Esk Caravan Park - North West of Brisbane

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Esk Caravan Park - North West of Brisbane - Queensland

We are in the very scenic Lake Wivenhoe/Somerset Dam area about an hour and a half north west of Brisbane. The journey up here takes us through the beautiful Brisbane Valley and up and over the spectacular dam wall itself. It is very hard to pass through the village of Fernvale without stopping, as it is the home of the famous Fernvale Bakery - winner of four Gold Medals at the 2001 Pie Baking Contest. Yes, we had of course, to taste test these delicious treats (plus the bread, vanilla slices and scones) and can attest to just how yummy they indeed are! The things we do to make sure these reviews are accurate - it's really hard! Fernvale is also the site for regular Sunday Markets held in the grounds of the local school - very famous and by far the largest in the area. Travelling on to Esk takes you though beautiful rolling hill country and the town itself is quite picturesque as it is undergoing a bit of a revival at present. The very forward looking council has forgone a wee bit of parking and put lovely gardens right down the middle of the main street and lots more smaller ones on the footpaths. Give it a couple of years and the place will be transformed as there already is a lot of civic pride in the buildings. It could end up as lovely as Maleny and Montville. Sadly caravan parking has not been included but it is easy to park in most side streets.

Pool area Esk Caravan Park

Impressive welcoming front entry

Yes we got lost finding the park despite the excellent blue caravan park signs. Our excuse was the Annual Multi Cultural Parade was in progress and we just got side tracked! The park is only 500 metres from the centre of town and actually very easy to find if you bother to put your glasses on! Check in was very warm and friendly with lots of touristy information available and you are then personally directed to a choice of sites. We were even asked the type of company our dog would like! Great stuff! We were only staying the weekend so we choose a drive through site with good shade and handy to the loo. The drive through sites are all wide enough to easily accommodate an annex and are long enough to even fit on an extra car if you wish.

The famous Fernvale Bakery

Most sites are separated by shrubs and trees. No demarcation problems, here as each corner is identified with an 8" square concrete post. You wouldn't want to hit this trying to cut the corner on the way out! Within five minutes of our arrival we spotted a Koala way up a gum tree right next to our camp - for all you overseas readers this is actually very rare in Australia in the middle of the day - they are nocturnal creatures! This instantly enamoured us to this park as we are wild life lovers!

Esk shopping area

Main street in Esk township

The outlook from the park is very bushy. One boundary runs along the end of habitation in the town, but the others are all nicely treed hillsides giving a nice bush getaway feel to the place. A small crystal clear, tree lined creek meanders along one boundary. The owners Bill and Shirley Steel told us that deer sometimes come down there to drink. We looked hard, but no luck - maybe next time!

All brick amenities block

Laundry and drying area

The park does have a few permanents, but these are around the edges and they seem quite friendly. This is quite a busy park and by late Saturday afternoon it was nearly full but the non-powered area was almost empty. A lovely friendly country town atmosphere, so no boom gates or keys needed for the amenities. The amenities are very clean and most airy with loads of space and good ventilation. As there is so much natural light, plants would grow a treat in here an add to the charm of the place. We spotted no cob webs at all - a good sign. Soap dispensers and hand dryers provided, but both the gents and ladies dispensers were empty during our visit. The showers all have a nice varnished seat come foot stool and lots of hooks and a shower curtain. We liked all the sparkling clean mirrors and the handy hooks over the basins. Whilst there were no 100% disabled amenities as such with extra wide doors, a very nice touch was the grab rails fitted in all toilets and shower cubicles. Other park managers please take note! Nicely tiled floors finished it all off. Overall the amenities presented very well. The semi open air laundry has two Maytag's (2 X $1.00) and two dryers (a very cheap 4 X 20cents). There is only one laundry tub with no hot water for hand washing. This struck us as a bit odd as most of us tend to do a wee bit of hand washing. If you want hot water for washing up you can get it free in the BBQ area. We couldn't spot an iron, but there is an ironing board.

Note the soap dispenser and dryer

Nice seat and lots of hooks

The BBQ area is really excellent. First up, you have a gas BBQ as well as a good size wood job with cut timber and firewood supplied. This is all undercover, quite spacious and some nice tables. This adjoins a rather large camp kitchen with good washing up sinks, a microwave and a coin in the slot four burner gas stove. Everything is set up on a huge stainless steel top and it is absolutely immaculate. There is also a good community camp fridge. This is all in an enclosed room with sliding glass doors. This area is ideal for smaller club gatherings of around thirty as it is nice and intimate. A tarp outside would cater for larger gatherings. Queensland Caravan Club often come here - it seems to be their home base. Overall one of the best set ups we have come across in Queensland - indicative of the care and attention to detail provided by an excellent management team.

