There's an extra reason to visit Bridgewater now its caravan park is back in business, writes LAUREN MITCHELL.
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THE week-old Tumbleweeds and Toadstools on Bridgewater’s busy Main Road is well prepared to welcome tourists.
Along with Helen Zappelli’s offerings of vintage, handcrafted, upcycled and re-purposed wares is something once synonymous with country towns. The grocery shelf.
“I’ve put in a few grocery items because of the caravan park,” Helen says.
“So if people run out of a few things they don’t have to go into Inglewood to the supermarket.”
Helen’s "emergency" items include cup of soup sachets, toiletries, coffee and tea.
Heaven forbid you run out of tea.
Speaking of which, it’s 11am, morning tea time, in this tiny town around a half hour’s drive from Bendigo up the Calder Highway.
Across the road a crowd has gathered along the Bridgewater Bakehouse façade, clutching cardboard coffee cups and plump paper bags.
The daily attractions of bread, pies, cakes and coffee prompt hundreds of hungry stop-offs here.
The bakehouse proudly uses local meat and eggs and flour from the Laucke Flour Mill around the corner - a staple industry in the township for over 100 years.
But now there’s an extra reason to stay awhile, for this month Bridgey’s much-missed caravan park opened for action.
Queenslanders Harry Huebner and Deb Sturgess arrived a week before the official opening to manage the park, sight unseen.
“We had a choice between Mount Isa and here and this was offered to us first,” Deb says.
“We always believe we end up where we’re supposed to be. So here we are.”
The Loddon Shire would have been hard stretched to find more experienced caretakers.
Deb and Harry have spent the past ten years managing parks and eco retreats in some of the country’s most pristine and remote areas.
Think Broome’s Cable Beach, Maleny in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and Moreton Telegraph Station, 300km from the Cape York tip.
They’ve done a couple of stints taking care of Coober Pedy’s original underground hotel, too. “The first time we only went for a month but the owner didn’t want to come back, he kept ringing us saying, you right to keep going?,” says Deb.
“It’s a wonderful place. Where else could you find a restaurant called John’s Pizza Bar and Restaurant that’s run by Nick the Greek?
“It was voted best pizzas in Australia in 2010, too.
“Where the hotel was it looked out to the Breakaways – where Mad Max and Priscilla Queen of the Desert were filmed.”
They were there during Australia’s longest, hottest run of days, where it was 56 degrees and 47 in the shade.
Having spent years moving with the seasons, taking on short contracts the width of the country, Deb says it was time to settle down. And what better place to rest awhile than here by the beautiful Loddon River.
“When we drove in and saw there wasn’t a supermarket we knew this was our sort of town,” she says.
“The chef at the pub came down and introduced his dog to us.
"You know you’re in a small town when people introduce their dogs as part of the family.”
Three weeks post opening day and the phone is hot with inquiries.
Half of the available sites are already booked for the Christmas holidays.
Deb and Harry are hoping the second amenities block will be finished by then, opening up the full 120 sites.
“The most common opening line when someone phones us is ‘I’ve heard a rumour the park’s open again’,” says Deb.
Locals and visitors have anticipated the new park’s opening since the January 2011 floods wiped out the old one.
And they’re making the most of it already.
“People have been booking for one night and staying three or four,” says Harry.
“Instead of checking out they come and pay for more nights and I’d say more than half have done that.”
The park is a lush space of shady sites, an in-ground pool, playground and “the best camp kitchen in the country”.
The said kitchen includes an undercover deck overlooking the water, perfect for happy hour.
Harry has a job keeping up the mowing of the site, irrigated with river water.
It’s a bright green contrast to the wheaten paddocks beyond.
But modern amenities aside, they both agree the biggest drawcard for holiday makers here is the river.
“People come for the water-skiing, and that’s legendary,” says Harry.
“But the fishing is good, too.
“You can just set up camp and throw a line in the water and relax. They’ve been catching some good fish as well.” “It’s lovely,” adds Deb.
“The sun on the river of an evening is just beautiful.
“Every place has its own sunset, even though it’s the same sun, and this one casts a golden glow on the water.”
There’s been a steady stream of prodigal campers trickle into the park this month. Mostly people from bigger nearby towns and cities.
“A young couple from Bendigo came up to have a look last week,” Deb says.
“They’d heard a rumour…”
While you’re in Bridgewater…
Head to the historic art deco Bridgewater Hotel for a quiet drink and classic pub fare.
Visit Water Wheel Winery, the only local drop once served to the queen.
Pop into Billie Brooke’s gift and bric-a-brac shop for a browse.
Take the kids to the safe swimming hole in the Loddon River.
Buy sourdough and other classic breads from the Bridgewater Bakehouse.
Lauren Mitchell writes for Bendigo Regional Tourism.