RV MAIL
LETTERS FROM THE ROAD
MORE ON KERSHAW CLOSURE
Greg Taylor in his email to GoRV on the Kershaw
free-camp closure made three points:
1. That some users were abusing the facility.
Unfortunately, this does happen, but other RV
travellers then need to step up to the mark and
report these people and be prepared to tidy
the area up a little by picking up any rubbish,
etc. After all, we are enjoying these facilities
for free.
2. He is not against free-camping but a fee
should be paid. Well, it then isn't free camping
and one of the things I found recently while
travelling around Oz was that more and more
areas are being locked up and a fee having to
be paid to see them. This is our country and it
is becoming more and more expensive to see
our natural beauty spots.
3. The ratepayers of Rockhampton should not
have to subsidise the free camp. I live on the
Gold Coast so the next time you visit one of
our spectacular beaches, I want you to pay so
that I, as a rate-payer, do not have to subsidise
the millions of dollars spent by our council on
the beaches each year.
Now, if we take that attitude further, plus add
in what I have already said about having to pay
to visit our natural features, it is only going
to be really well-off people who can see our
own country.
(I really do not object as a rate-payer to
subsidising people visiting our beaches as many
people in other areas of Oz are subsidising me
when I visit.)
General comment: I have found that there are
very few travellers who never use a van park.
The towns where van parks are not good value
become known very quickly on the road as word
of mouth travels fast. If van parks supply good
value and service, that also becomes known,
and even if there is a free-camp nearby, the
parks still enjoy good patronage.
Laurie Metcalfe
Via email
SHARING THE ROAD
I read a recent article highlighting 10 points that
people should take into account when sharing
the road with trucks. The further I got into it, the
more my blood boiled – it was heavily biased
towards the truck driver’s needs. So here is a
revised ‘top 10’:
1. The road laws, and common sense, are not
mutually exclusive to car or caravan drivers.
They are the responsibility of all drivers and
while we can argue the statistics that show 80
per cent of all crashes between car and truck
are the fault of the car driver, I’d argue the 20
per cent, which are the fault of the truck driver,
are more deadly, more harmful and cost more
than other crashes.
If you have an opinion or thought about the RV lifestyle, or about this digital
magazine, we’d like to hear it! Email your feedback to [email protected]
4 \