Fire fears prompt East Gippsland parks to turn away guests
Popular coastal destinations and holiday parks in East Gippsland are telling customers to cancel their holidays as the threat of bushfires remains in the region due to ever-changing conditions.
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Holiday parks in East Gippsland are turning guests away while the threat of bushfires in the region lingers.
Popular coastal destinations are almost inaccessible by road and some tourism operators are telling customers to cancel their holidays.
Swan Reach Holiday Park manager Leah Archer said she had been “calling off” would-be visitors due to the ever-changing conditions.
“We’re not accepting bookings at the moment and telling people who had holidays booked not to come,” Ms Archer said. “It’s disappointing to them, but we’re not risking their lives.”
As another hot day was forecast for Saturday, the threat of fire to the small town on the Tambo River was ever present, Ms Archer said.
The holiday park is offering refunds for holidaymakers but urging them to “postpone” their trip rather than cancel.
“We don’t want people to be deterred, we still want them to come later and enjoy themselves,” she said.
At Lakes Entrance, the North Arm Tourist Park was also offering refunds for visitors who wanted to cancel their stay.
“If you’re nervous, don’t do it,” park owner Kerrie Adams said.
The Princes Hwy was expected to stay closed east of Bairnsdale to the NSW border for several days and Ms Adams said many guests would not be able to reach the holiday park even if they had wanted to.
“I’m certainly not encouraging them to come, but I’m not discouraging them either,” Ms Adams said. Other residents of Lakes Entrance were feeling the cost of lost business.
East Gippsland Charters operator Frank Milito said the region was “going to be in a world of hurt”.
He told the Herald Sun his business was losing between $5000 and $6000 a day.
“Economically this is really going to flatten this area,” Mr Milito said.
State Tourism Minister Martin Pakula said the government would work to support the local tourism industry.
“Exactly what that support looks like is something we need to work through with the Commonwealth, with Destination Gippsland and with affected operators,” he said.
“Those discussions have started and Destination Gippsland has already established a tourism crisis management group.”
Meanwhile, Victorian holiday-makers stranded in towns along the New South Wales south coast have begun making the drive home via Canberra.
Melbourne woman Anna Woodruff said the journey home “was the scariest drive I have done”.
“We were afraid to leave but more afraid to stay as the fires spread,” she said.
On Monday Ms Woodruff and her partner had made the dash from her holiday home in Mallacoota across the NSW border to Merimbula.
The couple drove their pet dog towards Canberra on Tuesday.
GENEROSITY FOR THOSE IN NEED
Generous Gippsland residents have filled a small community hall with donations of clothes and food for those who have lost everything in the bushfires.
A temporary donation centre was set up at Lucknow Memorial Hall, near Bairnsdale, by a local who wanted to help those in need.
On Wednesday the floor, tables and stage were completely covered and required a huge team of volunteers to sort.
Volunteer Wendy McPhan said “thousands and thousands” of donations had poured in.
“You’ve got to help people,” she said.
“I have lived here all my life and I just wanted to help.
“Most of us volunteers in the hall have shed a tear; it has been pretty confronting for a lot of us.
“Bushfire victims walk in and burst into tears, they are that overwhelmed.
“One lady couldn’t even come in, she was that emotional. It is phenomenal.
“They literally have (just) the clothes on their backs.”
The centre was on Wednesday a hive of activity with a team of volunteers sifting through the clothes, food, toys and other goods that had been donated.
“Community is the most important thing you have,” Ms McPhan said.
An animal refuge centre also has been set up in Bairnsdale as a safe haven.
With Saturday set to be another day of high fire danger in East Gippsland, locals are taking no chances in protecting their beloved animals.
Fernank resident Irene Harris has taken her horse, Roo, to the Bairnsdale horse yard.
“They are your best friend,” she said.
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“You look at them as friends. You think about losing them in the fires and it’s upsetting.
“It is better to be safe than sorry. I am not prepared to risk it.”
Clifton Creek woman Shannon Hutchings was also tending to her horses at the refuge centre.
Ms Hutchings, who was sheltering at the Bairnsdale relief centre with her partner Robert and their four children, was yet to return to her property.
“We don’t know what state it is in, what we have or haven’t lost,” Ms Hutchings said.
“We are hoping for the best. We’ve got the horses out, our four kids out.”
- With Brianna Travers