#Camplife

Finally it’s my time to pack the car and take off for an adventure! I don’t like to over plan these things because I want the flexibility to wander where the road takes me. I love to make a detour that is unexpected and discover things off the beaten track but some form of itinerary was needed. With a general direction on the compass selected I set off. 

Working in Visitor Services I am always interested to understand what tools other travellers use to navigate their way around our great land, how they select their destinations and ultimately where they choose to spend their time (and money) to eat, stay and play.

I have read articles and been in many discussions about the role of the bricks and mortar Visitor Centre in today’s digital world. Chatting to fellow travellers, we all agreed that the local knowledge of passionate people working in Visitor Centre’s is an essential resource. Not only do VIC staff help you clarify where you may like to spend your time according to your interests, their knowledge helps to provide support to destination marketing projects and facilitate the process of connecting operators to visitors. This is especially true for new operators looking to collaborate with others plus understand and access available resources to help generate exposure.

In my time on the road I used the very popular WikiCamps app to help select places to stay. The camper reviews on this app are really helpful when making a decision. WikiCamps also assisted with water fill up points, fuel price comparisons and public toilets on the road. Couple this with google and I had a good base direction to steer the wheel too and some exciting things to see along the way. There are several apps similar to this like Campermate that also help research your next stop. The National Parks app and websites were also a go to. The focus of my trip away was to do lots of hiking so using the app to see what walks were open, trail descriptions, and duration was essential but it wasn’t accurate all the time. Willy weather was my digital source for matching my plans with mother nature and using google maps plus maps.me when out of range and Avenza maps for off line hiking nav really made getting around easy.

However, even armed with all this digital tech I still made sure to chat to fellow travellers and I popped into every Visitor Centre as I passed through major locations. These included Mudgee, Coonabarabran, Warrambungles, Lightning Ridge, Narrabrai, and Armidale. I was in search of local tips and up to date information. I know these places have ears on the ground and understand their local surrounds better than any app. The people I spoke to were extremely helpful, warm and friendly and really helped personalize my experiences in these gorgeous places. They knew which waterfalls were running, where the best vantage points were for sunset and which campgrounds had the best sites to match what I wanted to experience. They also felt like a safe space and I think this is especially important for people travelling alone. It was lovely to see the different Centres and a good reminder about what it is like to be a traveller walking through the doors.

One of the interesting developments on the trip was just how busy it was out west including every National Park I visited, and this was outside of the school holidays. There were several places I couldn’t get my preferred campground and had to change plans. This was in part because I didn’t want to book too far ahead as I wanted that flexibility but it became obvious that “playing it by ear” is not the easiest way to travel anymore in the current COVID climate. It was interesting to see that it wasn’t just the usual “grey nomads” on the road at this time of year but also families, couples and groups staying in places you wouldn’t normally see them and for longer periods of time. There were also plenty of people new to “camp life” having just purchased their new camper trailer, motorhome or 4WD set up. It seems camping is now the most popular accommodation option with many people I spoke to all saying they preferred to be “self contained” or semi self contained (with only needing shared toilets at times) rather than staying in hotel/motels or cabins. With many camp grounds limiting capacity it has placed a strain on our road trip fraternity, although this will ease a little once borders fully open. With players like YouCamp/HipCamp linking private landowner campgrounds together for travellers it is the right time to look further at ways that help facilitate their use better and more easily, make things more accessible to development whilst keeping costs practical. This will increase options, alleviate overuse, illegal camping and misuse of free camps.

We are a land of epic landscape diversity. With the best way to enjoy its breathtaking beauty done mostly by vehicle, the much loved “road trip” is going to go next level in the coming few months. So, grab your maps, locate your Visitor Centres and download your apps but remember the climate has changed and a little more planning is going to be needed.

Feature image: All set up at Old Bara Campground – Mudgee