Gavin and Linda Dyer have owned Brownhill Creek Caravan Park for many years. In that time they have sold it, and then bought it back again four years ago.

Gavin says he deeply regretted selling it in the first place, and one look around the park reveals why.

Situated on the edge of the Brownhill Creek Recreation Park, this idyllic park is completely surrounded by lush vegetation and bordered on one of its long sides by Brownhill Creek.

Ducks paddle in the water, occasionally wandering over to have a look at the swimming pool at the entrance to the park. After years of work, it is the perfect marriage of new and old.

“I can’t quite put it into words,” says Gavin, “but I loved this place from the first time I came here. My vision for the place is a little bit like one of your old villas in the established areas like Unley.

“I’ve said it a million times: Humphrey and Fat Cat can fill up a caravan park at Christmas and Easter, that’s a no-brainer. The real knack is to be consistent throughout the year, and the only way you can be consistent is to provide all the things that we want as caravanners ourselves.

“We want clean toilets, a quiet location, site size and general ambience. And then on top of that, you want all those little things. You want to be able to wander down to do your laundry and check your email.

“We’ve really tried to make sure that when people bring their van in, they can just grab a coaxial cable from us, no aerials. Everything that you need when you first set up a caravan is here.”

At the very front of the long thin property is a row of cabins for people without caravans. Their convenient location means two families can easily stay in a cabin and caravan each, right next to each other.

Tree-shaded gravel caravan sites extend further back past the office for several hundred metres before a wide expanse of shorn grass begins.

This area is beautiful and perfect for tent camping, camper trailers or for people looking for more privacy at the expense of power connection.

Well maintained toilet blocks back onto a cool TV room, and the office stocks all of the necessary sundries and opens onto a swimming pool for guests.

“If you blindfolded someone, dropped them out of a chopper here and said I’ll give you $10,000 to guess how far from the city are you, they might guess the Flinders Ranges.

“To be able to hop into your car, you’re only 7km from the city, that’s brilliant. Someone said this morning that Adelaide was the best kept secret in Australia, and this place is perfectly situated to explore it.”

From Brownhill Caravan Park, it is 45 minutes to the Barossa Valley, 60 minutes to the Fleurieu Peninsula, and only 15 minutes to the CBD.

Gavin and Linda have all the local knowledge that one so desperately needs when trying to find the right restaurants, and the right shopping.

Being caravanners themselves, they have an acute appreciation of what their visitors want. Gavin says that while the couple has considered the lure of easy cabin money, they are content to add value to the park and keep their customers loyal. They even maintain their very popular weekly morning teas, with free homemade scones, cream and jam, tea and coffee for everyone in the park.

You really could be anywhere in SA except 7km from the city.

Brownhill Creek Caravan Park, Brownhill Creek Rd, Mitcham, SA 5062, (08) 8271 4824 or 1800 626 493, email: info@brownhillcreekcaravanpark.com.au ,

web: www.brownhillcreekcaravanpark.com.au

Words and pics Carlisle Rogers