Tamara and husband Stuart are your managers – two more suitable people you couldn’t hope to meet and this park is exceptionally well managed by this extremely hard working couple. When we arrived, Tamara was at the accountant’s, so Stuart dutifully guided us to our site. We quickly manoeuvred into position so our large back window made the most of the outlook. South Solitary Island sits right in the centre view through the back window and at night, there is an automatic lighthouse operational. The concrete slab made levelling a snack and in no time, we were having lunch.

The view from our window is exceptional – 180 plus degree views of the two headlands, the beach and a tidal lagoon. A day use area is between the park and the lagoon, ensuring the park will never be built out. There must have been some little guy who loved making tables – there are picnic tables absolutely everywhere – in fact we counted 21 in the front day use area alone and you can choose between yellow painted or natural timber. There are even more scattered throughout the camping and general caravan areas of the park itself. The day use area didn't get at all crowded during our holiday time visit and surf board riders a very thin on the ground. The "No Camping" on the esplanade is strictly policed.

Walk through the day use area to your right from the park, and you will find a cute wooden bridge which crosses the furtherest tidal reach of the lagoon. You come to a T intersection and have to make a major decision – through the bush or around the lagoon towards the headland. Either way you are in for a treat – a fantastic walk, moderately easy with views as your reward. To reach Moonee Beach itself and the Moonee Beach Nature Reserve you simply wade across the lagoon at low tide. Have a peek at the National Parks link - the walk is a 4 hour job but no hills! Sapphire Beach is easily accessible on a walking track as described below.

The Moonee Beach area is bounded by nature reserves; hence the residential development is very limited. This only adds to the charm of the village lifestyle. You have an excellent fish and chip, takeaway and general store with post office facilities, a tennis court available for hire, two Telstra phones only 2 minutes walk from the park. For this reason Stuart and Tamara don’t have a kiosk – you simply don’t need it.

There are four islands in the Solitary group – North, South, South West and Split. South Solitary has a lighthouse on its peak whilst Split Solitary is the nearest to the coastline. Both South and Split are easily seen from the headland or beachfront. If you are a fitness conscious person (or would like to be), then the walk from the park up and across the headland, to the end of Sapphire Beach and back will take a leisurely 1 hour 45 minutes (about 7.5 kms). This beach also is not too good for bike riding but is excellent walking.

Amenities and general facilities at the park are older in style but excellently maintained and very clean. There is one amenities block (including laundry) just behind the office. There are grab rails in the showers and one toilet. Improvements would be the addition of soap dispensers and hand dryers. Another set of showers and toilets are towards the rear of the powered area. There are plans approved for a third amenities set but in the meantime, there are flush toilets near the tent sites to the back of the powered section. The existing amenities could be upgraded but it would be a shame as it would not be consistent with the general atmosphere – we hope the new amenities are not too modern. Whereas can you sit out the front of your van or motorhome and have the crested pigeons galahs eating three feet away, lorikeets eating out of your hands and the ducks waddling nearby? Tamara has developed a good friendship with the local WIRES network (people who mind injured or sick animals, tend them and hopefully release them back into the wild) and the birds of the area seem to know her yard is a safe haven should they be in trouble. Lighting is limited to roads and is not generally intrusive. The perimeter roads are bitumen with gravel and grass inside the park confines. The park is on town water and taps are spaced generously around, especially in the powdered area. All powered sites have sullage, a table and water with most having an annex pad as well. Plenty of shade but you can find more open sites if you are seeking the winter sun. This park is well equipped for A'van club rallies as it has acres of lawn and a really good hall for get togethers.

Well controlled dogs are very welcome on powered and campsites. Due to Council regulations, they cannot visit if you are staying in an on site unit. Tamara even took out a section of the boundary fence so Winston (the next door boxer) Rex (our border collie) and Jack (our son’s Labrador/kelpie cross) could have easy access to the road for their walks, not to mention their owners!

Also on site is a tennis court along the lagoon side plus a fully covered hall for group activities. A large colourful modern playground will keep children entertained while parents sit around their tent or use the numerous barbeque tables provided. You can even have camp fires in designated spots. There is no pool but honestly you just don't need one.

