Another email this month from a subscriber who has had advice on travelling through Northern Territory and Western Australia and she wishes to take her dog.

She writes "There appear to be very few places to free/bush camp and I have been advised that it can be very risky even in groups. I am quite prepared to stay in caravan parks when necessary but am finding very few that takes dogs, especially down the west coast…… Leaving the dog at home is not an option ………….Are there any helpful people out there who have found places where one can stay with a dog?"

It is a pity that people often advise in the negative after hearing one bad story. We have free/bush camped all over Australia without any problems what-so-ever and have many friends and met many people who have done the same. I have never heard any advice that it is risky especially in groups. As long as you are sensible follow a few simple rules you usually do not fun into problems (see my article on "Safety at Overnight Stops"). If your motorhome is set up correctly it is not necessary to stay in caravan parks unless you need to plug into power and you can even find country towns these days that offer free powered sites. Be mindful that if you do stay in caravan parks it will limit your budget for other things you want to do. We do however choose to stay in caravan parks in capital cities (like Darwin and Perth for example) to give ourselves a base for a number of weeks. This is a personal choice but others are happy to move around every day.

There are three resources I suggest. Firstly "Bush Camping with Dogs" by John Firth is a great resource and extension to "Holidaying with Dogs" which caters for hotels and motels. The book offers more than 1100 campsites nationally. You can find this book at the Motorhoming Lifestyle bookshop .

The second resource is the CMCA website. Download their campsites files. As a member they are free.

Thirdly there is "Camps Australia 4" by Phil Procter which is also available from the Motorhoming Lifestyle bookshop . This is a great reference to free and cheap camps and also has some reference to pets.

Take your dog and have a great time.