On a recent trip to Melbourne for our daughters wedding we decided to stay at South West Rocks, there is no doubt this is a beautiful location and the camp site is fabulous , however be warned as this was the off season there were only a couple of vans in the park, as we were only staying over night we stayed hooked up and did not bother connecting to any power or water, (we did not even use the toilets) the office was shut we we arrived so we found a nice quiet location overlooking the bay, in the morning as we were about to leave the ranger came around and asked if we had stayed overnight, as we were more than happy to pay a nominal fee for this beautiful location we stupidly said yes, we were then informed that the charge was $27.00, you can imagine my reaction, the ranger was very apologetic and said that since the off season charges went up they don't get many people stay there anymore, it seems ridiculous to me that these fabulous facillities no doubt paid for by tax payers are now being under utilised due to these exorbidant charges, to add insult to injury, we also stayed at the Merimbula Big 4 cravan park who had an off season special of $27.00 per night for an ensuite site with uninterrupted views of the bay, where we could sit at our caravan and watch the whales passing by I don't have a problem with paying additional charges during peak season when the parks are full (supply and demand). it is no wonder our English friends who are touring around Australia with a caravan (and love the country and people) have dubbed it rip off Australia. this is no way to encourage overseas tourists to support our ailing tourism industry.
Matt
