Buying a Caravan, NEW SOUTH WALES
Airing Date: Sep 5th, 2005
Gerroa is located 130 km south of Sydney via the Princes Highway. Once a popular retreat for various religious orders in recent times a combination of commuters, from both Nowra and Wollongong and retirees and holidaymakers have seen the town grow rapidly.
The Seven Mile Beach Holiday Park is located on a narrow spit between Crooked River and Seven Mile Beach, adjacent to Seven Mile Beach National Park. It is owned by Kiama Council and began 50 years ago with just tent sites. Over the past five years major refurbishments have taken place and cabins, surf shacks and surf safari tents have been added as an expansion suggestion by the managers.
The park can accommodate 752 holiday-makers with fourteen 4-star cabins including beachside cabins, family spa cabins, honeymoon spa cabins and beach huts. There are five on-site vans, four sites with ensuites, 91 campsites, eight surf shacks and five safari tents. In addition there are 200 permanent sites that are nestled by the Crooked River just a short stroll from the beach.
Facilities for the permanent sites include a new TV room, three amenities blocks with laundries, children's playgrounds, BBQs and a well appointed camp kitchen.
The park also has activities to cater for the whole family. One of these is the friendship farm, filled with ducks, guinea pigs, bunnies and all kinds of chooks. They have feeding time once a day where the kids can feed the animals and collect the chook's eggs. There's also a huge aviary on site with all kinds of birds.
Other activities include a size tennis court, two swimming pools, aqua bikes, canoes, games room with arcade games and pool table, beach volleyball, and a kids' club.
A much cheaper alternative to a holiday house in a permanent caravan site. Typically when people buy a permanent site they purchase the van that is already located on the site and then in addition pay the annual site fees. Occasionally a vacant site will become available for sale but this rare. When a van is available for sale the owners put a 'for sale' sign on the van and register their intent to sell with the park's office. Vans come up for sale all the time and the park's office can provide interested parties with a current listing of available vans. The average turn over for vans is between 5-10 years however some families have been coming to the park for generations.
Currently the park has 13 vans for sale ranging from $7,500 to $30,000. The average sale price for a van is around the $15,000-$20,000 mark. The van for sale priced at $30,000 is one of the best vans that has ever been offered for sale at Seven Mile Beach Holiday Park.
The site fees are around $AUD3,000 per year and cover gas, water, electricity and lawn mowing, and allows you to stay in the van for up to 180 days of each year .
Further information:
Caravans From $10,000 - $30,000, Site fees From $3000 a year.
Seven Mile Beach Holiday Park - Ph: 1800 666 665
Prices correct at 5/9/05
