hallii Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Like others, we have been subject to the "empty-car-park-but-I-will-park-right-next-to-you" intrusion. When using Aires or wild camping I just move or even move on. BUT be aware that certain non British campers use the tactic to force you to move thus making a space for them! More annoying is the growing tendency to put campers (mine is a camper, VW and quite small) in a separate area of a camp site, parked 3 feet apart and paying the same fee as the caravans on a full size pitch. I was once asked to share a pitch with a caravan and awning as "you are only small". The fee was full size though! I hope that camp site owners read this forum and I suspect that they do, so what about marked pitches for campervans (or motorhomes) optional electricity, (I have no use for 230v, everything is 12V), site roads that I can actually turn corners on (how some of the big motorhomes get on I don't know), a water tap less than 100 ft from the road, and so on. No wonder I prefer to use CLs or wild camp, I resent being asked to pay the same fee for my small campervan without electricity, as a car and caravan combination using 16amp electricity. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Blimey Geoff you're brave. I posted recently on part of your subject, particularly your comment I've copied below.. No wonder I prefer to use CLs or wild camp, I resent being asked to pay the same fee for my small campervan without electricity, as a car and caravan combination using 16amp electricity. I practically got lynched, but funny enough, the worst vitriol was from a caravanner. No shock there though.. Reaching for crash helmet :D Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky 8 Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 On the first occasion We encountered Close Parking , was in the Highlands of Scotland , we had pulled off the main road and onto a fairly large area of grass and gravel, on a side road, we had started tea on a lovely summers evening, when another Motorhome pulled up and parked some twenty feet away, there was movement in the newcomers M/H and soft voices,we could see a child (about 4 to 6 year old) peering out of the window and directly at us we just smiled and he smiled back, we carried on with our meal, then read for a while and settled down to sleep, it had just gone dark when we heard the engine start up on the other M/H we thought they must be off again or shifting to level the M/H for the night, the engine noise got louder and then stopped altogether,I peered out of the window and found the newcomer had drawn up within about 6 to 8 feet of us, all the lights were out and is was silent, I slept a little uneasy that night, the following morning there was a knock on our M/H door and there was a young woman in her thirties stood with a baby in her arms and the young boy at her side, she wanted to apologize if she disturbed our rest and also for parking so close ,she said she was on her own (with the children) and she was taking the children on a long awaited holiday, and couldn't find the caravan site she had booked , seen us and sought safety along side of us once she had looked us over, and brought her M/H closer to ours as it made her feel safer for the night, So not all are space pirates.! excuse the pun. and if you feel encroached upon speak out you can only be met with abuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 hallii - 2009-04-30 11:37 AM More annoying is the growing tendency to put campers (mine is a camper, VW and quite small) in a separate area of a camp site, parked 3 feet apart and paying the same fee as the caravans on a full size pitch. I was once asked to share a pitch with a caravan and awning as "you are only small". The fee was full size though! I hope that camp site owners read this forum and I suspect that they do, so what about marked pitches for campervans (or motorhomes) optional electricity, (I have no use for 230v, everything is 12V), site roads that I can actually turn corners on (how some of the big motorhomes get on I don't know), a water tap less than 100 ft from the road, and so on. No wonder I prefer to use CLs or wild camp, I resent being asked to pay the same fee for my small campervan without electricity, as a car and caravan combination using 16amp electricity. Geoff No doubt SOME sites would argue that all their pitches need to be able to accommodate whatever outfit turns up, and since the pitch therefore costs them the same regardless of who's on it, the price should be the same. But that certainly doesn't wash in the case you describe - they really can't have it both ways; either they can charge you full wack because you're taking up a full pitch, or they can give you a small space and charge a proportion! I suppose in the end the answer is, look for the sites that best cater for your needs. If someone has a 4x4 and twin-axle trailer, or a big motorhome which needs plenty of room and won't work without mains elec., then they'll be looking for a very different kind of site than you and me, with our small campers running happily on gas/12v. Why should we assume that the same site will be right for all those different outfits? I wonder - are there enough of us yet for someone to produce a motorhome-specific sites guide, which isn't padded out with expensive "outdoor-hotel" type places and parks full of statics, but tells you (eg) whether it really IS level, and how accessible the water/waste facilities are for those with built-in tanks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coachman Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I forget the place name now as it was about 6 years ago in Portugal, it was getting late and could not find a camping place but passing along a road saw a beach with a path leading down to it, got ouselves comfy all locals gone and bedded down for the night. Woke up in morning to find at least 15 vans parked along by us, a German lady who opened her window which nearly touched ours said "good morning, hope we did not disturb you last night". We thought it funny that this lot came down that track in the dark, was our van the magnet?