IT WAS a quiet long weekend for Sunraysia caravan parks.
The Palms Caravan Park managers Jane and Allan Hill know only too well what it is like to have a quiet spell thanks to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Mildura caravan park closed for about eight weeks due to the pandemic but has now reopened thanks to the easing of restrictions.
Mrs Hill said during their shutdown they still had permanent residents staying at the park but it was not the same.
“You miss the people around the park,” she said.
“You still had to do everything but there was no one to appreciate it except for the permanents.”
Mrs Hill said they had a few people booked to stay at the caravan park during the long weekend but numbers were not as high as what they would normally be for this time of year.
“It’s better than nothing, you’ve got to crawl before you can walk,” she said.
Mrs Hill believes border restrictions in South Australia and Queensland are having an impact on the number of people seeking accommodation in Mildura.
“If Queensland lifted their restrictions there’d probably be a rush on getting up there,” she said.
Mrs Hill said many people who travelled to Queensland at this time of the year often stopped at the Palms Caravan Park.
Meanwhile, Apex RiverBeach Holiday Park owner Daryl Beasy said he was pleased with the amount of people who booked-in to stay at his park.
Mr Beasy said most of the cabins were booked-out and they had about eight to 10 caravans staying at the park.
“I was pretty happy with what we got considering the short notice,” he said.
“We’ve got people booked-in for the next couple of weeks who are regulars.”
Mr Beasy said he was happy to be operating again, even with some restrictions still in place, and felt optimistic that more people would start travelling in the next few weeks.
“It’ll be nice when we can have everything back but having something is better than nothing,” he said.
More COVID-19 restrictions are set to be eased in Victoria from 11.59pm on Sunday, June 21.
