Western Creek Camping Ground offers a quiet, peaceful & relaxing bush setting with plenty of space & un-powered sites suitable for all types of set ups – tents , caravans, motor homes – everyone is welcome.

Generators & campfires are allowed, and pets are welcome.

There is a amenities block with flushing toilets & hot showers provided for all campers. We also offer a camp kitchen; entertainment area & have a playground for the kids. There is no need to book in – just drop in anytime.
Shirlee does a round of the grounds each evening to book in new campers
We are open all year round subject to the wet season.

Gold detecting + panning is permitted & for those interested there are also chiastolites to be found.

Prices :
Detecting + camping – $15 per day or $100 per week per person
Camping only – $5 per day per person – kids 12 years & younger stay for free

For more information message us on Facebook or call Shirlee on 07 40625591 or 0428 969 595

Western Creek Camping Ground

Western Creek Camping Ground
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Mt Larcom Tourist Park offer varied accommodation including deluxe motel-style cabins, powered and unpowered caravan sites and camping. Set up camp on one of our grassed powered and unpowered sites, including drive through sites, or make yourself at home in one of our modern ensuite cabins. Some of our cabins feature a balcony or patio with garden views.

The office is open from 0700 – 1900 daily.

Please call and inspect during office hours and find Del or Kev on-site to answer all your questions.

Kui park and CMCA members receive 10% discount on all camping, caravan and cabin bookings. Find out how to join at our park office.

Park Features:

Contact Details / Fees

Address: 7 Balfour St, Mt larcom, QLD 4695
Phone:  +61 7 4975 1717 or 0413 411 924
Email: mtlarcompark@bigpond.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mtlarcomtouristpark
GPS: -23.8155372, 150.9791711
Fees: Unpowered sites from $24 per night

Been here? Rate it! You can also leave a review below.
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Mt Larcom Tourist Park

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The ShooAway is a battery operated device that keeps flies away from your food when dining outdoors, picnicking or BBQing. It’s also great indoors or outdoors when preparing and serving food.

FEATURES

• SOFT STOP BLADES – The ShooAway’s soft flexible blades are rotated by an energy efficient motor that comes to a soft stop if something blocks the blades, such as your food or hand.
• CHEMICAL FREE – Unlike so many other methods of controlling flies, ShooAway does not use any harmful chemicals, so is safe for use around food, drink, children and pets.
• HOLOGRAPHIC DOTS – The end of each of ShooAway’s gently rotating blades are patented holographmatic discs. This unique innovation is the key to keeping irritating flies away.
• CORD FREE – ShooAway is a battery operated table top device that keeps flies away from your food and drink.

Our Thoughts

The Shooaway performed extremely well for it’s intended purpose. Whilst one product works fine on a small camping table you will need a second item for larger tables.  We tested the Shooaway at out family Christmas lunch at home and found that we needed 2 Shooaways on the table set for 10 people to enjoyed a fly free afternoon.

Many thanks to the team at http://shooaway.com for supplying a Shooaway for this review.

The post Product Review – Shooaway first appeared on FREE CAMPING AUSTRALIA.

We tested the Scrubba Wash Bag out with typical items that we would need to wash on a regular basis whilst traveling and with limited facilities on hand, little available water etc.

The wash bag comes with handy instructions and water level indicators printed on the outside of the bag.

Instructions

1. Add your water to the appropriate level marked on the outside of the Scrubba Bag. How much water you add will depend on how many items you place inside. Then, add your laundry powder and you are ready to go.
2. Roll up and clip the bag together with the plastic clip.
3. Lay the bag flat on a surface and release any trapped air through the valve.
4. Rub with the bottom side down. Depending on how dirty your clothes are, this could be relatively quick or it may take a several minutes. Once satisfied that you have rubbed enough undo the clip and drain out the dirty water.
5. Rinse twice with clean water.
6. Remove your clothes and hang them out dry.

The Scrubba Wash Bag does not require any further maintenance. Simply dry it out after each use, making sure it’s wide open for air-drying  or better still, turned inside-out. This is important to prevent mold or mildew from forming.

Our Thoughts

The Scrubba Wash Bag performed extremely well for what we wanted.  It cleaned small loads of washing effortlessly and with a small amount of water (approx 2 litres).  If water is very scare, the rinse cycles could be eliminated by using wool wash instead of conventional laundry detergent.

When dry and folded the Scrubba Bag is very small and lightweight.  We look forward to taking this with us on our next round overseas travels.  It will certainly be a big improvement from using the sink onboard a cruise or hotel room.

The wash bag also doubles as a Dry Bag, very handy when going to the beach, canoeing or taking anywhere that you need to keep you phone, wallet and valuables dry.

Many thanks to the team at thescrubba.com.au for supplying a Scrubba Wash Bag for this review.

