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For most road trippers, a WA national park campground is a place to pull up, pitch a tent, and then move on. But for campground hosts, it can be home for a period of time, as they become part of the experience itself, as well as getting to stay in some of our state’s most beautiful spots, free of charge.
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Managed by the Parks and Wildlife Service through the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), the Campground Hosting program allows volunteers to stay at one of the more than 80 sites across WA and play a crucial role in supporting staff and other visitors.
Lee Hollingsworth is the Volunteer Program Coordinator at the Parks and Wildlife Service. He says that while the exact duties differ from site to site, the core role remains the same. Hosts are expected to be the human face of the park and keep everything running smoothly.
“They’re often the first point of contact with the department – or the department’s first contact with visitors,” Lee says. “They’re there to make visitors have a great time, basically.”
The best way to make sure other people are enjoying themselves tends to be for hosts to make sure they’re having a good time, too. Gina has been volunteering for almost 30 years and says she enjoys it as much as ever.
“Oh golly, I love it,” Gina says. “I really enjoy helping people to appreciate and enjoy the environment in the park, the flora and the fauna, and I just really love meeting new people.”
Peter has been a host for the past 13 or 14 years but agrees interacting with others is the key attraction. Both he and Gina stay at multiple sites every year, often for more than a month at a time, and have got to know some of the returning regulars.
“You get long-termers who stay for a month, and then you get to know them, and you know they’ll be there next year.”
Beyond the meet and greet, Lee says it tends to be up to the individual host how involved they want to get with other jobs around the campground. There is some necessary tidying and cleaning, but hosts can also help with anything from flora and fauna surveys to storm clean-ups.
“Some have even got involved in rescue operations. But some hosts just want to do the minimum and then go fishing.”
Peter says the bare minimum tends to take up 2-3 hours a day, although this can vary depending on the site. He never feels that he is too busy.
“You’ve always got your time off. Depending on the season, you can go down to the beach and have a good time, then come back and check in the people coming in for the night.”
Gina agrees.
“If I have my great-grandchildren with me, I can spend some time showing them around. I might spend an hour sitting and talking with people, or I might have a long lunch break one day. There’s nothing defined, no timetable. You just get on and do things as they need doing.”
For many hosts, it isn’t the time off but the time on that is most attractive.
Volunteers find hosting can be a great way to travel around the state while still feeling they are giving back.
“A lot of our hosts are retirees, but they still have skills to offer,” Lee says. “They don’t want to sit around and do nothing. They want to help, and they want to feel valued. They can still be a camper, but they have a purpose.”
Gina says she and her late husband began looking for that sense of purpose before they retired and leapt at the chance to host when it was first suggested to them.
“It keeps the little grey matter working.”
Hosts also tend to find, once they’ve proven themselves to park rangers, they are asked to return whenever a vacancy arises.
“I’m trying to relax, but the rangers keep ringing me up and saying, ‘Can you come and do this one?’” Peter jokes.
Peter says he first stumbled on the host program while travelling and has since managed to sample every site on the books. While the variety of works and landscapes across the different parks is appealing to him, he says there’s one constant that makes the job irresistible.
“Wherever you go, you tend to have the best spot on the site. It’s like being given the keys to the park.”
Lee says the induction sessions, which are run twice a year in Perth, tend to give people a clear sense of whether or not they’ll enjoy the realities of hosting.
“You probably want to be someone who likes the outdoors, and obviously someone who likes to speak to people about, or cares about, conservation and national parks.”
The sessions tend to be popular, but the program is always looking for new recruits who have four weeks free in their schedule. This minimum stay is intended to allow people enough time to get to grips with the unique demands of a particular location without risking hosts developing a sense of ownership over a site.
A general level of fitness is required, given the need for basic maintenance and the occasional need to help out rangers with their broader duties. Having your own caravan or camper will definitely help, too.
“Staying in a tent is not impossible, but it’s not ideal,” Lee says. “Generally, it’s a caravan or camper trailer setup.”
While it’s inevitable hosts will find themselves dealing with difficult customers from time to time, neither of them has been drawn into any real issues. Lee says hosts always have the full support of the Parks and Wildlife Service staff.
“They’re not there to police the site. They’re there to be a presence and look after campers. Anything that puts their safety at risk, they’re expected to call the ranger.”
Peter says the induction training helped, as it covered de-escalation and conflict resolution techniques, but he’s always been clear about knowing where to draw the line.
“If it’s outside your line, or something’s getting a bit more aggressive, you just walk away and call a ranger, because that’s their role, not yours.”
Anyone wanting to try hosting should start by visiting the DBCA campground hosting page and completing the Expression of Interest form.
Both Peter and Gina say the best way to find out if hosting is for you is to just give it a go, ideally starting somewhere not too remote.
“You’ve got to be comfortable in it, and you’ve got to be comfortable with people of all shapes, sizes, descriptions and moods,” Gina says, noting the irony that she often finds herself working harder in retirement as a host than she did when still in paid work. But the rewards are obvious.
“I get more out of it than I put into it,” she says. “Just go for it. It’s an amazing life.”
Peter puts the appeal more simply.
“It’s a small amount of effort to be staying in some amazing locations.”
