Christmas is nearly here!

This year and in particular, the past month or so, has definitely been an interesting one. The staff at The Anchorage have had a busy year personally, with house building, travelling, sport, school, births, deaths & marriages! We celebrated many births towards the latter half of the year (It appears there wasn't much on tele last Christmas!), there were a few marriages thrown in the mix, and sadly, such is life, some friends passed on. Death always makes one reflect on life and get a reality check...that is, not to sweat the small stuff and appreciate what you've got, while you've got it! Marriages are always lovely, it's so nice to see people eager to begin their lives together. And births just make us all smile. The cycle starts all over again with little baby softness and the wonder of endless possibilities.

We've had a quiet month in the park - which has been great for our behind the scenes work - although the weekends have proven very busy, particularly in the cabins. We have a couple of great specials that are still applicable until the 15th December which is when our busy period kicks in. So if you can sneak away, take a look at those first, see if one suits you and beat the rush.

The fishing has been quite good recently, with some good size tailor being caught at the beaches, along with some good flathead. There's been turtles in the river and at the headlands and of course, the dolphins are always about.

We've had many foreign visitors recently and they've been glad to see all the wildlife about. Our resident possums have been active at night, a big brush tail comes to the bird feeder at Reception to eat whatever bread the birds leave. Bandicoots can often be seen around the amenities block and they are not shy, you can get quite close to take a photo. Our goannas and echidna have yet to make an appearance though and this is probably because the weather is confusing them. Now it's sunny again, they'll probably come out to play!

Anchorage Cup Day

What a great day! We had over 70 people for our annual event this year, when guests and residents enjoyed a Racing Carnival with a difference.

Held to coincide with the Grafton Spring Racing Carnival, about 70 people 'dolled' up in their finery to enjoy themselves. There were 3 'maiden handicaps' run with both jockeys and 'horses' given to cheating! The bookies were active and...honest?

The Anchorage Cup was fiercely contested but the outsider won.

Fashions on the Field were stunning – thanks to our local OP Shop 'Wellspring on Charles' and the Fashion Parade with our Internationally Famous models (including Graeme and Karen) will go down as an event to remember!

Good music, good food and good fun was had by all and $210 was raised for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

(The Helicopter service is a valued one in our area, where many townships are remote and trips to the hospital may take half an hour or more.)

We look forward to next year's event and for those of you who like to have fun, we hope you will come and join us next winter!

Caravan Camping Show

Well, Graeme and Anne are back now (briefly) from the Brisbane trade show...they reported it was a good show, but very cold! Apparently the guys outside the pavillion selling fleecy lined drizabones did very well!!

We had quite a cold snap here too, it was around -7 up on the mountain (Glenn Innes, Dorrigo etc) and whenever it is that cold or snowing, up there, then we get that bitter chill down here. However, it soon changed into glorious days so warm that the kids could actually swim at the beach instead of in the warm pool!

We'll have more information about the show to put in our next blog. But in the meantime, why don't you come down and try your hand at fishing...or walking along one of our wonderful beaches? The whales are around, and usually not too far from the shore...bring your binoculars because they have been very playful, breaching and wallowing on top of the water. Great photo opportunities.

Long Weekend and Fishing!

The long weekend (Queen's Birthday) has come and gone. We had a great group of people, and lots of dogs! Almost every site in the camp ground had one or two, but apart from when our neighbourly kangaroo decided to go for a run through the campground one night and got everybody excited (dogs and kids alike), you would never have known the dogs were there. Thanks to everyone for a great weekend.

The tablelands had a bit of a cold snap -7 to -10 degrees in some places, and whenever the mountain gets that cold, we get the fallout. So this weekend was beautiful sunny days, but with a chill in the air. Perfect for rugging up at night and toasting marshmallows over the campfire!! The heated spa got a good workout too - with many campers warming their toesies before dinner!

