah Bay I used a large piece of firewood on one side as well as a ramp, that was the worst I have had, probably 300mm one side to the other.
Bobdown said
04:55 PM Aug 10, 2021
Yes Vince, I too have had the drawbar practically on the ground at a rear sloping site at a CP.
But I've also had the jockey wheel on about 6 blocks of wood and the drawbar 6 foot off the ground it looks like the leaning Tower of Pisa, on a forward sloping site.......Blackheath I think.
It takes 3 goes to lower, bit by bit onto the tow hitch and then try to pull out of the holes you dug for the back wheels to go in, at least the back step was low..............ha ha
Give me a free camp any day over a jumping pillow.
Cheers Bob
tea spoon said
04:01 PM Aug 11, 2021
gundog .......i like your thinking ......we also dont freecamp .......i like the convienence of all the van park has to offer ......free camping costs a bit to set your van up and then you have to daily monitor whatever you have .......in a van park its no worry to use up your water or anything .......
Brodie Allen said
04:36 PM Aug 11, 2021
I wouldn't want to live in pigeon hole units and be damned if I'll pay $40-50 to do the same in a parking lot where I have to suffer my bathwater running out every time they pull the chain next door!!
Anyway with the china virus rampaging I aint gonna share toilets, hand basins, showers etc with anyone.
with some of the answers here on this post i wonder why people caravan at all .......in some caravan parks there are such things as ensuites that you can rent with your van site ......
Bobdown said
10:43 PM Aug 11, 2021
tea spoon wrote:
with some of the answers here on this post i wonder why people caravan at all .......in some caravan parks there are such things as ensuites that you can rent with your van site ......
Sorry tea spoon, you have got the wrong impression of the comments in this post.
We don't want to pay top dollar for a muddy, sloping and narrow site in a caravan park when there are plenty of wide open level free camping sites around.
We all use caravan parks when the time arises to power up etc, but at least give us a decent site for our money, ensuites are also not essential.
Cheers Bob
Teo said
08:34 AM Aug 12, 2021
Wow Vince you really stirred up some grumpy & selfish people with your post.
Rob Driver said
10:29 AM Aug 12, 2021
When we started vanning out we searched for and used free and low cost camp sites. We used all types from gravel pits on the sides of roads to free spots on some farms etc. you all get the picture.
We soon tired of meeting the same people with the same interests which was mainly how clever they were in saving money by free camping while at the same time all of us having to share limited overloaded facilities, dirty and poorly maintained road house and pub bathrooms and stinky long drops. Then there is the endless search to find the dump point in the next town to empty our cassette.
We slowly but surely gravitated toward using caravan parks and we are probably now in the same pattern for accomodation as *gundog*
I have had a couple of rough sites at some parks but I will go back to the office and ask for a better site if possible. It is becoming harder and harder for a park manager to move people on sites due to the increased number of travellers since Covid.
Some parks are expensive relative to others and the more expensive the park, the less time we spend there.
A pleasant park with good facilities and at a reasonable cost is now our choice. Our thoughts are that while we move everyday we are paying a fair amount in fuel and other costs and by staying put for a period we save a lot of money, we have the security of being able to unhook and explore with our car, and I am not constantly checking batteries, fridges, solar and even where the sun is in relation to our camp. The people we mix with in parks are generally quite diverse in their views and many don't have to tell us how clever they are by camping out of towns to save a few bucks. We can pick who we mix with rather than having some know it all roll in and set up camp on top of us when there is acres of land at a free camp.
Having said that people are people, compatibility between individuals is very personal.
Free camping is not for us when there are many hundreds of low cost quality caravan parks available throughout Australia
PS: both Angie and I have given up Jumping Castles Mini Golf and Water Slides.
Bobdown said
10:53 AM Aug 12, 2021
Teo wrote:
Wow Vince you really stirred up some grumpy & selfish people with your post.
Troll.............
TheHeaths said
11:54 AM Aug 12, 2021
With our travel, we generally look at about 10 - 15% free, low cost or donation camps, and the rest in caravan parks.
That means over the past 13 years we have stayed in a little over 200 different caravan parks in all states with the exception of Tasmania, where we are yet to travel.
Of those 200, I can confidently say less than a handful (5), have had sites that we have had a major issue with. By that I mean impossible to level, or very difficult/impossible to get our vans onto. Incidentally, in all cases the park has been amenable to helping us get better sites when approached. Some other sites have been less than ideal but nothing that has spoiled our stay, or caused us to vow never to return.
I understand the OPs upset with this site, but I would expect it to be the exception rather than the rule of their park stays as well. Sometimes it would be good to hear the total picture, not the odd one out.
Its a bit like the plethora of washing machines in caravan parks full of dog hair, something else that has been missing from ALL of the CP laundries we have ever used. A little bit of exaggeration or omission of some of the facts helps many a yarn around the campfire!
