Our Stay @ Groper Creek (Groper Creek Caravan Park)
GROPER CREEK CARAVAN PARK - GROPER CREEK - YURU LAND
When we researched places to stay in the Townsville area there wasn’t much that excited us until we started looking a little further afield. We ended up finding Groper Creek Caravan park which is a little over halfway between Airlie Beach and Townsville and on the coast, about a 15 minute drive off the Bruce Highway, near Home Hill.
We are loving the more basic caravan parks and Groper Creek is right up there. This is 100% a fishing location with a jetty, two boat launching ramps and nearly everything geared towards fishing and crabbing. We saw plenty of people catching prawns off the jetty with cast nets. Sadly there was no success in our attempts at fishing.
There are no shops in Groper Creek so stock up in Home Hill beforehand, or as mentioned above, it is only a short drive away to stock up at any point of time.
Now for the ABC4 review… (A = positives, B = unique/special, C = needs improvement, 4 = rating, ✅ = additional tip)
[ A ] laid back vibe. In the 2016 census, Groper Creek had a grand total of 62 residents. I even reckon that includes those who were at the caravan park! It’s a tiny spot with no shop and everyone seems to be there to fish. With this, it brings an awesome laid back vibe. When we spoke to others, a lot of the vans stay for months on end enjoying the location. I also reckon we were one of the only sites that didn’t have our own boat (tinny to be precise).
[ B ] houses. Ok, a bit of a weird one. But behind the caravan park, including the park reception building, all the houses sit up on “stilts” due to the flooding that occurs in the area. This is not unique to Groper Creek but to see every house up like this in a small town, it looks very unique and when combined with features like driveways that take cars up to house height it certainly brought that different dimension to the caravan park.
[ C ] nothing. For this type of caravan park, I would not change a thing. The amenities block is clean and tidy. There’s good sized sites available. There’s shaded tables and an awesome little playground. I could possibly complain about 10c per 3 min showers but I just used the shower in our van instead. The reception for the park is only open for limited hours, but then you just call a number (there’s even a free public phone to do that with) and someone is with you quickly and sorts you out. Everything is right for this style of caravan park.
[ 4 ] 3.5 out of 4. More decimal points! It’s not quite a perfect 4 out of 4, but it’s not far off either. While a basic park, if you are into fishing and have your own tinny I’d say this place is a must visit. For those that don’t, like us, then it's still worthwhile checking this place out if you want a remote but not remote location. It feels like you are in the Northern Territory but you are only a 15 minute drive away from everything you need.
💰 $39 a night. A great price for a powered site with water only one row back from the creek (river).
✅ If you don’t have your own shower, you will need 10c coins (and the shower key provided at check in). 10c per 3 mins is the going rate.
📌 we stayed on site 11
📅 14th to 16th May 2024