There is a choice of 36 powered sites and 50 plus unpowered ones. It is one of the few parks along the coast set up to take huge motorhomes and buses. The 4 ensuite cabins, 3 on site caravans and 2 deluxe cabins are all very clean. The Jayco ensuite cabins are spacious. A fully equipped kitchen, including toasters, kettles, pots, pans, cutlery and crockery plus pillows, blankets, fats, heaters – all you need bring are your sheets and towels. All units are non smoking. The 28 permanents are well separated from the tourists. The camp kitchen costs 20 cents for 14 minutes and as you will see from the photos, there is absolutely everything you could want in this regard. Would you believe that they supply all the cleaning materials including detergent?

Nearby is also the Moonee Beach Tavern – with an excellent restaurant for that special night out. We were told about the all you can eat soup-salad-pasta bar. They also serve wood fired gourmet pizzas and you can have dine in or take away. With that choice the wine and beer seems secondary. A courtesy bus is also available should you plan to make a big night out! The local craft shop, Treasurers, is also something to behold. Once again, be prepared to watch your budget! There is even a hairdresser and medical centre.

Owned by the Department of Lands and Water and administered by the Moonee Beach Trust, the park is situated on Crown Land, hopefully ensuring its use by many caravanners and motorhomers for many years to come. The day use area at the front is also Crown land, a Newcastle couple that had been coming here for 16 years told us. Their main beef was that the Coffs Harbour Council requires the Moonee Beach Trust and the management of the caravan park to maintain not only the general area but also even the rubbish bins and roads. Now that, they thought, was a bit tough.

Birdlife abounds – blue faced honeyeaters, galahs, crested pigeons, noisy miners, ducks, green lorikeets, peewees, butcherbirds, whip birds just to name a few – all come into Tamara and Stuart’s garden for feeding at different times of the day.

Coffs Harbour is only 10 minutes or a world away – there you have every facility from cinemas to shops (Spotlight to Bunnings, Target to Harvey Norman and everything in between) to the fishermen’s co-op for fresh seafood arriving in the marina. Just down the road at Korora is Carobana - a chocolate factory! What a magic little spot this is! You get to see the carob chocolate being made through glass windows. Free tea and coffee is provided and fresh rain water. Oh yes - you DO get to taste the merchandise! Worth a visit just for the wonderful gardens. In case you haven't come across carob before, it's a sort of Clayton chocolate, but none the less very tasty and supposedly healthier. Look for the signs on the highway as you head to Coffs. It is DEFINITELY not in a factory area!

For you crafty people, the Hunters and Collectors Barn in Gaudrans Road opens 10 am to 4 pm Monday to Saturday. Their advertisement says "if you love patchwork and crafts….you must visit the best little patchwork on the coast". That is an understatement – you go 2 kms north and then 2 kms up a very scenic road. There are many unusual and hard to find fabrics – so watch your budget – don’t say you weren’t warned. The journey up the ridge is worth the drive, let alone the shop itself. Jenny has a huge variety of fabrics and is a fountain of knowledge – I wanted fabric for a fence for my "September 11 Trilogy" quilt and hadn’t found anything just right! Jenny certainly knew her stock and soon got out several bolts to see if anything was suitable. She didn’t have anything for a timber fence but had a fantastic brick fence – so a redesign is a definite possibility. I would certainly recommend a visit to Jenny when you are in the area.

The local radio station 2AIR-FM -107.9, we found delightful with the right sort of music for our "older??" generation. Be prepared for lots of sing-a-longs if you were one of the regular Bandstand watchers.

There is a free visitors’ guide called "Discover Coffs Coast", published every three months by the Coffs Harbour Visitors Information Centre, covering the Council areas of Coffs Harbour City, Red Rock in the north to Nambucca in the south, out through Bellingen to the magnificent Dorrigo Plateau. The 88 page A5 booklet is just full of information of where to go and what to do. You can get your free copy when you book in, as well as chose other activity flyers and booklets from Tamara’s well stocked wall. The North Coast Monthly Imag covers areas further afield down south to Tea Gardens and Buladelah and north to Maclean and Yamba – so you decide you have covered absolutely everything in the Coffs Coast, there is still more to do.