-- Edited by TheHeaths on Thursday 12th of August 2021 11:56:33 AM
Brodie Allen said
12:12 PM Aug 12, 2021
Bobdown wrote:
Teo wrote:
Wow Vince you really stirred up some grumpy & selfish people with your post.
Troll.............
Bob and Jane - there's no need for that - I find nothing in their post that even suggests trolling.
You need to mind your manners.
Bobdown said
01:54 PM Aug 12, 2021
Brodie Allen wrote:
Bobdown wrote:
Teo wrote:
Wow Vince you really stirred up some grumpy & selfish people with your post.
Troll.............
Bob and Jane - there's no need for that - I find nothing in their post that even suggests trolling.
You need to mind your manners.
So Vince makes a post about caravan park Sites, tea spoon goes off topic and says we should all stay at home and not use our vans.
Teo chimes in and makes totally rude and unnecessary comments and I'm the one who should mind their manners.
Most of Teo's posts are to criticize others, as in all the crap jokes in the Just Joking section, that he states regularly, somebody who is a keyboard warrior like that is in my opinion a Troll.
Cheers Bob
-- Edited by Bobdown on Thursday 12th of August 2021 01:55:48 PM
Teo said
04:42 PM Aug 12, 2021
Well. My post certainly did bring out the grumpy people.
yobarr said
04:56 PM Aug 12, 2021
Teo wrote:
Well. My post certainly did bring out the grumpy people.
Hi All,
I enjoy freedom camping but have just spent a few days at a CP in central Vic. as I like to support them when it suits. My site was very muddy and it sloped front to rear way too much in my opinion. I needed to use my ramps on the rear wheels to lift the van enough at the rear to get the front low enough to level. Luckily I have recently removed my jockey wheel and am now using a flat plate which allowed me to lower the drawbar to the ground. The van was still a little nose high.
For me this is not the first time I have had to do a bit of engineering to allow for badly sloping sites both front to rear and side to side, I realize CP's have had a rough time lately but if they want repeat customers poor sites do not help, c'mon guys lift the standard a bit please.
I have found the same problem when camping by bike. Many a tent sight has either been too stony or sloped, and all that means is you slide down in the tent at night. I have been caught a couple of times, after paying, because they told me a the office that the sites were level, . I also have been denied a chance to look so then I just leave, and Stealth( usually illegally) camp, some place nearby to the town.
-- Edited by Bicyclecamper on Monday 9th of August 2021 06:17:13 PM
I could not agree more, I am really over caravan parks and there level sites.
Concrete pads when it rains come straight for the caravan.
I can understand showgrounds being a bit how you do but caravan parks, no way.
I bet there motel cabins are nice and level, consistent power and water.
My rant for the day.
Currantly in the Pilbara WA and am so fed up with over the top prices for a piece of dust.
$58 a night at Kymberly Land Kununnara without a concrte slab, just a dust bowl. Its been like it all the way over from the NT.
Caravan parks are all the same, dust bowls, no wonder people try and free camp so much.
I have NO issues paying when caravan parks are your only option, but really the prices they charge for what you are getting are outrageous, a total rip off, but what choice do you have when in certain areas!
WA, a bloody long way to come for most of us but can't help getting the feeling we are getting shafted
Maybe I will feel better tomorrow
Ian
Just thought: The number one reason for a Caravan Park is somewhere to park a caravan, strangely enough.
Unfortunately there is far more attention paid to creating playgrounds, jumping pillows, bbq's, tennis courts and mini golf than the basic need of a decent site to park on, which is 90% of the reason we are there.
Yep exactly, its a pity caravan park owners just don' get it hey!
Expensive overnight parking!
We are on the reverse side of this picture we dont free camp full stop, I am not prepared to suffer self entitled fools who have a range of imaginary rules ie generators because their needs are different to mine.
For long stays we choose caravan parks, short stays showgrounds rec reserves etc, we never stay at Big 4 and the like parks which are are aimed at a different market segment than us of the full time traveller family.
Our experiance is the over priced coastal CP's are not an option, prefering staying at smaller towns or parks on the edge of bigger places, like Gracemere, Toorbul, Bakers Creek, Proserpine. I have never encountered a park with a site that is so sloping that it requires too much work to level the van, but then again I do my due dilligance when considering a park using Wikicamps to garner the information about a potential stay.
What do we love about caravan parks, the mere fact you dont need to drag 200kg plus of water, 240v power available where I can watch a movie or sport any time of the on my 42" Tv without worrying about draining the battery, good long hot showers, A good crapper where I can go to sit and think while I $hit and stink, when it gets a bit hot I can run the AC 24/7 and the portable AC in the annex, a 9kg gas bottle last over 12 months, if it gets a bit cold a $12 fan heater heats the van real quick.
Actually gundog, many of us really appreciate your sacrifice in never camping outside of caravan parks and the like, simply because it leaves the rest of the world just a little less crowded to enjoy the peace and quiet, and the view.