The post Product Review – Scrubba Wash Bag first appeared on FREE CAMPING AUSTRALIA.

There is a gravel boat ramp that would be fine for launching small boats. Note that at times the water level can be quite low.  This is a popular spot to camp and fish for cod, yellow belly and perch.  Watch for submerged obstacles.

This is a free site so we encourage you to help keep it clean, and where possible please visit and support the nearest town or village to this site.

Glen Riddle Recreation Reserve (aka Glenriddle)

Glen Riddle Recreation Reserve
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Tare Weight or Tare Mass

Tare weight or mass this is the net weight of your caravan as delivered from the manufacturer (with no occupants, payload or after-market accessories), usually without water in the tanks or the gas bottles filled. The Tare Weight is normally listed in the owner’s manual or is printed on the caravan’s compliance plate.

Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM)

GVM is the maximum permissible weight of the vehicle (Tug) in operation. GVM is the tare weight plus the payload (water, fuel in tank, clothing, tools, etc). Operating a vehicle greater than its GVM is illegal and will void the manufacturer’s warranty and likely the insurance as well.

Payload

Payload is the trailer or vehicle’s maximum load carrying capacity. It’s the difference between its Tare Weight (un-laden weight) and its ATM. The figure remaining is the maximum allowable weight of the cargo which can be carried in or on the vehicle.

Modifications and additions to the trailer or vehicle can very quickly eat into its carrying capacity and result in an overloaded vehicle. Additional water tanks, batteries and gas cylinders are commonly fitted to campers and caravans and can add significant extra weight. As a guide, each additional litre of water carried adds 1kg (excluding the weight of the tank and fittings).

ATM (Aggregate Trailer Mass)

ATM is the total laden weight of a trailer, which includes the tow ball mass and whatever you add as payload. This weight includes the tow ball or pin mass imposed on the tow hitch plus whatever you add as a payload (e.g. water, luggage, gas being the sum of the GTM plus the weight on the tow ball).

ATM can be measured by placing the fully loaded trailer or caravan on a vehicle scale. Often the local tip is a good location to find a licenced weighbridge.  If using the local tip mid-week would be less busy.

GTM (Gross Trailer Mass)

The total permissible mass which includes whatever you add as payload (eg. water, gas and luggage) that can be supported by the wheels of a trailer. This does not include the mass supported by the tow ball. The GTM is specified by the manufacturer and must not be exceeded.

GCM (Gross Combined Mass)

GCM is the total mass of the tow vehicle and the caravan or trailer, with everything loaded in the vehicle. The GCM is specified by the vehicle manufacturer.

Ball Weight or Tow Ball Mass (TBM)

TBM is the proportion of the trailer weight that is applied to the rear of the tow vehicle. A vehicle’s Ball Load specification can be found in the vehicle’s handbook or compliance plate and will be listed as a weight in kilograms or as a percentage of the trailer’s ATM.

Ball Load specifications are often around 10% of the maximum towing mass specification however, this isn’t always the case. One way to calculate the ball load/tongue weight is the difference between the ATM and the GTM.

Weighbridge weighing procedure…

If you are on a weighbridge with your tow vehicle hitched-up to the caravan/trailer and are fully loaded up this will give you the Gross Combined Mass (GCM).
If you have the fully loaded caravan/trailer unhitched (on its jockey-wheel) with its wheels on the weighbridge this will give you the Aggregate Trailer Mass (ATM).
With the van/trailer hitched to the tow vehicle with only the van/trailer’s wheels on the weighbridge this will give you the Gross Trailer Mass (GTM).
The difference between the ATM and GTM will give you the Tow Ball Mass (TBM).

The post Caravan Towing Weights Explained first appeared on FREE CAMPING AUSTRALIA.

Unsure how you can measure your caravan’s tow ball weight accurately? We’ll explain two very simple ways.

Option number 1

You could always go to a public weighbridge to determine exactly what your caravan ball weight is, but then if it is way out you might want to return home and repack your gear to change how your rig is balanced but then you would have to go back to the weighbridge again. The time, fuel and weighbridge tickets are not worth repeating this exercise every time you pack up and go away.

The easier solution is to check your ball weight whilst still conveniently at home. There are a few ways of doing this, the most common you hear about is using your common bathroom scales.

To determine the Ball Weight you just need a set of bathroom scales (so long as their capacity is high enough) and a brick or pavers. Once you have these items just follow the steps below…

Option number 2 …

An easier way is to actually throw away the timber, put the scales back in the bathroom and buy a dedicated ball weight scale. These scales are portable and relatively inexpensive at about $40 to $50 from Ebay or your local Auto Shop.

A word of caution: As these ball weight scales have a small base, ensure the caravan handbrake is firmly on and the wheels chocked.  You’ll also need to have a level surface to park your van on.

