Long-term grey nomad Taurus B has seen a bit during his two years on the open road … and not all of it good. Here, he hits out at greedy fellow travellers who he says are slowly souring the Big Lap experience.
We have been travelling this great country for about two years, so to most of you we are newcomers to caravanning.
What is grinding our gears though is how some caravanners are travelling this great country, thinking only of themselves. They create chaos, and don’t give the proverbial ???? about who is coming in their wake. They use and leave rest stop facilities in unhygienic states. We witnessed two sets of people stop to let their dogs stretch their legs. No problem with that. However they let the dogs do what dogs do naturally after a long trip, but then they just got back in their cars and left the calling card to ferment in the heat!
These people use free camping areas and just dump their rubbish at the base of a tree or on the ground and move on. What if this was their yard?
If the above was not bad enough, this latest saga is a testimony to greed.
We have stayed a couple of times at a caravan park in Cloncurry, which caters for mine workers. We stay here because it is a great little park that offers guests, for $25 per person, an all you can eat evening meal at the miners’ dining room. This includes non-alcoholic beverages, main meal with a variety of options, sweets, ice cream, fruit, etc.  A bang-up meal.
After dinner, at the point of leaving, the kitchen offered you a medium-sized plastic container which you could fill with a snack for smoko the next day. We used to take a cake for morning tea and a piece of fruit each. This was a goodwill gesture by the miners’ kitchen but has been killed off by greedy caravanners and campers who insisted on taking in their own bags and then walking out with said bags bulging with as much food as they could humanly carry.
The camp got sick of this over a period of time, and now this generosity has been killed off. Congratulations to those greedy, self-indulgent people for pushing the boundaries way too far.
Having said all this, we have met some great people on the road, but if you fit any of the categories above, take a good, hard look at yourselves.
Not the greed but the attitude to others in the form of rubbish, we were camped at the back of a truck bay 20klm north of Coonabarraban for a week and while there I picked up 3 x200lt bins of rubbish but over night the cars and caravans parking over usually left their rubbish and in 2 cases dirty nappies with in 20ft of bins
Our Local Council has had to make the choice about the free camping site for exactly this reason. Their choices are ‘Close it ‘ or ‘control it’. They have chosen’ control it’ but it’s costing us ratepayers money to do. I hope it works for all those who visit our area and for the travelling public and for the ratepayers.
We have done the ‘Lap’ and found most free camps are left reasonably clean. A few have not – and we noted it was mainly young travelers in tents that left a mess. Our motto was and is it’s our rubbish to dispose of responsibly, same as if you are at home.
Yes must admit we were a bit shocked with the amount of rubbish at rest areas and toilet paper laying around something with have to happen its disgracefull dont know what the answers is but its not good
Unfortunately rubbish seems to be the biggest peev. We generally leave a place cleaner than when we arrived. But I have to say my biggest grievances would have to be loo paper. When will people learn how to bush toilet. Bury your business and either burn your paper or bag it and take it with you. Unfortunately women seem to be the worst for this. The many reams of toilet paper which has obviously been used for a bit of Siddle, just left lying around hoping it may decompose sometime this century. How hard is it to put it in a bag and take it with you, throw it on your camp fire, or take a match and burn it in a little hole and throw some dirt to make sure it’s out.
Well, I read that story about greedy nomads, and my advice to all is: please don’t just go about writing and telling to us, have courage and nicely approach the guilty party, ask politely to consider their actions and affect on others. Most people just do what they do coz they think it’s ok. If you point to them in a kind way, at list, you may have an answer, yes or no. But you did try. Next year when I move along the great big, I know I will care and also ask others to care. No need to be scared of by few bullies on the Planet.
What surprises me is the state that some people leave toilets and showers at caravan parks in. Most caravan parks provide brushes to clean up, however many people don’t think it’s their job to clean up their own mess, we see it time after time and in a lot of cases there are only grey nomads staying at the park. Have some consideration for other and for the cleaners. And yes we have also seen people leave rubbish at rest stops.
