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Riverwood Downs - NSW |
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| Lucy, Max, Tess, Buster, Chloe, Beau, Eric and, of course, including the resident family of Tiffany, Tammy, Cougar, Niki, Spinner, Tia - this was a paradise for Rex our border collie, making all these new friends. The resident family are ALL border collies, and perhaps fortunately, eight little pups had all gone to new homes only the week before, or who knows how tempting it would have been to get Rex a little girlfriend. Eric was our nearest neighbour a Australian/Foxie Terrier cross and he and Rex quickly became great exploring mates together. |
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Camp kitchen by the river |
Signs just before you arrive |
| If ever there was a dog friendly spot in paradise - this is it. Bounded by Karuah River on two sides, off Buckets Way in the Gloucester/Stroud region of New South Wales (17 kms north of Stroud), you have 750 acres of property over which you and your best friend can roam totally unrestricted. Well signposted, the road in is an excellent all weather dust free road climbing up, over and down Linger and Die Hill. The views are picturesque and maybe the name was appropriate in the days of early settlement as it would have been quite daunting. A large sign greets you at the main entrance and past two dams you go with the water lilies in full flower at the time of our visit. Meandering past the stables and horse riding centre and through a white gate you come to an L shaped group of timber buildings and pull up outside the office, just on the corner. |
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River behind our campsite |
Impressive reception area |
| Receptionist Toni was bright and bubbly even though we didn't get in till about 6 pm and gave a fantastically detailed map of the complex. We chose unpowered and were given a choice of sites 8 to 48 down by the river - what could be better we thought, having noticed the manicured grass lawns as we came in. All four legged friends did not have to be restrained until night time as long as they were controlled by their owners. All the cabins, guesthouse facilities, bunkhouse lodge, owners cottages and homestead, walking tracks and horse riding trails, swimming and canoeing spots are well indicated on the not to scale map. There is even a note of <------lost or home -----> in case you end up on the main road and don't know which direction to take. The boundary fences are well marked as are the best spots to cross the river. |
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Magic gardens are everywhere! |
Our hard to take working conditions |
| We quickly spotted the kiosk selling bread, milk, ice creams, lollies and the staple necessities of food and camping stuff, a gold public phone, a five star restaurant, canoes for hire and a beautiful rustic amenities and laundry block. Through the gate, past the pet friendly cabins (yes some cabins do allow your best friend dog, cat or budgie inside), powered caravan sites were under shady trees with a concrete pad, but our decision to take unpowered was totally the right one - a long stretch of manicured grass, bounded by the river and trees such as weeping willows and sheoaks looked really inviting, plus there were water taps at very regular intervals, some fireplaces, 44 gallon rubbish bins (which are emptied daily) and if the site we chose didn't have a fireplace, we could have a fire on the ground - providing we took proper care naturally. |
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Camping right beside the river - open fires! |
Riverside cabins blend in beautifully! |
| Only four spaces were taken, three being tent/car combinations and the other a six tent family group complete with volley ball net. We ended up on site 40 - beautifully level and parked with our rear windows to the river - just so peaceful and serene. A quick walk around back to the gold phone to ring son Brad as neither mobiles were registering any signal. The night noises quickly arrived and the kookaburras laughed goodnight. Bob checked the signal on the aerial but it was pretty putrid - it almost seemed sacrilege to even attempt to watch TV. The camp was early to bed and very quiet, so we slept soundly. It is definitely cooler at night than during the day - night time temperature was around 15 degrees C whereas daytime was nearer the 30 degrees mark. |
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View from a cabin verandah |
Shop and kiosk courtyard area |
| The next morning we wandered up the grass, going down to the riverbank in appropriate spots where the dirt steps allowed for older people. The river near our spot was very still, only disturbed by the wind, but further up nearer the office, there is quite a large rocky outcrop and it babbles away. The number of well polished river rocks would have to be seen to be believed - so obviously in rainy times the volume of water can be quite substantial. Canoeing is allowed up river from this point and the orange three seater units are a magic idea - you can both go and take your best four legged friend with you as a treat. |
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Restaurant entry verandah |
Canoes are included in some packages |
| Further up along the river are a set of exclusive spa cabins with every comfort imaginable - a deluxe weekend or longer romantic getaway. Once again, pets are allowed inside and it is really a tough time, as we found out from Chloe's parents. Funny how we got to know all the doggie names, but not necessarily all the people names! They order breakfast the previous night, it is delivered to the cabin and they have then to fill out a lunch order - this can be eaten at the restaurant - either outside with doggies allowed on the verandah or inside where it is just humans! At lunch time they had to decide about tea! Now do we have a game of pool or a swim before tea time - that is the deciding factor as to what time to eat! Really tough!!! |
