Thread: Online pre-booking system to camp in national parks

Great topic and we are in a similar situation. We set off from WA last November and on the road for a year. The confusing thing is as we go around every state does it differently and online booking is a nightmare. The issues with online booking are...
1. Signal to book
2. You turn up after booking and someone is in your spot for numbered sites (no ranger to sort anything)
3. You turn up on a site that is designed for x number of people and there are lots there who have not booked using all the spaces (no ranger to sort anything)
4. You want to change your plans at the last minute due to unforeseen issues
5. You want to extend your stay that you have booked but no signal to do so.

Advantages: well when I was based in Perth and wanting to book up for a busy weekend I could get my booking In and be reasonably comfortable I would have a spot. That's great for weekends but not for those on a long trip of for visitor to Australia who don't have a clue on the booking systems in each state.

In some ways we think if online booking is going to be the way then at least leave some spots as turn up first come first served spots with the old envelope system. This is true of some parks in WA. But not a lot and not true of many others.

At least The QLD booking system you can change bookings, cancel etc. And it seems to work ok as long as you have signal.

Why can't all the states work together on a uniform system for travellers across all National Parks?

Envelopes with money was easy and easy for rangers to check. Now it's complicated and likely less people paying for their sites. I am a big advocate for paying for staying in a NP but why make it so hard. We have been to so many now where so many peop just don't bother to pay.

Ultimately the systems don't work today from what was an easy to use system.

:-). Glad I got that off m chest.

I blame the grey nomads that tow their monstrosities and want all the facilities.

If you have Wikicamps and are just looking for somewhere remote and peaceful, then look for a site with loads of comments about how hard it is to get in, or how soft the sand is etc.

Most of those comments are from nomads. Yes, it might be hard if you are towing a huge van.

However if you are not then those comments are a good sign

It was only a couple of decades ago when you could go just about anywhere without the need to "Book In" or pay fees because most of the time there wasn't anyone around for miles.
I blame the rapid growth of 4WD ownership and the roads becoming more and more maintained for the overcrowding of some spots.
It is now getting very hard to find spots that haven't been exploited for tourism where you can set up camp without having to share it with others.

As to the online booking I bet it went like this:

1. Order from on high, your budget is going down, save money
2. Desk jockey in charge hires a consultant to tell him what he should already know to do his job
3. Consultant conducts a time and motion study (nomads go north in summer, South in winter), then a cost benefit analysis (my report costs, it's all for my benefit), turns in a report then buggers off before it hits the fan
4. Report says head office can't possibly be cut, too essential, so shed some on the ground headcount (out of sight, out of mind) and replace them with online (everyone has Wi-Fi right, and the consultant has never been more than a day from a smashed avo breakfast and chai latte)
5. A few years later head office wonders why no one is paying anymore and the sites are trashed (Oh yes, no rangers to enforce anything)
6. Desk jockey hires a consultant to tell him what he should already know to do his job
7. Around we go again!

About the only upside is you might have your reserved space empty for you when you arrive late in the evening, then again probably not, someone who has given up on the system is probably in it.

We went round Oz last year, free camping mostly but our next preference was to stay in NP's. I'm always happy to pay to camp in NP's; the fees are minimal and many facilities are quite good.
However the online booking system has many flaws. We witnessed a lot of people staying for free - roll in late, leave early and claim, truthfully 'no internet service'. Many grey nomads made bookings for 2-3-4 weeks running but didn't show for days or a week, so nobody could camp on those sites. Some campgrounds at Cape Range in WA were completely booked out via the net barr the volunteer caretakers. When we arrived most sites that had been booked were empty, yet we couldn't camp on them! It's a pretty useless system and a waste of taxpayer $ for sure.
One funny thing happened on Cape York at an NP. My wife & kids were wary to swim at the creek/waterhole due to crocs. It was November so we didn't see one NP ranger up there in 3 weeks. I called the NP number on the campground sign and was connected to head office in Brisbane. After pressing 1,3,5,2& 9 I spoke to a tele service person who checked her map to work out where I was, then told me there were possibly crocs in waterholes in Nth Queensland so don't swim! I had just spent 7minutes (at a dollar a minute) on the sat phone to be dealt a croc... I swam - no crocs and locals told us the next day that the place is a very popular swimming spot.
I think that about sums up trying to centralise NP call centres, minimise staff and 'monitor' NP's

It's not just the painful booking in process that is taking the "Shine" off an extended trip, it seems that just about anywhere you want to bush camp these days there is either a hefty fee or you end up with dozens of neighbours some of which can be bloody annoying.
I want to tour the Kimberlies and the Gulf country next year so it looks like I have got a mass of homework to do before we head off if we are going to enjoy the trip.

I certainly agree there are not enough rangers on the ground.
The situation also shows how poor our phone coverage is. Other countries I have visited have much better phone coverage in remote areas. At the least highways should have many more phone towers. It's a safety necessity.
Also, why can't NPs make post offices into booking centres? There is usually a little village not too far from a NP. Most little towns have a shop that is also a post office. Post offices are struggling to survive. If the post offices got a reasonable fee I'm sure they would be happy to log on, make the booking and take the money. NPs income would increase if more people actually paid the fees.
We're heading for the Kimberleys in mid-2019 so it will be interesting to see what the situation is like up there.