Camp kitchen spotless stove

Inside the screened camp kitchen

Both Telstra CDMA and GSM digital works very well in this area and indeed all the way up from Brisbane. As this is an extremely hilly area TV reception is "iffy". No matter though, as coaxial cable is provided at every site. This is not the "el-cheapo" stuff, but the best you can get. They even supply an adaptor in case you haven't got the latest connector and even plug it in for you! We were most impressed! Why can't more parks be like this?

Outside the camp kitchen

Ideal for small club gatherings

Park lighting is very good, however if you have an A'van and use the drive through sites make sure you make the extra effort to come in from the back and face the street entry. If you don't you will have extra light coming through the top vents until 5am.

Absolutely spotless kitchen

Surrounded by lovely hills

Now if you want more of a bush camping experience you can easily get that too! Just go down into an area marked "Camping" and you'll find yourself in the middle of a large grassy field surrounded by trees. This area has three pit fires with lovely crude seating and a pile of wood you could never jump over! There are a couple of taps, three tables with no seats, but obviously no power. You can camp right by the tiny sandy creek if you wish. Now if you love the sound of a babbling brook you can have that too! There is a small overflow area right at the front of the park. Get into that and go as far as you can back to the road and when you reach the fence just turn right. Go down to the creek and turn right again and follow the creek as far as you can. This is it - not super loud as this is a small creek, but great for a restful nights sleep. Easy to get a van in too. The park by the way is very peaceful at night and traffic noise is not a problem. The permanents were great! There are quite a few sites with annex pads, but these haven't got 100% grass cover. Roads are a mixture of tar and gravel.

Roadside rest area in Esk

Quaint little stores abound

The morning birdsong is really beautiful in this part of Australia. Oddly it doesn't start off with the usual kookaburras. The recording we made has a lot of bats in there as well just for a change. A lot of thought has gone into the tree planting program here in the park as there are many strategically placed deciduous trees to allow maximum winter sunshine and yet provide cool shade for summer.

Bats just behind the park

Another shot of the Rest Area at Esk

Walking and bike riding are quite good. A nice early morning walk is along the creek and under the highway. Head towards the Brisbane end of the park into the camping area corner. Here you will find a small track. This initially passes through the bat colony then it opens out into the Lions Rest area back on the highway at Bough Creek. This is a great picnic area if you want to bring some fruit with you for a lovely breakfast by the creek. If you go under the bridge the track follows the creek for quite awhile. The first track turnoff to the right takes you up into the Esk/Crows Nest Road. Turn right here and head back into town - about half a kilometre. This track is not suitable for bikes at all. Rather oddly when you check in no mention is made of the attractions of the area or walks etc. Maybe management should look at this as it makes us wee tourists stay longer if an area is presented in an attractive manner.

Delightful creek side walk

Dogs are allowed everywhere in Esk!

As luck would have it we arrived on Multicultural Festival Day. This was magic and we spent most of Saturday filling up on all sorts of delicious delicacies from all around the globe. Sadly this meant a huge dose of Gaviscon for supper! It was worth it though. There was of course a market included and this proved quite expensive all up! Our favourite was the Woodman - Henry. He had the most wonderful clocks made from old fence posts! Another stall had beautiful gumnut art and again we couldn't resist!

All sorts of stalls

Colourful clown

We did the biggest coverage ever undertaken by anyone on the Brisbane Caravan and Camping Show in the June 2001 A-What's New section. We spotted a beautiful Windsor in the Esk park, and yes it was the same one that took our eye at the show - only $64,000.00. Anyway it was great to met the proud owners Dennis and Irene and their doggie Beau. They had no idea their pride and joy was already up there on the Internet. What an interesting couple. They had sold up their house whilst still working and live in the Windsor full time. Interestingly they tow it to a different spot every weekend - talk about the best of both worlds. They had recently lost a treasured puppy Pee Wee and they carry his ashes around with them - he was sadly recently run over. They told us about Heifer Creek free camping and there is a story on this spot in this section or click on the link..

Non-powered section - fantastic!

