New Rules for Lucky Bay Camping
Just got back from a weekend up at Lucky Bay (the north one!).
We got a little caught out with the new rules (see pic)
The new rules are posted HERE, but we didn't check this before we left (who would?!) 
$15 per car is now the camping fees.
Anyway, it isn't all bad news. There is a designated camp area for those without a portable chemical toilet and they have cleared and leveled a large area near the shacks. They have also installed loooong drop toilets (don't even stink yet).
John (Caretaker/Ranger) was full of good news when we arrived - no one has been able to fish for 3 months thanks to the southerlies, no one has caught a Mulloway in weeks and even the locals have given up on the Taylor. He was almost right.
We managed a few taylor, had fun chasing Tuskfish (and got the snapped & bent hooks to prove it) and a got handful of Dart. Winds were either north or south, so ballooning was not an option.
wooden fish
Posts: 47
Date Joined: 17/01/11
Rule changes
I think we will find that every previously free camp on the coast wil be subject to the same changes/rules before much longer. DEP (or whatever they are called now), shires and royalties for regions seem to have come to a statewide agreement. Already happened at Masaons Bay, Alexander Bay, Starvation Bay and others down south and now moving north. We were told when up at Bush Bay last year that the same was going to happen at the camps in the Carnarvon area.
Seems like it is good bye to genuine free camping.
WOOD 'n FISH
Adam Gallash
Posts: 15648
Date Joined: 29/11/05
Agreed
Agree completely. The govt will take the coast back as a money grab under the guise of managed conservation. One look at the earnings they get from the big national parks show its a license to print money. The days of wilderness beach camping are numbered.
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quadfisher
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 28/09/10
Pros and cons.
Each to there own , but from what I have seen it goes like this.
If there's no facility's provided they don't seem to charge or have as many rules in these spots.
As soon as they put in a dunny or a bin , rules and fees go up , me myself , we prefer no facility's , less rules, middle of no-where camping where you don't see anyone for days , yes we have a chem toilet or dig a drop one, take out all rubbish , and just leave footprints.
As you say , its more the pity that this is the future, however maybe a vote or two to shoot/ fish party may help , and a quick email to Rick .
I have been to Europe and can tell you horror stories from over there on overregulated everything , its not pleasant and its not what I would like to see for our kids.
That's not to say a regulated camp ground cant work , and in some areas is needed, but please leave us some free aussie camping.
quadfisher
Ashen
Posts: 1042
Date Joined: 22/03/13
Camping
What you said pretty much sums it up!
It's like tourists who go to South East Asia on holidays and go look for steak houses or "western restaurants" every day for dinner......
My idea of camping: open fire, tents, damper, marsmellows on sticks etc.....and swatting mosquitos. Lol
A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!
Shimka
Posts: 465
Date Joined: 06/02/14
Just wait until the
Just wait until the government decides to charge us a seperate fee each year to drive on the beach like they do in NSW. Won't find me anywhere I have to pay to camp, ever.
If you have to pay it means there's other people. I don't spend hundred or thousands to get out of the city just to end up with neighbours living closer to me than I have in the suburbs.
Rules like this are the 1st sign of development. 10 years at most & Lucky Bay will be black top all the way & destroyed by day trippers. Make no mistake, DEC has had this entire area ear marked
for development for a very long time now. Same with Steep. It's not a question of if rather than when & unfortunately when is not very far away.
wooden fish
Posts: 47
Date Joined: 17/01/11
So right
Blacktop = finish. We live in Kalbarri now (paradise) but still do the grey nomad thing. It is harder and harder to find a private (free) spot and the ones we do are usually abused by locals. We spend a lot of time at New Beach/ Bush Bay and pick up bags of rubbish every trip. We will clean up and come the weekend rubbish everywhere. That is another reason DPaW are taking over. That and the fact that they can rip the dollars out.
WOOD 'n FISH