Hi everyone, I havent posted for quite a while as we havent been using our van, weve been doing baby grand child sitting and providing taxi services for them as well. So now that all that has finished weve ordered a new van( please dont mention trading in or selling our old van, what a nightmare) and intend to start travelling again. Apart from short local ish trips we want to go to WA and explore that wonderful state. My question is does one have to book ahead for caravan parks or is it ok to just rock up and hope for the best? I believe we may have to book. What do you guys do? Symbol wont do free camping any more.
Regards
Ashley
jade007 said
07:29 PM Dec 6, 2025
I at least ring a day before. They are a lot more busy than a few years back and more pricey
Peter_n_Margaret said
08:09 PM Dec 6, 2025
If you plan to visit Exmouth and you have not booked already, it might already be too late.
Cheers,
Peter
first timer said
09:26 PM Dec 6, 2025
Thanks for that, I was thinking the same.
Peter_n_Margaret said
10:32 PM Dec 6, 2025
Where are you going?
Cheers,
Peter
Magnarc said
07:49 AM Dec 7, 2025
Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
If you plan to visit Exmouth and you have not booked already, it might already be too late. Cheers, Peter
Ditto Broome.
rgren2 said
08:23 AM Dec 7, 2025
Magnarc wrote:
Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
If you plan to visit Exmouth and you have not booked already, it might already be too late. Cheers, Peter
Ditto Broome.
Instead of staying in Broome, with its reputation for items going missing, try Roebuck Caravan Park.
We eventually want to go to WA and have a good look around the southern half, we did the northern half about ten years ago
watsea said
09:23 PM Dec 7, 2025
We visited SW WA in Feb-Mar 2024, leaving just before Easter (crossed the Nullarbor during Easter). More than one or two days notice was required for coastal van parks which we preferred then. Maybe at least a week. At the time, Albany was really full and one needs to be careful regarding free camping in that district. We could not get an opening there. We visited there as a day trip from Denmark. First weekend of March is long weekend and I reckon any coastal sites would already be booked. We observed long queues of vans and trailers heading towards Perth on the Monday of the long weekend.
inland parks could be booked at less notice.
-- Edited by watsea on Sunday 7th of December 2025 09:32:26 PM
Warren-Pat_01 said
06:00 PM Dec 11, 2025
Hi Ashley,
It depends on the time of the year that you plan to travel & the towns you wish to stay in. We try not to travel in the school holidays but sometimes it's unavoidable.
I generally ask my wife to call ahead at about 2-3pm on the day if we're looking for a powered site at most places UNLESS you're planning on staying at popular (& expensive) places such as Broome, Darwin, Canberra, Warrnambool, Birdsville, etc. However these places can be avoided if you do your homework well & use an up-to-date reference book, app. As watsea mentioned you may have to have a booking period of 1, 2 days or a week.
first timer said
02:47 PM Jan 12, 2026
Not planning on going until April. Want to do southern WA, perth, Bunbury, margaret river Esperance etc and then on way home do York pen, and then down to warnambool and great ocean Road then up the coast to Sunshine Coast.
woolman said
04:27 PM Jan 12, 2026
As previously said probably too late for a lot of coastal parks. Stay inland a bit will be more available and less expensive
Neil
rmoor said
09:38 AM Jan 15, 2026
Apologies for a bit of a change of topic.
Had to use this tread to try and glean some information so I didn't start up a surplus "new" thread.
Would have used a suitable old thread but as mentioned recently, this forum's website search engine DOES NOT WORK!!!!
Would anyone please have some tips or info on any good locations for a van stay (preferably powered) in the Bowral, Moss Vale etc NSW locations please.
Also any tips on what to do and see would be useful.
Mind you, I have been keen to visit the Bradman Museum for years and will do so even though my female traveling companion is not a cricket fan.
There appears to be a spot called "Grady's" on the Shoalhaven River, but there are no powered sites at that location.
Any info would be most appreciated.
P.S. wonder if the search engine on here will ever get fixed, has been cactus for ages......
dorian said
12:03 PM Jan 15, 2026
rmoor wrote:
this forum's website search engine DOES NOT WORK!!!!
True, but someone discovered that surrounding the search terms with quotes does work.
rmoor said
03:43 PM Jan 15, 2026
"True, but someone discovered that surrounding the search terms with quotes does work."
Thanks.
Good tip, tried that with "Moss Vale" and "Bowral" and it worked.
Hi everyone, I havent posted for quite a while as we havent been using our van, weve been doing baby grand child sitting and providing taxi services for them as well. So now that all that has finished weve ordered a new van( please dont mention trading in or selling our old van, what a nightmare) and intend to start travelling again. Apart from short local ish trips we want to go to WA and explore that wonderful state. My question is does one have to book ahead for caravan parks or is it ok to just rock up and hope for the best? I believe we may have to book. What do you guys do? Symbol wont do free camping any more.
Regards
Ashley
Cheers,
Peter
Thanks for that, I was thinking the same.
Cheers,
Peter
Ditto Broome.
Instead of staying in Broome, with its reputation for items going missing, try Roebuck Caravan Park.
https://www.roebuckroadhouse.com/
We eventually want to go to WA and have a good look around the southern half, we did the northern half about ten years ago
We visited SW WA in Feb-Mar 2024, leaving just before Easter (crossed the Nullarbor during Easter). More than one or two days notice was required for coastal van parks which we preferred then. Maybe at least a week. At the time, Albany was really full and one needs to be careful regarding free camping in that district. We could not get an opening there. We visited there as a day trip from Denmark.
First weekend of March is long weekend and I reckon any coastal sites would already be booked. We observed long queues of vans and trailers heading towards Perth on the Monday of the long weekend.
inland parks could be booked at less notice.
-- Edited by watsea on Sunday 7th of December 2025 09:32:26 PM
It depends on the time of the year that you plan to travel & the towns you wish to stay in. We try not to travel in the school holidays but sometimes it's unavoidable.
I generally ask my wife to call ahead at about 2-3pm on the day if we're looking for a powered site at most places UNLESS you're planning on staying at popular (& expensive) places such as Broome, Darwin, Canberra, Warrnambool, Birdsville, etc. However these places can be avoided if you do your homework well & use an up-to-date reference book, app. As watsea mentioned you may have to have a booking period of 1, 2 days or a week.
Not planning on going until April. Want to do southern WA, perth, Bunbury, margaret river Esperance etc and then on way home do York pen, and then down to warnambool and great ocean Road then up the coast to Sunshine Coast.
As previously said probably too late for a lot of coastal parks. Stay inland a bit will be more available and less expensive
Neil
Had to use this tread to try and glean some information so I didn't start up a surplus "new" thread.
Would have used a suitable old thread but as mentioned recently, this forum's website search engine DOES NOT WORK!!!!
Would anyone please have some tips or info on any good locations for a van stay (preferably powered) in the Bowral, Moss Vale etc NSW locations please.
Also any tips on what to do and see would be useful.
Mind you, I have been keen to visit the Bradman Museum for years and will do so even though my female traveling companion is not a cricket fan.
There appears to be a spot called "Grady's" on the Shoalhaven River, but there are no powered sites at that location.
Any info would be most appreciated.
P.S. wonder if the search engine on here will ever get fixed, has been cactus for ages......
True, but someone discovered that surrounding the search terms with quotes does work.
Thanks.
Good tip, tried that with "Moss Vale" and "Bowral" and it worked.
Good one, many thanks.