Caravan parks 'boring places'

The joy of staying in RV-friendly towns

SEMI-RETIRED information technology lecturer Phil Jones dismisses any claims that free-camping travellers do not support towns. The caravanner-turned motorhomer admits he shies away from caravan parks, claiming: "They are boring places and do not provide anything for us." He and partner Alayne Russell much prefer free-camping, spending the money saved on supporting local businesses. They travel the eastern states taking modified college courses to outback communities as instructional workshops. Mr Jones has penned the following story outlining the joy of staying in an RV-friendly town.

Phil and Alayne

WE are on our annual grey nomad meanderings across outback areas of northern New South Wales and Queensland.

We enjoy this part of the country for many reasons – probably the greatest being the ability of staying anywhere it suits us as a result of our motorhome being classed as 'self-contained'.

We have solar panels on the roof providing lots of 12volt power to almost everything inside the vehicle; gas for heating and cooking and hot water; a very comfortable shower/toilet, with enough fresh water on board for about five days of activity, and like most other travellers we have internet coverage for most of the time  via either Telstra and/or Optus.

While we're travelling in a seven-metre motorhome, I find it wonderful to see more and more caravans now being made with set-ups like ours with a good shower and toilet plus solar panels etc that also allow them to become more self-reliant while out 'on the wallaby'.

The family caravans I had many years ago were quite primitive when compared with many of today's 'vans.

Coming back to us, our motorhome is now 10 years old. We've covered well over 300,000km around this wonderful land and the vehicle is starting to creak and groan a bit. So long as it keeps chugging along nicely and it receives its regular under-the-bonnet servicing we hope that it will keep going for another few years yet.

During June and July this year we have meandered across the Top End of Queensland, from Atherton in the east and on the Tablelands, through Mt Surprise and then Georgetown to Normanton, followed by Cloncurry, Julia Creek and into Richmond where I am putting these notes together.

It has been a delightful journey so far.

From here we continue across central Queensland through Longreach to Emerald, then south until we get into NSW and the ACT to catch up with family. So we've still got several months of travel before us before we get home in mid-October.

We had a week in Normanton, with side trips up to Karumba and a trip on the Gulflander rail car back to Croydon.

We also have had a week in Cloncurry, with several days in Julia Creek and now Richmond. In doing so, we have enjoyed their hospitality with their RV Friendly overnighting areas as well.

Normanton's RV freedom camping area is a rough piece of ground on the northern side of the Norman River ... an area that gets flooded each wet season and consequently has no services on site. This requires every vehicle staying overnight to be fully self-contained with toilet and water supply.

There also is a limit of 10 vehicles a night, with a council ranger checking at sundown to ensure each camper has the camping permit visible on the dashboard. The mix of caravans to motorhomes was about half-and-half.

In contrast to Normanton, Julia Creek's RV Friendly camping area is very different. It is located on the side of a delightful lagoon and administered by a camp host – a couple who volunteer their time and energies for a six-week period before going elsewhere to continue their travels.

While the maximum number of vehicles is not stipulated, there is a council rule that all vehicles must be self-contained, and the camp hosts send all small rental 'whiz-bangs' and battered station wagons which arrive intending to stay overnight to the local caravan park. There is fresh water on tap as well.

Julia Creek's dump point is attached to the council depot in town. At Julia Creek's RV area, the mix of caravans to motorhomes was about two to three caravans.

The Richmond RV Friendly overnighting area is also without any services but there is a Dump Ezy dump point and fresh water on tap.

The town's information centre issues permits to travellers who are in self-contained vehicles and visitors can stay for up to three days. The council has planted small trees across the most flattish area in the reserve, creating 'sites' of about 8m x 12m in size.

Last night there were about 15 visitors, tonight there are about 10 ... and again about a half-and-half mix of caravans and motorhomes.

Yesterday in the Post Office, the lady serving us mentioned that 'tonight we have a major rugby match between Julia Creek and Richmond', and invited us along as spectators. We arrived at the designated time, paid our entry fee, queued for the BBQ sausage sizzle and bought some food and a can of drink and settled down to watch the game.

For me as a non-sporting person it was as exciting as watching paint dry, but we went along as we had been invited and we joined with the several hundred locals and visitors to watch the game. The visitors went home victorious.

During the last six weeks of these travels, we have frequented many supermarkets, lots of local shops, clothing shops, chemists, newsagents, fuel outlets, pubs for meals and accommodation, a doctor, the ubiquitous takeaway for tea, coffee and cakes, libraries for their Wi Fi coverage when we couldn't get Telstra, hairdressers, hardware shops, weekend art and craft markets, charity shops … and the list goes on.

For accommodation, we try to overnight in council-run showgrounds, RV overnighting places or sometimes farm stays.

All the RV Friendly sites listed are within walking distance from the town's shopping centre, and all towns listed have 'regular' caravan parks ... both private and council owned.

As we do not hook up to 240volt power, a powered site is useless to us. Also, we have a perfectly good shower and toilet, so we don't need to walk across a cold and windy park to have a pee or a wash.

It comes down to "we do not use caravan parks – they are boring places to stay at and do not provide anything for us".

To conclude: For those readers who are thinking of travelling Australia please make a start and do so ... it is a great place to travel with plenty of places to go and things to see. We are on the road for about eight to nine months each year and love it.

It's a highly recommended relaxed and inexpensive lifestyle that suits our retirement pension.