Peter and Kathy Barnett immediately wanted to help.
If a grey nomad had to run into trouble they would want to run into trouble in a town like Bulahdelah … and they would want to run into people like Peter and Kathy Barnett.
The couple manages the Bulahdelah Cabin & Van Park Residential Village in the famously traveller-friendly town located on the old Pacific Highway on the New South Wales mid north coast. The pair admit they were completely caught out by the speed with which the pandemic crisis stalled the on-the-road lifestyle … but they immediately saw an opportunity to help.
With the region’s famous free camping grounds closed in response to government advice, there were suddenly a lot of confused people who had nowhere to go.
“When we knew we had to close we both straightaway thought ‘what about the grey nomads travelling that do not have a permanent abode’?” said Kathy. “We quickly decided to take as many as we could, while keeping a distance between each site.”
The park had six sites available for those needing to hold up until the end of the crisis, allowing enough distance for everyone to be happy, healthy and safe. Fees were reduced for stranded travellers who were asked to pay $100 for seven days.
“We thought if it was us, we would hope that someone could help in a time we needed it, so that was the main reason we did what we did,” said Kathy. “And it is the Australian way, just helping each other out.”
Kathy and Peter live onsite so are always available to offer advice if needed and to keep guests informed of any travel restriction updates … even if they have to shout the news from a distance.
“We have noticed that all the visitors here all stand at a distance from each other as they have a chat … it looks weird!” said Kathy. “But everyone is great and everyone has been so grateful and welcoming in these crazy times.”
The park’s shared facilities are still open, but are cleaned and sanitised twice a day.
“All our travellers are just being optimistic this will end soon and are just carrying on with their day as they would normally if they were pulled up somewhere,” said Kathy. “It will be interesting in a couple more weeks though to see if the bunch gets restless, … they are so used to travelling around the country and not being in one spot for a long time.”
Kathy and Peter originally came to the park last June as relief managers and fell in love with it. Peter is ‘an easy-going, good ole country boy from Qurindi with the gift of the gab’ while Kathy is ‘a country gal who grew up in Narrabri and has always been a people person’.
Just the sort of people you would want to run into if you ever needed help.
We are normally free campers on the road only booking into parks if we stay a day or two but we will remember these wonderful people that looked after the people literally stuck and when we are free to travel we will stay with them. Thank you.
Thankyou for your lovely comments.
always welcome the Nomads, we offer a discount to all Grey Nomads.
hope to see you soon
These two took us in when everything else stopped. Our life as wandering Grey Nomads has been put on hold for a while and I can 100% vouch for Katy and Pete being excellent people. They are the Aussies we are all proud of. We normally do not frequent caravan parks because we prefer the freedom but in times like this Bulahdelah is the best place to be. It’s always been a great little town full of friendly locals. We love it.
THANK YOU Kathy and Pete and thank you Bulahdelah.
Righto…everyone, please, put this place on your stop over list…support those who support us grey nomads in a time of need please.
Bulahdelah Cabin & Van Park Residential Village in the famously traveller-friendly town located on the old Pacific Highway on the New South Wales mid north coast.
Just do it! 🙂
Yes funny how things change, the cook and I have just finished a 4 month trip of qld outback . We did it to support the struggling towns during the drought, making sure we spent money at butchers bakeries, little stores and struggling caravan parks.They all gladly took our money. I can understand the concerns with the virus but most grey nomads are clean healthy and want to stay that way.So if we are going to get shunted on or made to feel unwelcome I guess we will have to give more thought to where we go when the virus is gone. I have said many times in the past us grey nomads have long memories. Stevo.
Well done Peter and Kathy, we will stay with you when we are back on the road and let you know when we do. Pete & Yvonne
Thank you to all of you, we appreciate your kind words, hope to see you all soon.
offering a reduced rate and 3rd night stay free to you all 🙂