Ghost Campers

[Hairs]

Seems to be happening more, book online,  only a couple sites available yet at the camp ground there  is virtually nobody on sites.
I've read reports in Web sites, Social media groups, and have heard first hand from friends.
Are there booking, paying a deposit, 'Just in case?'
What are others experiences with this?
Oh, Happy New Year,

You don't use magic to disappear, ya use a 4x4 & Swag.

[Wazza999]

I reckon, that a system where you pay a substantial deposit, then scan a token on-site and be refunded your deposit less camping the site fees would work. Whether government contracted IT could create such a solution is debateable. The proliferation of Starlink conections could also make it feasible to go back to a turn up and pay ststem. I would have thought the cost for national parks to set up a booking hotspot, via a solar powered Starlink dish would be trivial compared with other costs. Unfortunately either are probably beyond the will and wit of government.

[austastar]

Hi,
   Back in the '60s I had friends come back from the USA with tales of woe about their National Parks; queues of cars taking days to clear, campsites removing hot water from showers to discourage campers, paid and ticketed times to walk some trails - it was unbelievable at the time .
It all seems like a nightmare coming true now, private cabins, paid guides, booking systems, (no lotteries in Tasmania, - yet).
Facilities have not kept up with population growth.
Cheers

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[prodigyrf]

The land of the fair go went somewhere back down the track-
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/nsw-trail-closed-for-cultural-reasons-faces-long-delay-in-reopening/ar-AA1TovGV

[duggie]

G'day, I am in a sense guilty of "ghost booking " . I have a favourite fishing water hole that I like to go to at least once a year . We as a family have been going there for over 40 years , 5 generations of my family in that time have camped/fished this waterhole . There is 3 camping sites on this waterhole and is very hard to actually book a site , mainly due to people booking sites but not actually turning up . I have in the past had to book and camp at other waterholes , but have driven in my favourite site to do some daytime bank fishing only to find that although all the 3 sites have been booked out for weeks/months there is no evidence that anyone has camped there for some time.
I now when I can , go into the Qld Nat Parks booking site and go through the bookings at this water hole looking for a time where I can book all three sites for a period of time months ahead. Yes I am an arsehole but I always have others who come along for the trip and that makes up the numbers , we may all setup on one site but there is 2, 3 or more lots of people attending this trip , I add those extra people onto the camping permit , pay the extra dollars required per person/per night , so there may be no camp on the other 2 sites , but there is names attached to the permit for that site and dollars have been paid. Cheers and beers duggie

[Troopy_03]

Yes I am an arsehole

Hehehe, at least you admitted it..