More of the non-powered section - fires allowed

A very leafy park

Permanents section - neat and tidy

Esk itself is a very old well established town. It has just about everything you need sustenance wise for a weeks holiday. No Coles or Woollies but who needs them? The gardens mentioned above are all very new and only officially opened two days before our visit. We love the township with its beautiful post office and hotel all lovingly restored. This is one town that thankfully doesn't go to sleep on Sundays. The delightful craft shop is open seven days a week as is all the antique shops. we liked the way you could have a drink whilst visiting Salties. The Heritage Building society has a mini-branch. Normal Telstra phones at the Memorial Park and at the Post Office about 100 meters up the road. Excellent bakery in the town with open air eating area and again open the full seven days. The town has a gentle hustle and bustle of a Sunday. Now the local supermarket is something else again! It is in fact a co-op with absolutely everything one could imagine. It definitely has to be seen to be believed! It truly does have everything and all for sale on Sundays as well. If you have kiddies with you there is a very nice playground in the Memorial Park with plenty of seats for picnics. The locals are all extraordinarily friendly and walking anywhere tends to take ages.

You can buy alcohol in the antique shop!

Impressive bakery - very yummy

Esk makes an excellent base for exploring the immediate area. The number one "must see" of course is the two dams. Wivenhoe is absolutely huge and a photographers delight. Start by exploring the delightful Cormorant Bay and perhaps have a coffee in the little restaurant perched just above the lake. A visit to Captain Logan's Camp is a must. This would have to be one of the best laid out camping areas run by any water authority in Australia. Don't forget no pets allowed though. Then there's Atkinson Dam. Not as pretty, but both have a charm of their own. Heading north west takes in Somerset Dam and all the little camping areas right on the lake shore such as The Spit and Kirkleagh. Try to visit very early in the morning if you are into picture taking, as the mist rising off the lake makes for spectacular shots.

There is room to move in this park

Plenty of open space in the non-powered area

You can do a full day trip up to Yarraman, then down the New England Highway to quaint Crows Nest, on to Hampton then turning left, down through Ravensbourne National Park - lots of rainforest - and back to Esk. The more adventurous could include a deviation up to Peachtrees in this trip. Keep the windows down as you climb the mountains and you will be rewarded with the calls of hundreds of Bellbirds. There is a more direct route up to Crows Nest (61 kms) and the road is just west of town a whisker. A slightly different place to visit is Sandy's Place just out of town on the Gatton road. This is an ostrich farm and is a fascinating place and well worth a visit. Movie buffs who have seen the 1999 film "Deluge" can visit the actual location at Caboonbah Homestead - founded 1890. It is just ten minutes north of Esk.

Lake Wivenhoe is nearby

Somerset Dam is just paradise

We found very few negatives with this extremely well run park. The worst was possibly the inappropriate siting of the dump point right under a cabin bedroom window! However to their credit at least they have provided a dump point as so many parks just don't bother. We liked the thoughtful addition of a hose as well - nice one! The Ladies amenities are cleaned between 9.00am and 10am - this could be a wee bit too early for some of us oldies! Flowers or pot plants in the amenities would just finish them off perfectly. Please ignore any "red mud" you spot in any of the photos. This was caused by extensive ground work putting in underground power to existing sites and to a lot of new ones. The park presents very well from the street with its beautiful palm lined entry and we could spot zero piles of park "mess" anywhere. A big plus for us was being allowed an "after lunch" late check out at no extra charge - always most welcome by weekend only visitors from Brisbane. We liked the excellent pamphlet which turned out to be totally factual and the excellent business card with a map on the back in case you got lost when you went out - a very good idea! All parks should look at this simple idea as it is very likely that the card will be passed on to fellow travellers - ours certainly was at our next stop. You can find lots of information on Esk on the excellent Walkabout Australia site. Suggested next "stop" for those travelling west is Crows Nest Caravan Park. Those going north might like to try Yarraman Caravan Park. Pets most welcome at both these parks. Travelling to the coast try Barkala Caravan Park at Woodgate just out from Childers south of Bundaberg.

Very spacious, spotless laundry

Black water dump point - note the hose

We used the excellent RACQ map South East Queensland. Esk Caravan Park is not on the internet just yet, but you can write to Bill and Shirley Steel at 26 Hassell Street Esk Qld, 4312 or phone them on (07) 5424 1466 or fax on (07) 5424 2815. Cost for a powered site for two in July 2001 was a very reasonable $16.50. No charge for our little four legged guests! You can pay by EFTPOS or credit card if you wish. We absolutely recommend this excellent park.

Bob and Chrissy Eustace

Click on the compass for a map of the general area