Platypus Bushcamp icon moving on after 27 years of the good life

Warren 'Wazza' Swadling is looking to call it a day, putting his beloved riverside property on the market.

IT'S TIME: Wazza has been up at Finch Hatton Gorge for 27 years, but is calling it a day. Picture: Jacob Miley

AFTER 27 years at Platypus Bushcamp Warren 'Wazza' Swadling is looking to call it a day, putting his beloved riverside property on the market.

When he arrived at the property there were a few structures on the site but since then he has built many more, including his office.

Even now, he is adding to the camp.

But a bad back has stopped him in his tracks and is making it hard for him to keep doing what he wants to do; that is build and enjoy what the Pioneer Valley has to offer.

Wazza said he should have retired a couple of years ago. Now he wants to go and visit all of the people who have visited him over the years.

A couple of weeks ago, he decided to put the campsite up on Gumtree. He is already getting inquiries but that doesn't surprise him.

"Where are you going to find 20 acres of bloody pristine creek frontage with the best swimming holes in the most of Queensland in your backyard?”

When he bought the property originally, he said, it was because of the water. He calls it the best drinking water you'll find in Queensland.

Wazza couldn't narrow down a particular memory that stands out after almost three decades in the Valley - all he could say was the past 27 years.

"There have been some amazing people come through,” he said. "It's been a life, it's been an exceptionally bloody good time.”

A lot of the backpackers who have stayed at the camp-site have contributed to the design in some way.

Down the pathway along the river lies an old bus that sits on concrete pillars. Inside, it is painted from wall to wall - all artwork done from visiting travellers.

Wazza said he'll miss his bush camp, though he doesn't expect it to sell just yet. Over the years, he has kept things mostly the same, just building what was needed. "Hopefully whoever I sell it to it remains the same too,” he said.

Prior to finding himself among the rainforest of Finch Hatton Gorge he was in the Northern Rivers of NSW and owned a timber trucking company.

Originally published as Platypus Bushcamp icon moving on after 27 years of the good life