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Entry to the lovely lodge area |
Your doggie can come to dinner too! |
| Rex was especially taken with the tiles which had inserts
of doggy paw prints in the amenities and laundry. All these are housed in
timber buildings and have four showers and a similar number of toilets for
each gender. Laundry has two Maytag washing machines, costing $2 per load
and the old country style prop clothes line. No problem with washing drying
in this hot weather. There is a variety of accommodation styles - camping 3 Star - bunkhouse 2 Star - self contained cabins 4 Star - spa cabins 4 Star - self contained cottage - bed and breakfast package - mountain valley lodge 4 1/2 Star. Our doggie rating 5 Star! |
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Gardens outside reception |
| Camping costs $9.70 per person per day with an extra $4.50 per day for power. Children are $7.50 per day. For this you get full amenities, laundry, kiosk and use of the restaurant. Extras are canoe hire and horse riding, but you have free bushwalking, river swimming and 750 acres or 5 kilometres of river frontage to let your four legged friend run free. This is also bike riders paradise with miles and miles to explore. |
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Views from one of the many mountain walks |
Charming old fashioned clothes lines |
| Bunkhouse is a backpacker style accommodation with 28 individual bunk rooms - 4 to a room. Air conditioning and heating are provided, shower/toilet blocks, large activities hall with stage, common room with fridge, microwave, urn and toaster, and a covered BBQ area. You supply your own linen, blankets, pillows, towels, cooking equipment and food. $19.25 per person for first two people to a room with $14 per extra adult or $7 extra child to 12 years. |
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The compact laundry |
| The family timber park cabins are fully self contained, and
you supply own linen etc and food. $110 per day for up to two people. The
spa cabins have queen bed, open plan bedroom/spa bathroom, sitting room and
kitchenette with a balcony to the river. Packages are available to include
all/any meals and activities and linen. The Blue Wren cottage is 3 kms from Riverwood Downs and is a fully restored 1880 country cottage. There is a nice photo on their website plus some gob smacking aerial shots. It has everything from fireplace to colour TV and gas BBQ. |
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Excellent amenities are very clean |
Another view of the amenities |
| The Mountain Valley Lodge is a luxury guesthouse package.
For guests with pets, timber park cabins are used and for those without,
there are family or double ensuite or deluxe rooms with spa. Once again you
can make a choice from the various packages on offer. So there is something for everyone here - in a lovely setting - well staffed from reception to kiosk to restaurant - it is probably on the exclusive side price wise when you consider the cost of nearby state forests, but it provides everything to help you getaway and wind down. The website www.CountryHoliday.com gives all the details of fees and cancellation policies, and being 1 hour north of Newcastle or 2-1/2 hours north of Sydney it certainly does have its advantages. Plenty of info on the area on the web. You might like to try www.barringtons.com.au/ , the National Parks have a wonderful full featured site at www.npws.nsw.gov.au/parks/north/Nor003.html and another very pictorial site is at www.portstephens-multimedia.com.au/barr_tops_info.htm. There are lots of free camping opportunities in the nearby State Forests where your doggy is also most welcome. |
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Doggie paw print tiles abound |
Believe it or not this is the amenities |
| Our few days were not sufficient to explore the property
completely - partly because the day time temperature quickly rose and at 31
deg C was soon too hot for uncovered walking. The water temperature was cool
and refreshing. The restaurant (we treated ourselves to lunch a few times)
was quality - a choice of a dozen meals and similar number of deserts - we
had vegetarian lasagne with a plentiful side salad and pecan nut and caramel
fudge ice cream sundae - naughty but nice! All the staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful. All the visitors were friendly and only one dog a pit bull terrier was a problem, biting another border collie and its owner who went to its rescue, during our visit. Every other four legged visitor was very well behaved. We forgot to mention that Riverwood has won the NSW Holidays Consumer Choice Award for three years in a row. The website is comprehensive, but finding simple things like the address, email and a locality map aren't immediately obvious but once found are extremely helpful. We liked the instructions for alternate routes during periods of high road congestion such as Easter - a great idea. Contact details are as follows.
We will come again, but next time in cooler weather so we can have the luxury of exploring the property more - absolutely recommended! |
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Click on the compass for a map of the area |
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Last updated:
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