Lower the van’s coupling onto the scale, until the jockey wheel is raised clear of the ground. Do not take the jockey wheel off the van or swivel it up – if the scales do tip over, you’ll want the jockey wheel there to prevent the van from landing on its A-frame.

Simply read the ball weight direct off the scales.

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The Australian Government has legislated that channels 5 & 35 on the UHF CB Band are reserved for emergency use only 

As at January 2007 the maximum penalties for the misuse of the legally allocated CB emergency channels are:

• For general misuse – if an individual 2 years imprisonment, otherwise $165,000 (a $220 on-the-spot fine can be issued in minor cases); or
• For interference to an Emergency call – if an individual 5 years imprisonment, otherwise $550,000

Legally restricted channels

The following channels are legislated as a part of the ACMA UHF CB Class Licence.

• Channel 5 and 35 are designated emergency channels, and are not to be used except in an emergency. To make an emergency call, switch to Channel 5 with duplex on, if there is no response, try again with duplex off.
• Channel 11 is the ‘call channel’ and is only to be used for initiating calls, you should quickly organise another vacant channel to continue your discussion.
• Channel 22 & 23 are only to be used for telemetry and telecommand, packet data and voice transmission are not allowed.
• Channel 61, 62 and 63 are reserved for future allocation and transmission on these channels is not permitted.

Channels:

Calling channel 11 (allocated in law) This channel is used to call another user who may be listening on the call channel (such as a friend). After contact you must move to another channel. Most country operators sit on other general use channels. Scanning all channels is more useful to find these other operators.

Channels 22 & 23 are signalling and telemetry channels only. No voice is allowed. (allocated in law)

Channel 40 is used by highway vehicles and trucks. (firmly established by tradition)

Channel 18 is used by caravans and campers. (by courteous agreement)

Channel 10 is for 4WDrivers which is becoming more popular and is recommended officially in national parks. (by courteous agreement)

Channel 5 is for emergency repeaters (allocated in law) (For locations please ask for a repeater list)

For other regions, scanning all channels is a far more effective way of locating other UHF users in an emergency.

General use channels are therefore 9 12 17 19 to 21 24 to 30 and 39.

Please note that major cities often have one channel that attracts rude and inconsiderate people but please do not judge your new UHF radio by these people.

Channels 5 and 35 are reserved for emergency use only. Strict Penalties for misuse apply.

The post UHF Channel Guide first appeared on FREE CAMPING AUSTRALIA.

Say you have two batteries in series. If their capacity is different (unmatched due to age, cycling or even different brand or models) and you want to avoid discharging below 50% (for long life), you will be limited to the capacity of the weakest battery in the bank.  So if placing a “new” and “old” battery in series, the old battery will limit the capacity.  Another issue is that old batteries have higher “self discharge” than new. When you have two batteries in series, the older battery will self discharge faster and become “out of balance” with the new battery.

If you have a “mix” of unmatched cells/batteries in your bank, you will have to keep a close eye on them as you will likely experience a failure of one of your battery before the other/s.  If the failing battery isn’t diagnosed early you risk severely degrading the whole system.

The post Mixing old and new AGM batteries first appeared on FREE CAMPING AUSTRALIA.

Please note, kangaroos are often encountered on the roads within the Cape Range National Park, so please drive slowly and carefully. Driving around dawn, dusk and through the night when the local wildlife is most active is not recommended.

There are in excess of 100 camping bays along the western shore of the Cape Range National Park, most of which are accessible via conventional 2 wheel drive vehicle.  The campgrounds are positioned along the coast starting at Neds, Mesa, North T Bone, Tulki, North Mandu, Kurrajong, Osprey Bay, Bungarra, Yardie Creek, One K and Boat Harbour. These sites offer easy access to the coast for swimming, snorkeling, boating and fishing.

Caravans and larger vehicles can easily be accommodated, however, there are very few facilities – no power although generators are permitted, showers or cooking facilities. Many of the sites have toilets and picnic tables but you must be fully self-sufficient and bring all your water.  Resupply is via Exmouth which from the furtherest campground is a 160km round trip.

Note: no wood fires or pets are permitted in the National Park.

There are four camping bays that can be booked only online at www.parkstay.dpaw.wa.gov.au. The other camping bays cannot be booked and are available on a first come, first served basis only. If you will be arriving between Monday to Friday, you can check availability for the camping bays at the Department of Parks & Wildlife (DPaW) office in Exmouth. On a Saturday & Sunday, visitors need to make their own way to the park entrance to  check availability of the camping sites. There is a DPaW employee ranger stationed at the park from 8am all year round and they will know what camping sites have availability. For more information, please contact the local DPaW office on 08 9947 8000.

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