What sort of Caravan Park do you prefer?
Submitted: Sunday, Oct 31, 2010 at 20:27
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bluefly
As a preamble to this post I should explain that I prefer the more rustic sites in small towns, rather than the larger, and more popular Caravan parks....... each to his own I suspect.
As usual, the annual trip was a mixture of
bush camping and the occasional visit to a
park for a wash etc.
The one’s that stick out in my mind are the following:
Willows Gem field Caravan
Park west of
Emerald. Small community, small caravan
park but full of great people and tall stories related to prospecting.
Tambo Caravan
Park. We were beset by rain, mud and every other form of pestilence then finally pulled into the
Tambo caravan
park which is about as big as postage stamp.
The old dear who runs the place is a real card and made up for the poor shape of the amenities.
Next morning, with the rain still coming down we headed towards
Charleville and came across a cattle station just north of the town to the right. I can’t remember the name of the property but it’s very clean and relatively new.
There was
no access to the tracks within the station, which was understandable given the prevailing conditions.
I’m not knocking the larger ones, but I don’t like to be crammed in.
Cheers.
Reply By: Member - Brian P (SA) - Sunday, Oct 31, 2010 at 21:37
Sunday, Oct 31, 2010 at 21:37
I also remember Willows Gem Field Caravan Pk. as a friendly down to earth caravan pk. One that sticks in my
mine to come back to.
I also avoid the bigger van parks preferring the lay back bit roughish country parks and
bush camps. But that's me and you bluefly and im sure we are not alone.
Brian
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Follow Up By: Member - Brian R (WA) - Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 00:05
Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 00:05
Hi Guys
We like our caravan
park to have clean facilities and a fair price . Bad managers are a NO NO. Once stopped i
WAGIN WA $10 a night....a very basic site and not much gras for the tent. We asked the caretaker could we
camp on a little bit of grass in the middle....no worries . 2 30 in the morning ...the sprinklers (3 of them ) tested our tent out. solved it by covering them with buckets and billies
Brian
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Reply By: Motherhen - Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 01:09
Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 01:09
One out in the bush with no-one else within cooee! However last year three CPs stood out above the rest. Not in any order of preference -
Walcha in the
New England Plateau. Very quiet on the edge of town, large roomy
park with big drive through grassed sites, wonderful amenities.
Park has since been sold, so i hope the new owners keep it up to standard.
Tenterfield Lodge CP, on the edge of town, quiet, very homely touches to the older bathrooms.
Ilfracombe CP, not entirely quiet due to location near highway, but hosts who go the country mile to please, lovely amenities, homely touches, and if you used their cabins, you'd feel you were in someone's nice home. Popular for their happy hour with nibblies and entertainment which we didn't attend.
These three only fell short of being 'perfect' because they didn't have disability access bathrooms, although those at
Ilfracombe were large enough to be used by someone in a wheelchair with just a bit of assistance.
A few others came very close. All of these good ones are pet friendly. They were charging $22 - $23 per night for two powered at these top three.
The previous year, the CP at
Sandstone WA won hands down. Beautiful and very
well maintained amenities, wonderful hostess, friendly community.
If we have to go to a CP, good value, quiet location with a pleasant outlook (rural, bush, mountains), clean amenities and hot
water, preferably showers with separate dry dressing rooms and floor mats, roomy drive through sites, pleasant hosts. We have no interest in pools, spas, playgrounds and other extras.
Motherhen
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Follow Up By: Alloy c/t - Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 12:00
Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 12:00
The
Ilfracombe c/van
park has the added attraction of Hannah , a grade 7 schoolgirl who's parents run the
park , undoubtably she will win award after award for her performances of bush poetry , she recently did a rendition of " grandma and the snake" at the Stockmans Hall of fame during the concert [ angel flight ] ,,
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Follow Up By: bluefly - Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 16:59
Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 16:59
Motherhen
I might be passing through
Tenterfield next year and have a look at the CP.
Cheers
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 17:13
Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 17:13
Hi Bluefly,
Tenterfield Lodge suited us
well. They were doing some expansion of the site at the time. The
show grounds was not far away and a number of caravans and motor homes stopped there, but for so few dollars more the lovely homely atmosphere and quiet location won it for us. They had a very nice fully enclosed
camp kitchen with television, and it was grand final day and also the second of the two bad dust storms. What a lucky place to be that day. We did not check out other CPs in the town, having chosen
Tenterfield Lodge originally because of being furthest away from the highway and good reviews. We were going to stay out at parks such as
Bald Rock, but due to a sudden change to cold and showery weather we stayed in comfort and did days trips from the CP.
Similarly at
Walcha we stayed in the CP and did day trips to the parks we would normally have taken the caravan into. This was in part because my husband had bronchitis and the weather, but we still wouldn't have stayed more than one night if they had not been so nice and
well located for a quiet night.
Mh
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Reply By: Wilko - Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 14:31
Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 14:31
I like it nice and simple with plenty of room between sites.
Cheers Wilko
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Follow Up By: Member - warren h (SA) - Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 16:36
Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 16:36
I find the fancier the caravan
park the fancier the price, I also like it nice and simple, some of these parks are like full on tourist resorts, makes me wonder why some people bother with the caravan.
Cheers Warren.
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Reply By: wendys - Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 18:00
Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 18:00
Bluefly,
the
park you refer to at
Charleville is Evening Star. Great place.
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Follow Up By: bluefly - Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 19:17
Monday, Nov 01, 2010 at 19:17
Yes that's the name. unfortunately when we arrived there was a lot of mud, but the open grassed areas made up for it.
As you know there is a large open fire pit beside the rustic bar.
Our only problem was that a couple of small kangaroos adopted us, and insisted on entering the camper vans each time the door was opened.
We gave up in the end and let them join us for a couple of hours one night.
Cheers
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