Generator noise & other bad habits

Tony Allsop — 25 February 2015

Some of these actions are just irritating but others have legal or safety implications.

Truck bays are installed along major highways to allow long distance truckies to have their compulsory rest stops. RVers who set up camp in these bays (especially in a manner which obstructs trucks entering or leaving the bay) are very irresponsible and inconsiderate.

We have heard stories of campers waking sleeping truckies and asking them to turn off their refrigeration systems because they can't sleep with the noise!

Use of generators is a common cause of friction in national parks and free camps.

Years ago at Mary Pool, an old wind-up camper was backed in between our van and the one in front of us, so that the bed on the camper was over our hitch. To add insult to injury, they pulled out a rattly old generator and started it up almost under our awning. The fumes were worrying us even more than the racket it made, when they cheerfully stated that they were going up to join their friends for dinner to get away from the generator noise, and left it running for hours.

While most RVers are not as blatant as that, it is antisocial to run a generator for hours, particularly at night, when the noise and fumes are impacting the neighbouring rigs. The generator issue is compounded by the fact that some RVers park very close to other rigs, even when there are acres of free space around.

Some free camps, such as Fletcher Creek near Charters Towers were so crowded that we decided to move on rather than camp closer to other vans than in a van park. We also saw a caravanner empty his toilet cassette behind his van at this camp.

Even though most dog owners are considerate and most travelling dogs are small and easy to control, there is a significant minority of people travelling with unruly large dogs. Last year, we saw a station wagon with three large dogs inside, with the owner sleeping in a tent beside the car. There was pandemonium in the camp when the dogs were released in the morning, and jumped into the muddy creek beside the camp. Even people who like dogs do not necessarily enjoy visits from boisterous or muddy dogs and no one enjoys standing in their droppings.

No group of travellers takes the blame for the rubbish that accumulates at free camps: caravanners love to blame backpackers but it seems that all RVers must take some of the responsibility. Some free camps have been closed because the local councils could no longer carry the cost of cleaning up the areas, and this will continue.

Has anyone found a way to confront the perpetrators of these transgressions of the unspoken rules of camping in such a way as to improve their behaviour?

Tags

generators rubbish noise rules habit tip blog

Photographer

Denyse Allsop

External Links

http://www.caravanworld.com.au/blog/