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Gramps Bush Campsites 25-Mar-2004 At 1:11:31 PM molybdenum

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If you look at the size of the grampians park one can understand why PV might try and get some revenue out of these unserviced bush campsites - the place is huge, with numerous roads running through it and considerable distances to travel between many of the official campsites. From what i've been told the grampians recieves something like 3 million visitor-days a year (that's 3 million visits) - this a conservative estimate, no one is really sure of the true amount because there are so many roads running through the place parks can't control access like they do, say, at wilson's prom (which has one road in, and one road out, unless you like swimming.).

None of the happy day trippers have to stop anywhere and pay $2 for the privelage of entering the park. Thats why those of us crashing overnight (a minority) are the ones that have to try make up some of the revenue needed to grade roads, re-vege & fix picnic tables etc.

i still hate paying so much when know i get flushing toilets and someone who cleans the mud out of the girls loo the very day after a flood for just $2 a night at Araps (what a bargain!). I fail to see though how charging for bush campsites will be worth their while - it will have to be less than the serviced ones, and i doubt if that would even pay for the petrol to get from one campsite to the other.

On the issue of fires - i like a campfire as much as anybody. What I dislike is seeing bogains hopping over fences to collect wood from re-veged areas to feed their fire. i dislike people that go and collect wood from the roadside, when that roadside stilll happens to be the park. People do this just out of bendigo - wirrakee state park has NO WOOD lying on the ground. Anywhere. It is very weird. One might also notice when they go there a distinct lack of small animals. (you guys know how to put two + two together.)

3 million vistors - assume only 1 in 10 actually decides to stop for the night. Thats 300 000 people to collect wood. Assume i'm not being conservative enough, and only half that number decides to light a fire - it's still 150 000 people going out collecting firewood from the park, every year. That's quite a lot of wood, isn't it? especially over several years.
So if parks decided to ban woodfire, i'd be a bit sorry, but i'd see the logic. However, i can't see why they'd say 'no' to stocking up on wood and leaving it for campers in designated areas (i don't think selling it would work, not when there's a whole park to collect from)

time to go do some work now...