There are some good low tide gutters at present and good sized tailor were caught off the main beach - 30-50cm - they are always good for a fight and are lots of fun. While the tailor are on, the river bream appear to have taken a break and the flatty are a bit quiet too, but in the Clarence River, the patient angler will always come home with a feed. Some of our customers are heading up Shark Bay beach tonight to see what's around up there, so we will report on the fishing there too in the next couple of days. The good fishing season starts around now, so don't leave it too late to come and try your luck!

The Brisbane Caravan, Camping and Touring Show is on next month from 9th - 15th June. This is usually a great show, with everything from caravan sales to knicky knack stalls. These shows are always good if you are looking to buy a van, starting out on your holiday or even just browsing.

If you take the time to chat to the accommodation stall holders, you'll pick up some good tips as well as get an idea of what type of caravan park will suit you and your requirements.

Graeme & Anne will be there, manning the Top Tourist stand, so make sure you pop by and say hello if you're attending the show.

Caravanning in style

The weather this past week has been fantastic during the day and chilling off a bit at night. Just enough to snuggle into a blanket.

The heated spa has been a hotspot...for young and old...and the young ones have also been in the pool a fair bit too!

This weekend we had a wonderful group of people in, some botchi on the front lawn, a massive cricket game (not sure who won) and numerous basketball matches...it all looked like a lot of fun.


That's what holidaying in a caravan park is all about. Spending a relaxing time with your family, doing fun, safe stuff that everyone enjoys!

Why not treat yourself and your family or partner, and pay us a visit? We're not far away and there are some great special deals on the website - have a look and see if one suits you.

Beautiful Weather

We had a great weekend with all our visitors from (predominately) Queensland. The weather wasn't as dodgy as the Bureau had predicted, a couple of drops of rain at night, clearing to sunny days. Everyone got out and about fishing, swimming, jetskiing etc and at night...they must have been exhausted because it was early to bed!

The weather today is wonderful. We had a rainy day yesterday, but today has dawned sunny and hot. The mullet fishermen have taken a couple of fantastic hauls and The Anchorage is lucky enough to be situated not too far from where they bring them in. It is a fascinating thing to watch...no new-fangled equipment with this type of fishing - it is 'back to basics', jump in, get your feet wet and pull the nets in by hand!

We are beginning to fill up with our winter long-term visitors, but we still have vacancies so if you are planning to holiday in Iluka, or just travelling past, why not visit our website or call in and stay for a while?

May Day Weekend

It's a long weekend for Queenslanders this weekend and we've had many make bookings already. There are still vacancies though, and it is a great time to visit Iluka, still hot during the day but cool enough at night to be pleasant if sitting outside. 

We have a Spa Cabin available for Friday/Saturday night only, and we have one of either the Deluxe Cabins or Queen Cabins still available all through the weekend. Caravan and camping sites are still available, although if the phone calls taken today are any indication, they won't last long!

The fish are starting to bite, flathead & bream are always around in The Clarence River - not always the big ones but Karen can confirm there are some to be caught...she went fishing with her kids and between keeping the boat off the wall and re-baiting their lines as well as her own, she managed to snag a 48cm flatty...pan size. Very nice.

Mullet season has already begun and school Jewfish have been caught on the beaches. One local we know caught a massive Jewy off the beach recently. (But he won't tell us where!)

So, you may as well take advantage of the long weekend...and even if you don't have the long weekend, come for a short one!

Let's try again!

Hi Everyone.

We got ahead of ourselves last time...started a blog then life happened and nothing got posted!

Well, here we are again! And we promise to be posting on a regular basis. We'll be notifying you of special deals, letting you know what's happening in the park and around town and just giving general information. We're new to all this, so if there's anything in particular that you would like us to address, let us know and we'll do our best.

We are also now on Facebook, so check out our page. For those of you who don't use Facebook, don't forget we still have our personal website, where you will find all you need to know about our park. http://www.anchorageholidaypark.com.au/

Hope to see you soon! Happy Holidaying!

From The Anchorage Team: Anne, Graeme, Sel, Karen and all the staff.