Hi Gerty Dancer,

We had this same problem when we first started Caravanning - we thought it was because we were younger than the usual nomads!
But we decided to take it into our own hands and we just walked around with a drink in hand and started talking to people. We have met some wonderful people and keep in contact with quite a few of them.
Don't worry about the rejection - might be tired travellers that have to take off early next day!

Hope this helps,

Shell

Hi Rose!

We know the feeling, we have been on the road for a year now and we are still not the best at the happy hour scene either, probably doesn't help that we try to find a quiet private spot facing some bush or something when we set up.

I'll often chat to people if I walk by when their setting up or relaxing outside asking where their from etc but it dosn't often lead to a shared happy hour and we're not really the sort to just wander over to peoples set up drink in hand when there enjoying themselves & impose our company on them.
One way I find which works is when I see a couple relaxing outside in the afternoon  I wander by & comment on them enjoying happy hour which can initiate a chat, then I mention my ice is probably melting in my bourbon back at the caravan (which is normally true by that time of the day) which then may spark an invitation or I say something like "I'll have to either go back & drink it or fetch it & my wife & drink it here"

You never know, we may share a happy hour together one day.

Cheers
Jon & Hylda

ps: Shell!  If you go through the Margaret River area drop into Gracetown C/P & say hello...it's a great park & the cheapest in Margaret river.

We often join in happy hour and many times have instigated this event.
We use this happy hour to make friends and to get info about places to see and things to do. And also to impart with same.
Over the years of Vanning we have made some great friends who we still are in contact with.
The fact is that if you are camped out or in a caravan park you are usually with like minded people and it is not very often that there is a fly in the ointment.
So keep trying and you will get the nack of it. One does not have to be a drinker so if you roll up with a bottle of soft drink or cold tea and a couple of cups no one will care.
Cheers Dodg.

Yes, Onedodger, I'm not a drinker so i take a soft drink, can still have fun and a laugh even tho not indulging in alcohol. My hubby drinks beer. No one cares as long as we are all chatting and having a good conversation. Sometimes we spend happy hour on our own and sometimes we spend it with fellow campers. We've met some nice people too and may meet at the same venue next year.

I usually wander around and if I see a couple sitting on their own say hello and tell them I admire their rig or how do they find their type of van etc, one thing usually leads to another. If you get a cool reception, that usually means they don't want company, so move on. Don't worry about being single either, many don't have hang ups about single people (insecurities).

Be careful though as sometimes two or three vans of friends travel together and some don't appreciate strangers joining their little "group" when they are having a happy hour......they are usually talking about things that only pertain to them and their friends, so you would probably feel out of it anyway.

If a group is over at a camp kitchen (not a caravan club who usually keep to themselves, although they could invite you to join them hoping maybe to ge a new member) it is usually open slather, say hello and find a seat with your drink, nobody has exclusive rights to a camp kitchen and you may find they respond to your hello and include you in the conversation.

I sometimes wander around and check out number plates to see where people come from. The WA plates can be a good lead if they are the regional initials eg BM00000 is Broome, MH is Mandurah, A is Albany etc.
So that's a good start to a conversation. If you get a short answer with not further comment, AND they turn their back on you, forget it!
As a single some people are interested in how I get around, which leads to some interesting information trade.
Today I pulled into Crystal Brook, drove around the back of the site to pull in and stay hitched. I had to back up to straighten up, and a lady commented about being able to back "it" (the rig).
So there are many things you can do to open the conversation as you wander around the camp earlier in the arvo, if happy hour is mentioned then you're in, or invite them to your place.
Don't feel miffed if you're not included. Sometimes they can be quite snobby and not very pleasant for an interloper. You're better off not experiencing that.
In Kinka Beach Park, near Rockhampton, I was with a male friend. We were invited to happy hour at the BBQ area, so we arrived with our drinks and chairs. I was promptly directed to the "girls'" table, while my friend was invited to join the "boys".
I told them I didn't play that game, so we sat together at the boys table. A few dirty looks toward me, but we just stayed until everyone headed home again.
To each his/her own.

Yeah! I don't play boy and girl games. Too old for that crap. I've been around too long and can stand on my own (counting) 1, 2 - feet, and hold my own.
I thought it was very funny really, and I haven't seen it anywhere else.

brickies wrote:

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In all our travels we have found this happy hour thing to be an urban miff have not encountered such a thing maybe we must send out a signal do not approach , but we don't sit outside drinking , but still have had no trouble having a chat anytime of the day why wait till a set time to have a chat you have the whole day to do so after all you might miss the Bold and the Beautiful siting outside at 4 o'clock waiting to see if someone will come along to hoe much more they know than you

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I never miss "The Bold and the Beautiful"

I've never watched it and I don't miss it!

PS: I've enjoyed many a happy hour drink with new found friends in caravan parks.  Possum Park (north of Miles, Qld) do a great happy hour around the campfire each evening in the Qld tourist season.

-- Edited by jimricho on Thursday 18th of November 2010 09:15:30 AM

You need Vitamin B Marj.   Even if they are in close proximity I come up in lumps and bumps but since taking Vic B EVERY morning I haven't had one mozzie bite.  Sandflies.........now that's another matter.  Yet to come up with something to repel those little blighters.

We only participate in happy hour sometimes, depends if we click with someone that we have chatted to.
Usually about 4 p.m we start to get the guilts and think we should be doing something.


Johnw

Blue maintains that there is enough Vitamin B in those green cans for the mossies not to take a bite of him..............

O! happy hour. Not for me thank you very much. Soon as they find out you do not drink or smoke they circle the wagons. Not many will talk the a solar single male. So no happy hour for me.

I've sat around happy hour with a bottle of water and still enjoyed at chat.
I don't wait for "the" hour to have a chat. Any time is a good time for a short, sociable approach to say "g'day".
If you don't make the first move you may end up very lonely and alone. If you seek company and want to share travel tales take the first step, go for a wander and start the ball rolling.
Chat to someone on the way to the bins or the bathrooms.
It has nothing to do with being single or tea total. It's about attitude.

Popeye wrote:

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O! happy hour. Not for me thank you very much. Soon as they find out you do not drink or smoke they circle the wagons. Not many will talk the a solar single male. So no happy hour for me.

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I can't think of any happy hour I've participated in where being teetotal would have made any difference.  Happy hours are very rarely boozy gatherings, just a couple of drinks and a bit of socialising before dinner.

Can't see that smoking would be an issue provided the gathering was in the open air and you didn't impose the smoke on others, but sitting somewhere where the smoke drifted onto others would be one way to make oneself unwelcome.

-- Edited by jimricho on Friday 19th of November 2010 06:12:14 AM