I've been a bit quiet over here recently... trailer plans went on hold, so I limited myself to which forums I frequented in that time.
I spotted this story first up on Facebook locally, and then saw it on
4x4Earth as well.
I've copied and pasted below the results of conversations I had with people up here in Armidale; Last weekend I went down the Armidale - Kempsey road (well, sort of... I took a back road down to Lower Creek from Styx State Forest) and saw the guys at Cracknback as well.
The quoted posts below are my posts to 4x4Earth:
17 January:
Comments are as follows:
-I don't think it's closed; no signs saying it was closed and people were camping there still (and have been for a while).
-There were no tyre marks in the top area, just one yellowed patch of grass from a tent.
-Guy who runs the new campsite down the way (Cracknback, find it on Facebook) was saying that:
-- Armidale Council manage the rubbish collection
-- LLS NW manage the TSR aspect
And that the cows are owned by a number of people.
What I actually think has happened is that 4WD Action are getting half truths out there, without checking 100%. I will try to find out more over the next few days from the Visitor Information centre, Council and LLS and report back.
19th January:
I went to talk to the nice people at the Visitor Information centre here in Armidale; I have a good relationship with them as I work for a caravan park in town as well, so deal with them most shifts.
They did some ringing around, as one of the staff there had heard the same story. The results are:
-Armidale Dumaresq council say that they have not heard anything about it being closed other than the article from 4WD Action (and a lot of people ringing up to ask questions about it since Friday)
-Rang Riverview Lodges who are down there to confirm, and likewise they had only heard about it from 4WD Action's post... and they said they had also seen people camping at George's Junction
So, to conclude, we do not think (99% certain) that it is closed, however the VIC are trying to get from 4WD Action where they got the information from (the VIC manager was firing off emails as I left!) as at the moment it seems to be unfounded truths.
Later on on the 17th:
I've just had an email back from the guys at the VIC, and there's going to be an update from 4WD Action on Thursday...
I suspect there is some truth in what 4WD Action said, but the way they said it did not convey it properly, and ultimately the camping is still open on the main area on the road side of the Macleay River.
21 Jan:
OK, response from 4WD Action is up now.
What it doesn't say is that the original article bore no relation to the actual situation there, and that the way they had written the piece was quite wrong; GJ was never closed, rather one area that was being used was closed off due to the idiots - but their original story never explained that, rather it said that GJ was closed... that's quite a bit of a difference... oh well, it's 4WD Action, what else do we expect? They'll never let the truth get in the way of a good story...
Hope that helps everyone,
Ed (also posts on Australian CamperTrailer Facebook group)