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Let's be honest, most of us who camp off-site in unfamiliar places have done it. Looking for somewhere to stop, getting late, not sure what's legal/safe, spot another camper obviously pitched up for the night, "Ah, that place must be OK then!" And in we go - but USUALLY a couple of metres or so away. It doesn't explain this habit of getting really "up close and personal," endangering each other's paintwork! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mondo Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 I posted a similar thread last week after being "boxed in by some twonk" on a very large aires in France ..the lady with the kids no probs but an idiot doing it just because... The point I was making there was litterally acres of room and he still parked there *-) *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 We've experienced this too! You find a riverbank and park up with a hundred yards to the front and rear, and the next van parks inches away - once so close we couldn't open our swinging back door!!! And in our experience the vans have families which then pour out onto the grass, set up that table and chairs and put the music on! Europeans (very much including the English!) do it in cars too, though. So many times I've parked my car in a huge empty section of carpark and the next driver comes over and parks so that I can't open my door properly!!!!!! I've not noticed it in North America or Australia. Perhaps it's a European thing? I'm sure there's a PhD psychologist somewhere out there who has a thesis on why Europeans like to huddle together?! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky 8 Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 mom - 2009-05-01 1:47 PMWe've experienced this too! You find a riverbank and park up with a hundred yards to the front and rear, and the next van parks inches away - once so close we couldn't open our swinging back door!!! And in our experience the vans have families which then pour out onto the grass, set up that table and chairs and put the music on! Europeans (very much including the English!) do it in cars too, though. So many times I've parked my car in a huge empty section of carpark and the next driver comes over and parks so that I can't open my door properly!!!!!! I've not noticed it in North America or Australia. Perhaps it's a European thing? I'm sure there's a PhD psychologist somewhere out there who has a thesis on why Europeans like to huddle together?! ;-) :-D I,m no Psychologist, (I can only just spell it ) But do you not think its all part of our social conditioning ,unlike North America and Australia we dont have the space, when we go into car parks Motorhome shows etc were either lined up or regimented in some form of order, we have been conditioned starting at school to form a orderly queue , we line up behind /alongside, but never in front of ,and only take up the room you require so the next person can do the same ,and I think that Orderly fashion follows us through life (well not everyone ) you normally join the queue at the Back and I think that may be happening with people parking they see someone Parked up so instinctively take the next space to them, ( but shouldn't be too close ) others like to be on their own and think its an intrusion into their space if anyone even thinks of getting near them its not always first come first served ,as we have once again been taught,Perhaps when we hear of the first break in and assault on a wild camper we will be more willing to allow others near to us as a form of protection, 8-) just my perspective on it 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homenaway Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Hi, We've found the same problem in some aires and stellplatz. I think sometimes the adjacent car or motorhome parks up hoping you'll provide some shade. B-) We stayed at an aire at Lac d'Aubusson near Ambert, a reservoir leisure complex with parking spaces for 500 cars and had a French camping car pull up about 5 feet away from us then the dad and kids started to kick a football around! There were only a couple of other motorhomes parked across the carpark so after tea we drove across to an empty part but got some strange looks from them We try to avoid aires that are just parking bays marked out on the tarmac. It doesn't seem so bad if parked in a line endwise provided there's room to get out. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Mooooooo .... I'm part of the 'herd' at the moment! I'm currently in the van, parked at Hornsea near the boat yard, about 200yds from the sea in the large car park (not tarmaced). We are the 'filling' in the sandwich between a Burstner 660 and a Compass Avantgarde. We too could have gone ot the 'other side' of the car park but choose to become the 'filling' instead, both us and Burstner are parked longitudinally (ie nose to bottom :$ ) about 8ft apart, and the Compass is at a right angle, about 15ft away. We've all nodded at each other and hopefully should have a nice quiet night. We've used this spot once before at Easter and it was a very good stop, no aggro or anything like that. There are a few nice fish & chip shops too. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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