Simple rules for noise, pets, lights and sharing space in holiday parks
Loud music. Barking dogs. Screaming children. They can be annoying in any neighbourhood, especially if they never seem to stop. But when it keeps happening while someone’s on holiday and just trying to enjoy a little bit of relaxation and rejuvenation, such impositions can make the blood boil. Here’s how to be to ensure no one thinks you’re a jerk during your next stay at a holiday park.
The rules of engagement
It doesn’t matter which caravan or holiday park you’re checking into, there are certain rules you agree to by being there. They may vary slightly from park to park, but most of them are commonsense.
“Reflections Holidays has friendly etiquette guidelines that are emailed to guests before check-in,” says the company’s executive manager of park operations, Joe Hay.
“These are also included in their information kit, which includes a park map, when they arrive. It asks guests to be respectful of other guests and reminds them of a 10pm curfew for noise.”
Rules for pets and campfires vary from park to park, but there are some that, even if they aren’t written down, should be adhered to. For instance, keeping your site and any communal facilities clean and tidy should be at the top of your list of things to do, along with disposing of rubbish in the correct bins.
“If a guest has any problem during their stay,” says Hay, “whether with noise or an off-leash dog, they can contact a staff member or call the park manager if it is after hours.”
Don’t be that guy
Ask any regular RV user what irks them the most in a holiday park and it is noise. “Just because it isn’t yet time for the curfew doesn’t mean the whole campground needs to hear you sing ‘Horses’,” says Andrew Parry, who, with his wife, heads off in the caravan every three months or so. He also thinks campers need to rethink generators. “They’re such noisy buggers,” he continues. “Book a powered site or get a good solar set-up.”
Remember, too, that if you’re celebrating, be aware of those around you, says another longtime caravan park user, Sarina Costanzo. “You get people who go on much longer than the curfew then flip out when you ask them to be quiet,” she says. In this case, don’t retaliate – instead, call the park manager who can either deal with it themselves or get the police involved.
You don’t have to be best friends with other people in the park, but a smile doesn’t cost anything. “At one park, we had to pass the permanent caravans and cabins to get to the sites,” says Parry. “It felt like a scene from a horror movie – people peeking out through curtains and closing their shutters. I expected someone rocking on a porch to say, ‘We don’t get many like you round these parts.’ We felt very unwelcome.”
Here are a few other things to avoid, lest you be labelled the annoying park neighbour:
- “Don’t leave bright lights, even security lights, on all night,” says Parry.
- Be sure to set up camp in the right direction, so you’re not staring straight into your neighbour’s camp. “And don’t cut through other people’s sites instead of taking the long route,” Parry adds.
- “One of the things a lot of men hate is when other men come over to try and help them park,” says Sarina. “They mean well, but I’m sitting there thinking, he’s going to kill you.”
Be the neighbour you want to see in the park
Costanzo and her husband have spent a lot of time over the past six years caravanning, including doing two eight-month trips right around Australia. During that time, the couple has made a lot of great friends on the road, thanks to common interests – “my husband's a fisherman, so of course, as soon as we get to a park, he checks out all the guys with their boats” – and her cooking.
“My Italian background means I love to cook,” she says. “I bake and make lots of Italian biscuits. That’s how I get to know people.
“Last year, we went to Karumba [in Queensland] and had barely parked the van – we’d just put the awning out – and the guy next door goes, ‘Four o'clock happy hour, three doors down.’ That happens a lot.”
