Hi Pam
i never book ahead as we never know how long to stay in any location. if we like it we stay, if not we move on. also talking to other travellers, and visiting the info centres, usually decides which direction we take next. As we only have limited time on the road, we have a final destination, but will not commit ourselves to a definate arrival date. Have never travelled during school holidays and avoid coastal caravan parks where possible.Normally start looking for a c/park about 2pm. and always ask to look around before deciding to stay. Have never been refused yet.


JohnW

Pam, obvoiusly you are like me and have a form of OCD that dictates that you plan your trip. It can be a problem at times I use Excell to set it out and get an idea of where I am going....
In some cases you have no option but to book ahead, eg if you are doing the "go north for the winter' thing then it pays to book if you are going to be on the coast or ANY WHERE there is a lake, river or other "fishable" water as the fisher folk who outnumber the GN's in certain locations book years in advance, towns like Karumba, Cairns, Sunshine & Gold Coast, or indeed anywhere popular. If a place is booked out then you can assume it's popular and there fore worth visiting

Go girl! Parks give us single girls a feeling of security, but free camping is a great experience.
Many of the northern parks don't take bookings during the "tourist" season, June to September.
As a long-term resident of a park in Broome I know they don't take bookings, so it's first in best dress, even in the overflow parks. If you're not in by 11am, tough, try again tomorrow.
Oh, by the way, no parks in Broome take pets. The Pistol Club provides an overflow area with power, and they take dogs. These overflow parks are only open once the official parks are full, usually June 1st.
The annual nomads who stay for the 3 months, have a long-term booking which stands until they get too old to travel the miles. eg Bunbury to Broome.
As I came up the east coast during last dry season, I only phoned ahead the day before I was due to leave and move on. It worked well for me. In most cases, if you haven't arrived by 4pm you miss out, and the next van at the gate gets the spot. It does require a bit of a plan, but only a day in advance.
Some people park up in these regions for 3 months to escape the southern winter. Others are on the road for that time of the year, and park up day by day.
In the southern states the reverse applies. People stay in places like Coffin Bay, Arno Bay, Adelaide, Albany, Esperance, Margaret River for the summer. Once again they are in by annual booking, and the itinerant camper phones ahead to get a spot.
It's hard work this nomad business, especially in the school holidays and busy season, wherever it may be.
Safe and happy travel. Cheers Granny