Visiting Small Towns

[1DayIll]

Just having a chat with a work colleague and talking about visiting some of the small towns around Australia and seeing what really makes them tick. (or not!)
Recently I was in Warracknabeal and had the opportunity to walk around the town to see what it had to offer, only there for a few hours so it was a quick walk! returned via some of the Silo Art Trail going through a few small country towns.
I went through Minyip and Rupanyup which were both offering cheap sites at short term van sites. Would not say they were caravan parks but had been set up with power and toilets for a small fee of $10 per night! Not sure why more country towns do not do this to create a bit more income for the area!
I would like to be able to travel and visit some of these towns if i was able.......another list of places to visit....

 

[Drover]

You would be surprised @1DayIll how many small towns are getting small camps for travelers set up, some like Binnaway have very good facilities with power available, some that have them have to fight their council to keep them going as councils don't seem to realize just how many dollars these camps can bring in to a town, some are really struggling........Bingara in NSW gets 15 to 20,000 dollars a month from the free campers by their river, they collect receipts to show council how much would be lost by closing the reserve, indeed if that happened a couple of shops would close for sure.......................

We donated to the coffers of Warracknabeal a tidy sum for tyres and a battery earlier this year but compared to Brim it's a big town, you should have checked out Hopetoun, now that is a town that grabbed it by the teeth and have a great set up catering for free campers, powered sites and bunk house by the lake, brilliant.

 

[Dobbie]

Yep. Totally agree.

We much prefer the smaller towns with basic sites. Leyburn in SE Qld is very popular and their free camp has been in operation for years.

It's quiet, spacious and the pub grub is good.

Calliope is another....really good.

Clermont service station also offers a free camp, in the other end of the spectrum and it was certainly an adventure....open area behind the servo, free showers and toilets, take away food and the company of many road trains coming and going all night. Lots of mooing beasts....but free and appreciated.

Many of the towns are including showers in their town toilet blocks and that's great as well. We were surprised by the quality and quantity of those.....but the $10 a night ones are a step in the right direction....keeps the scroungy free loaders away and gives some sort of control, but they do need caretakers.

This is Calliope.

 

[Drover]

Then theirs Lake Cargelligo, NSW and Conamble with their free camping by the lakes.......................

 

[jeff]

Then there's the myriad of apps and web sites to help you find them all