Why Goomburra Valley Campground Stands Out

Sometimes mere words don’t do a campground justice, and that applies to the Goomburra Valley Campground, in Queensland. This is not your ordinary place that has a bit of grass, a few trees and calls itself a bush camp. Goomburra Bush Camp is a medium-sized park with powered and unpowered sites, a bunkhouse, tin-shed amenities and a creek two hours south-west of Brisbane.

New Owners with a Fresh Approach

That description sort of sums it up but not really. Into this you have to factor in Teresa and Brad Badgery, who have been the owners of the campground for two years. Teresa is a teacher, with years of experience in dealing with kids and getting her message across. She also has experience in OH&S which comes in very handy when you run a park. Brad is a chippie and a builder. What more could you ask for when it comes to planning some new facilities for the park?

Fresh Eggs, Anyone?

Currently there is a unisex amenities block of three toilets and three showers. Plus there are two male and two female disabled-access toilets with a washing machine at the end of this building. To be fair, none of the facilities are new, but they are clean and full of character. Plus they add in portable facilities when needed.

There is a small camp kitchen and should you want eggs for breakfast, then all you have to do is take some food scraps to the chook enclosure, feed the chooks and hunt for the eggs.

Deluxe Campfire Pits

Most of the sites have their own campfires. We had a camp oven dinner of roast beef and veggies, which was excellent. Our camp oven cook Rob was in his element with our campfire because of the design. It was neat and tidy and would be very hard to walk over due to the overall design and concrete rim.

Spacious Campsites & Accommodation

Basically this is BYO accommodation. There are powered and unpowered sites in the main part, the overflow area is all unpowered. If you are looking for something a bit more solitary and you are happy to cross the Dalrymple Creek, there is more space there. None of the sites have water – you need to bring your own, or be happy to get some from the tanks around the park. The only on-site accommodation is the Bunkhouse which sleeps 13 and there are plans to build some ‘Tinny Tents’ in the overflow.

Catering and Events

What I didn’t expect to find was Teresa and Brad’s ability to host special events. Imagine this – you have a group who want to go away for a weekend or maybe some days midweek. All told there are between 60 and 100 of you. You can book the park out to your party, bring your own accommodation and use the bunkhouse – the place is yours for that time.

Imagine too, if you wanted to have breakfast and dinner catered – not a problem for this couple. They have lived out west long enough to understand exactly how to deliver great food from camp ovens. They limit the number of special events each year, so if you want one you have to get in early.

Serious Play on Dalrymple Creek

We had sites on the Dalrymple Creek bank, just perfect for happy hours, and we could see a family group with a collection of kids having an awesome time in the creek. They just loved it. There are a couple of logs across the creek at one point, which create the gentlest of waterfalls – just enough for the kids to play in. There are a couple of deeper swimming holes if you want to use those.

You can bring your bikes and helmets with you and I’m pretty sure we saw a future Cadel Evans racing around the park. This kid was so fast and furious he left everyone else far behind. For the bigger kids there is a serious bike track on the slopes on the opposite side of the park to the creek. This was created by some semi-professional bike riders who love a challenge.

Meat Tray Raffle Night

Saturday night is meat tray raffle night with the proceeds going to LifeFlight. We had gone into Allora on Saturday morning to have a look around and saw Brad coming out of the Allora Butchery, which has an excellent reputation. One of our group won it and was more than impressed with the contents.

Come Again

Our group of three couples were so impressed with this campground that we are all planning on coming back again. It has everything you want for a peaceful getaway.

Words by: Alison Huth
Photos by: Peter Huth

Trek Notes: Dalrymple Creek