I see the same sort of things but not from grey nomads but backpackers. Now I’m not saying they’re all bad but we’ve been on the road for nearly 2 years and they leave such a mess at free camps, steel when the opportunity arises. On the flip of that we have met some wonderful backpackers but I guess its a case of the minority spoiling for the majority.
In the case of grey nomads we have met some beautiful people but some who run a mile when they see we have kids and others who ask how we fund our trip I find downright rude… but again its the minority.
We have also heard of many people helping themselvex to toilet paper. Bragging about how they have not had to buy it for the past 6 months. Really?.? Hom much is a roll of paper. Are you really that hard up. Also taking the bars of soap left to wash your hands, plugs from the sink, and these people are proud of themselves. The worst was my uncle who owned a caravan park who one night caught a person with a cordless drill rolling out the toilet paper onto a piece of dowell from one of the locked oversized paper dispensers? These people need to take a long hard look in the mirror. If you are that hard up, stay at home!
I pulled into a rest stop recently to see this guy (can’t call him a gentleman) walk out of the toilet with about 6 rolls of toilet paper and get into nice new 4wd towing an $80000 caravan. He clearly thought he was entitled to it and didn’t give a stuff about anyone else. I will also have to start carrying more garbage bags as the amount of rubbish left at road side stops is becoming ridiculous and how hard is it to take your rubbish with you. If you bring it in, take it out. I actually don’t think there should be bins at roadside stops as you should be able to look after your own trash and as for those people refusing to pick up others peoples rubbish, two wrongs don’t make a right.
We have been on the road fulltime for nearly 6 years and cannot believe the stuff we see. The worst was a guy in a free camp who was using a cordless drill to transfer locked loo paper and roll onto his cordless drill. Amazing. Thankfully the majority of people do the right thing. But it is a small % that give the rest of us a bad name.
Apex Park Longreach Qld,lady had a great responce.”Oh give them time,eventually this community will self destruct”.I’ve been travelling 5 years full time,as Ive said in another post,we treated each other better in the playground.
We have seen so many DIRTY Grey Nomads , we now don’t like to be one of them as all we ever leave is our Foot-Prints, as we pick up as much as others rubbish as possible. We don’t want any more places closed because People and councils think we are all the same as Branding is not right.
Older couple had a blow out on caravan yesteray on bruce hwy. Put spare on and the wife dumped what was left of damaged tyre on side of road. I beeped, she stick the finger up…. never going to stop and help for someone like that
My query would be the fact that “Grey Nomads” have been labeled. I would think the above would cover the entire caravaning community from what I have seen. Labelling a prticular group is a bit Ritch.
These people want everything for free – camp sites, national parks, parking areas in towns and the list goes on. The majority are Grey Nomads.
Unfortunately it’s not just caravaners, every time I go to Skyworks, outdoor concerts, picnic areas etc people, young and old, just get up up and leave. There is no social conscience in young or old people any more, and no sense of pride. It’s a hard one to fix, but it starts way before we get to the Grey Nomad stage.
yes their mum and dad didnt teach basics ,take your mess with you or clean your own mess,respect elders,police or those that are weaker than yourselves,say please and thank you and wash your hands after visiting the toilet,opening a door for a real lady is ok also.
I’ve been on the road for nearly 10 years and not yet completed a lap.
The joy and excitement of long term travel has almost vanished, Selfish, greedy, ignorant, and abusive people are turning what should be a joy into a struggle and that’s not to mention the thieves who pride themselves on stealing toilet rolls and filling up their hand soap bottles from public dispensers. Sadly and I’m happy to take the flack which will inevitably come back, the biggest offender is the Grey & not so Grey Nomads who count every cent and are happy to take-take-take and never put back into the communities that they stay in AS GUESTS.
I am as described, I stay in a corner and do my thing, I’m not proud to be associated with the majority.