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Date of Stay: September 2014 Rating: 3
Cecil Plains Rural Retreat Park is a council owned small park which is pretty much filled with permanents, having said that the residents were friendly but there were only two or three tourist sites available during our 3 day stay. The park has all the things Grey Nomads require, each site is a drive thru and even had its own dump point and many have a full sized concrete pad for van and annexe. Amenities are good although they weren't cleaned in the time we were there. The water quality is good as is mobile and wireless Internet (Telstra) and TV coverage.
The town is a short walk with a pub (we were told the meals are excellent) and a general store. A free bbq area, with gardens a playground and information boards about the towns history is opposite the pub. There are a number of historical sites close to this neat little town including a tiny cemetery. Traffic from the highway can be noisy but eases off during the night. The park is next to a grain handling facility and could be noisy during the season. The railway lines have long since been ripped up but the local historical society is currently restoring an old carriage for display at the museum...the carriage cost them $1 and $5,000 to have it trucked there! For free campers there is an area set aside about 1km from town with just a toilet and little else, a new concrete walkway connects the two. We enjoyed our stay at Cecil Plains.
Date of Stay: May 2014 Rating: 3.5
Gin Gin Showgrounds are an example of just how showgrounds should be maintained, huge well presented grassy area, many power points, good water, walk to many shops, pub etc. Friendly resident caretaker and best of all....just $18 for up to 25' 'vans, $21 for larger.
Date of Stay: May 2014 Rating:
Gin Gin Caravan Park was badly damaged and shut down by recent floods and there are no plans to reopen any time soon, fortunately Gin Gin Showgrounds are 100 meters away and fully operational.
Date of Stay: March 2014 Rating: 3
As per previous reports this is still a basic, clean council park. Inverell Shire Council have recently reduced the site fee to $13 for a powered site. Sadly however, the once prosperous town of Ashford is all but dead, the main street is a collection of shut up shops, even the pub now closed, there is no supermarket, some limited Black & Gold groceries can be purchased from the one remaining servo. There is a non prescription dispensing chemist, no resident doctor (visits once a week). Despite this the caravan park is an ideal base location to visit a number of nearby national parks and we give it a rating of 3 and would be happy to return there someday, hopefully.
Date of Stay: February 2014 Rating: 2.5
This park is ideally located on the edge of a lake, however to call
it a 'beach' does require a bit of imagination and does leave a little to be
desired. At first sight the park appears to be very attractive, however we
arrived on a Saturday and the 'good' sites with a view to the lake were taken,
we were stuck down with the really daggy looking permanent monstrosities.
Sadly the quality of these permanent caravans reflect on the management and
while many of them had recently been removed there were a lot to go. Maybe in
the future this park could be called a 'holiday' park but not just yet. Also
we were there in February and apparently this is still 'shoulder season'!
Date of Stay: September 2013 Rating: 3.5
It continues on as a nice, well run, well maintained caravan park.
Date of Stay: June 2013 Rating: 4.5
Totally agree with previous comments regarding this park. It is also of interest to note that new owners have taken over (April 2103) and their attitude suggests that this will continue to be a very good caravan park and it sets a standard for others to follow. If we ever decide to stop travelling and settle down in a caravan park the Tin Can Bay Tourist Park will be the one.
Date of Stay: May 2013 Rating: 3
The Nindigully Pub remains one of those must stay at places, free bush camping is available alongside the Moonie River. The pub is old and, quite frankly, in need of a lot of urgent TLC, the veranda has some serious trip hazards. The Balonne Shire has great plans for the camping area with a riverside walkway, already almost complete, (May '13) and an amenities block including free showers. The meals at the Pub are huge, with prices to match however. The camping area becomes very dusty (or muddy), the best sites are gone early each day as dozens of caravans arrived from noon on. A stay at the Nindigully Pub is a great meeting place for grey nomads, free beer is offered, yesterday.
Date of Stay: February 2013 Rating: 3.5
Manager's name is Tom Ford. Park doubles as a caravan park and a working fish farm. We found it to be an ideal place to stay overnight before making the run into Sydney, 183 km away. Friendly staff. Reasonable value for money ($30 2A PN, powered). Amenity number would not cope in peak times, are close to most sites, were clean, condition is very good, water pressure is good, there was adequate hot water. Adequate number of tourist sites, some level sites, good night lighting, sites will accommodate large motorhomes and 5th wheelers, no sites with annex slabs, no sites are shaded, ensuite sites available, drive-through sites, poor water quality, adequate taps close by. Basic laundry, good rec room, good camp kitchen, dump point, you can use your mobile wireless (carrier used was Vodaphone, reception quality was 3). Noisy, open & roomy park, not enough shade, a few permanents. Dirty UC gas bbq (free), congenial bbq area atmosphere, bbq area lighting, seating provided. Good playground in average condition. Suitable for few days, suitable for families.
Liked:- Access to Pacific Highway. Open and roomy park. Help yourself herb garden. Bushy surroundings, well kept lawns. Visitors are able to catch their own fish and learn about the operation of a fish hatchery.
Disliked:- Due to closeness of Pacific Highway 24 hour trucks were a little noisy although they did not keep us awake, suggest going to rear of park if possible. BBQs provided were not clean.
Parking:- Easy off road parking.
Added Touches:- A one km kids walk through the bush is provided with many teddy bears attached to trees, may have been good once but now in desperate need of TLC, would possibly be scary to kids now.
Road Conditions:- Easy access for south bound travellers but requires U turn if going north, well sign posted.
Date of Stay: February 2013 Rating: 4.5
Like the previous contributor we were a little disappointed by staff reaction. This park advertises a special where you can stay for three nights and pay for two, when we arrived the managers were unaware of this and we felt a little uncomfortable when they obviously did not believe us and had to look up their own website to confirm, we were 'allowed' the special but were told quite curtly that our 10% Top Tourist discount would not be allowed despite us not asking or expecting it. Had it been easy to turn around and travel on at that point we would have done so. Despite all that the park is very good and we rate it at 4.5, its well maintained and located a short walk from a nice beach, in our opinion however a little over priced at $35 PN considering its location some distance from any town (Woolgoolga some 5 or so km away).