Thanks
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mEUu3ffDGpndrk3i2
Yep, we're much the same & rarely Free Camp, but we do use BIG4 et al from time to time ... whichever has the best location. In recent years we have started to use Showgrounds on occasion.
I haven't seen info in Wikicamps re sloping sites, maybe I look in the wrong place?....
If you haven't had badly sloping sites then you are lucky, it has happened to me on many occasions.
I remember at Waratah Bay I used a large piece of firewood on one side as well as a ramp, that was the worst I have had, probably 300mm one side to the other.
Yes Vince, I too have had the drawbar practically on the ground at a rear sloping site at a CP.
But I've also had the jockey wheel on about 6 blocks of wood and the drawbar 6 foot off the ground it looks like the leaning Tower of Pisa, on a forward sloping site.......Blackheath I think.
It takes 3 goes to lower, bit by bit onto the tow hitch and then try to pull out of the holes you dug for the back wheels to go in, at least the back step was low..............ha ha
Give me a free camp any day over a jumping pillow.
Cheers Bob
I wouldn't want to live in pigeon hole units and be damned
if I'll pay $40-50 to do the same in a parking lot where I
have to suffer my bathwater running out every time they
pull the chain next door!!
Anyway with the china virus rampaging I aint gonna share
toilets, hand basins, showers etc with anyone.
Sorry tea spoon, you have got the wrong impression of the comments in this post.
We don't want to pay top dollar for a muddy, sloping and narrow site in a caravan park when there are plenty of wide open level free camping sites around.
We all use caravan parks when the time arises to power up etc, but at least give us a decent site for our money, ensuites are also not essential.
Cheers Bob
When we started vanning out we searched for and used free and low cost camp sites.
We used all types from gravel pits on the sides of roads to free spots on some farms etc. you all get the picture.
We soon tired of meeting the same people with the same interests which was mainly how clever they were in saving money by free camping while at the same time all of us having to share limited overloaded facilities, dirty and poorly maintained road house and pub bathrooms and stinky long drops.
Then there is the endless search to find the dump point in the next town to empty our cassette.
We slowly but surely gravitated toward using caravan parks and we are probably now in the same pattern for accomodation as *gundog*
I have had a couple of rough sites at some parks but I will go back to the office and ask for a better site if possible. It is becoming harder and harder for a park manager to move people on sites due to the increased number of travellers since Covid.
Some parks are expensive relative to others and the more expensive the park, the less time we spend there.
A pleasant park with good facilities and at a reasonable cost is now our choice. Our thoughts are that while we move everyday we are paying a fair amount in fuel and other costs and by staying put for a period we save a lot of money, we have the security of being able to unhook and explore with our car, and I am not constantly checking batteries, fridges, solar and even where the sun is in relation to our camp.
The people we mix with in parks are generally quite diverse in their views and many don't have to tell us how clever they are by camping out of towns to save a few bucks. We can pick who we mix with rather than having some know it all roll in and set up camp on top of us when there is acres of land at a free camp.
Having said that people are people, compatibility between individuals is very personal.
Free camping is not for us when there are many hundreds of low cost quality caravan parks available throughout Australia
PS: both Angie and I have given up Jumping Castles Mini Golf and Water Slides.
Troll.............
With our travel, we generally look at about 10 - 15% free, low cost or donation camps, and the rest in caravan parks.
That means over the past 13 years we have stayed in a little over 200 different caravan parks in all states with the exception of Tasmania, where we are yet to travel.
Of those 200, I can confidently say less than a handful (5), have had sites that we have had a major issue with. By that I mean impossible to level, or very difficult/impossible to get our vans onto. Incidentally, in all cases the park has been amenable to helping us get better sites when approached. Some other sites have been less than ideal but nothing that has spoiled our stay, or caused us to vow never to return.
I understand the OPs upset with this site, but I would expect it to be the exception rather than the rule of their park stays as well. Sometimes it would be good to hear the total picture, not the odd one out.
Its a bit like the plethora of washing machines in caravan parks full of dog hair, something else that has been missing from ALL of the CP laundries we have ever used. A little bit of exaggeration or omission of some of the facts helps many a yarn around the campfire!
-- Edited by TheHeaths on Thursday 12th of August 2021 11:56:33 AM
Bob and Jane - there's no need for that - I find nothing in their post that even suggests trolling.
You need to mind your manners.
So Vince makes a post about caravan park Sites, tea spoon goes off topic and says we should all stay at home and not use our vans.
Teo chimes in and makes totally rude and unnecessary comments and I'm the one who should mind their manners.
Most of Teo's posts are to criticize others, as in all the crap jokes in the Just Joking section, that he states regularly, somebody who is a keyboard warrior like that is in my opinion a Troll.
Cheers Bob
-- Edited by Bobdown on Thursday 12th of August 2021 01:55:48 PM
Pointless diatribe