Restrictions lift right on time for travellers
Our local accommodation vendors have been hit hard, but as the first visitors are allowed back, they are confident of bouncing back
Grafton
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EIGHT YEARS ago, instead of taking the usual "left turn" from their sheep property in Yass to head to Queensland, Peter and Helen Middleton came up the coast to visit a friend.
On their way through they stopped in at Yamba's Blue Dolphin for the weekend.
They stayed a month.
"There was a man in the next site who invited us over for a beer on the first night, and we got talking with him and half a dozen others who had been staying for 20 years," Mr Middleton said.
"And every time we went to leave he'd ask us why we had to go on to Queensland.
"So we stayed … and we've come back ever since."
The Middleton's were some of the first visitors who arrived at the Blue Dolphin Holiday Resort after travel restrictions were lifted, and said the timing coincided perfectly with their schedule.
"We always come first of June, that's when we check in, so we kept an eye on the times, and came straight up when it opened."
The couple said they enjoyed the fishing around Yamba, and the people who they met around the park, with many familiar faces also checking in on the same day.
Blue Dolphin Holiday Park owner Mark Mitchell said while it was still early days for bookings, the phone had been running hot ever since the opening announcement was made.
"The first day we had 48 bookings," he said.
"But we'd lost a lot of bookings over the period when it was shutdown … it was enormous. But I'd say 80-90 per cent of people held their deposit as a credit."
Mr Mitchell, who also owns the Angourie Rainforest Resort said in the time the properties had been closed down, he had taken the opportunity to revamp many of them, including a new reception building at the front of the Blue Dolphin property.
"We've had most of our staff on the JobKeeper program, and they've been working the whole time," he said.
"And the place is spotless, everything is ready to go."
Mr Mitchell said looking forward bookings were encouraging, and that with approaching school holiday seasons, he hoped there would be a gradual return to normal business.
"Last February it was going along really well … even into February we had solid bookings right through, and then obviously it's just stopped in March," he said.
"Moving forward the big thing will be the borders opening, but the bookings have held fairly firm through winter.
"We've had cancellations obviously, but we're hoping to be 50 per cent of what we would be, and then 75 per cent of what we average over the September/October school holidays.
"And then after Christmas hopefully we'll get back to normal trends."
As for the Middleton's, they are also waiting to see if the Queensland border opens to see if they can visit their family, but aren't sure how long their usual month stay might be.
"I think we're booked in for six weeks.
"But it might be eight weeks, I'm not sure yet," he grinned.
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