Travel Feature: Kurrimine Beach, Nth Qld

Word and Pics: Tony and Denyse Allsop

Phoenix Rising

We heard on the grapevine that Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park, Kurrimine Beach, Qld, had been sold. Since Denyse and I were in the area, we decided to visit.

New owners Marcus and Kay Kitchen were there when we arrived and showed us around, explaining some of the many improvements they had in store for the park. They recently sold their BIG4 park, Argylla Tourist Park in Mount Isa, Qld, and had been at Kurrimine Beach for only two weeks when we arrived.

Under their care, the Mt Isa park won several tourism awards, and the Kitchens are determined to bring their new park up to four-star status as soon as possible.

A BATHER'S DELIGHT
Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park, a Top Tourist Park, has two distinct varieties of guests: grey nomads during winter and families from the surrounding areas during summer. The needs of both groups will be considered in the upgrade.

Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park is currently rated at 3.5 stars and, due to the extended season, it can operate solely as a tourist park.

The swimming pool at Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park used to be the local town swimming pool, and it is huge.

Marcus plans to put in several water features such as a waterfall, water mushrooms and a water slide, but will re-coat the entire surface first.

A couple of lanes will be left for lap swimmers and a jumping pillow will be installed nearby.

The office is set be knocked down, and a new office and shop with a home above for the manager will be built, hopefully before the next tourist season. Three new double storey cabins, giving a view out over the ocean, are also planned. Marcus and Kay are in the process of updating the park roads with bitumen.

The camp kitchen will be enlarged and stainless steel benches will be installed, as well as new furniture and a full oven for travellers who wish to cook a roast dinner. There is currently an undercover free gas barbecue - this will remain.

The entrance will be transformed through the planting of colourful tropical shrubs. Already, bird-attracting trees such as bottle brushes have been planted around some sites.

Marcus told us regular visitors would notice a big change within a year. Knowing what they did to the park at Mount Isa, I am confident this will happen.

A COMFORTABLE STAY
Kurrimine Beach encourages guests to get together with barbecue evenings and other social occasions.

Marcus is aiming for the park to have a small fleet of hire boats, probably kayaks, as the King Reefs are only a few hundred metres out from the holiday park. In good weather, this will give his guests the chance to snorkel and view the reefs up close.

Kay and Marcus also want to purchase more land in order to offer a secure compound for those who want to travel and leave their van at the park.

Denyse and I found the powered sites to be large and shady, with water, power and sullage to most sites. Some new slabs had been laid before our visit. There are a few sites suitable for large rigs.

We found the amenities block to be clean, but in need of refurbishment. There was plenty of hot water in the showers and laundry, showers had a shelf and hooks, and toilets had two-ply paper. There was soap over the hand basins and paper towels were supplied.

Marcus told us that piped music to the amenities block may be included with the renovation.

TV reception was excellent on all five channels, both on digital and analogue. We had two to three bars on our Next G mobile phone and two to three bars on our mobile wireless broadband. Internet access is available in the park, too.

Dogs are allowed at Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park, but must be under control at all times. Marcus has a dog himself, Max, so introduce yourself to him. Max has a dual role as security and pet therapy officer.

FOREST-LINED BEACHES
The park is situated only 70m from a long beach with clean golden sand, fronted by coconut trees, she-oaks and other tropical greenery. A launching ramp at Maria Creek is close by, and this estuary system is large and would be excellent fishing, even from the bank. Crabbing is also good. Beware of crocs, though, as we were told there were 13 in residence throughout the system.

We arrived from Cairns, Qld, around 10.30am, so there was plenty of time to look around that day. We walked to the south along the beach to the mouth of Maria Creek, where there is a prawn factory. This took about 50 minutes. Maria Creek is quite a wide, large system, and runs parallel to the beach behind a sand dune for several hundred metres. I walked via the creek while Denyse walked along the main beach. On our return a storm blew up and we ran the final 500m home, arriving just in time to secure our awning and shut the windows.

The conservation area opposite the park was devastated by Cyclone Larry and the damage is still all too obvious. We did the 600m walk through the area and enjoyed it greatly. It was very interesting to see how a rainforest recovers after such severe damage.

Many of the rainforest species were about 5m tall and growing as fast as they could, making use of the light from the broken canopy. Vines were growing in abundance.

Another interesting feature was the range of colourful fungi on the fallen trunks, doing their best to recycle the nutrients for the new generation of trees. The entrance to the walk is across the road from the hotel, and just a short walk from the caravan park.

Those who enjoy bowls can find a club at Silkwood, about 9km away, while a golf club at El Arish is a little further out. I was told that the fishing was good off the beach in the Maria Creek estuary, and on the reefs just off the caravan park.

Within walking distance of the park is a hotel, which also serves meals. We drove into the small village, about 2km away, though, to have an excellent three-course meal at the motel. This cost $15 at the time - great value. There were a few shops being built when we visited and a petrol station including a convenience store.

Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park is popular in the tourist season, June to August, so you should book ahead.

If you travel when we do, in the shoulder months (September to November or April to May), you might find you have a choice of the top sites, great weather (we only had the one storm) and no crowds.

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