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

I always thought that the National Parks were owned by the government and therefore by the public in general, So why should we have to pay to use something that we already own?
This whole National Parks thing is getting out of hand as yet another "Money Grab" and this online booking BS is ridicules because as you say in most places there is NO internet or phone coverage to use the new system anyway.

Tell me about the canoe.

The last time we were away we decided to stay another couple of days at our camp as we were the only people there after the weekend campers left but, No signal, no booking extension available.
A ranger showed up two days later so I approached him with the intent of paying for the extra time.
He told me not to worry about it as he had no means to process a "Cash Sale". He also mentioned that Qld NPWS bookings went through an agency in Melbourne (I think) and that the rangers had no idea of bookings if they haven't access to the internet.

A couple of years ago we went to Fraser to camp at Dundubarra, which has six camper trailer sites, and on arrival found that someone was in our site. They were booked in until the following day and were nice enough to do a 75% pack up so we could share the site with them. Whilst camped there for two weeks, the number of camper trailers that came in with double bookings was around five or six. Once again the rangers there had no control over bookings.
A bit sad really all round.
Steve

Originally Posted by vnx205

Tell me about the canoe.

The canoe was a light-duties project to keep myself sane whilst I recovered from a spinal fusion in 2009. Wood strip construction built to a plan from a book by a chap called Gil Gilpatrick. The hull timber is mostly pine, with a cedar feature strip (unfortunately the pine has darkened with age and the cedar has faded, so the contrast is almost gone!), ash gunwhales and seat frames with woven cane seats and some small redgum features such as plugs over the gunwhale screws and some fancywork on the decks.
Wood strip canoes are reasonably common in Canada and the northern US but I have never seen another here- I'm confident mine was the only one in the Strezlecki Desert last month. The canoe absolutely made the trip- both at Coongie and Carrawinya. No better way to see wildlife.

Back to the parks thing, I think that many of these problems stem from the fact that decisons are made by people in central offices who have never- and will never- had a fair-dinkum bush camping holiday.

Thanks for that information about the canoe. You are right that Canada and the US have a lot of wooden canoes and kayaks, but there are some in Australia.

I have built a couple of wood strip canoes and a dozen kayaks, but my canoes are for racing, not touring.
IMGP2583.jpgLane Cove 3.jpgNationals.jpg

Very nice! A mate built a wood-strip sea kayak which was what put me onto the technique, but the only other canoe I have seen was on a car roof going the other way on the highway.
Since the back surgery I am unable to assume the position to paddle a kayak with my feet in front of me, paddling the canoe on my knees is ideal for me.
The woman who refueled us at Wannaring saw the canoe on my roof and said 'Nice kayak."

This thread seems to have got off-topic somewhat...

Originally Posted by trout1105

I always thought that the National Parks were owned by the government and therefore by the public in general, So why should we have to pay to use something that we already own?
This whole National Parks thing is getting out of hand as yet another "Money Grab" and this online booking BS is ridicules because as you say in most places there is NO internet or phone coverage to use the new system anyway.

We we camped in the Flinder's ranges SA, there were honor system boxes where you have to put cash in for each day you intended to camp. The only thing we used was some water from a rain tank near a patch of dirt to camp on with no other facilities

Yep that is the system that we have experienced for many years. The new system came into effect in S.A. on the first of last month. We don't even use their water when we camp, carry our own for drinking / cooking and wash in creek water. Paying just to pitch a tent on ground that belongs to us anyway.
My take on the whole parks management thing is that the hollowmen who run government departments think that people only want to go where there is development and that anywhere that people want to go, has to be developed to provide facilities. They are quickly killing the wilderness experience across Australia, which, ironically, is exactly what many people come here to find. A glaring example is the transformation of the Mitchell Falls park in WA into an industrial heliport with attached resort.