Traveloscopy

Myall’s Ahead for Eco Tourism

// December 30th, 2005 // Australia, Travel

A 21st Century eco-resort is born from a depression-era hunting retreat.

Touring around the country with my parents in the ‘60s meant the occasional stop at a caravan park or motel. Even though motels were ‘pretty ordinary’ back then, the caravan parks reminded me more of my uncle’s wrecking yard back home. Plywood overnight vans and cabins were riddled with damp, spiders and cockroaches. Grumpy managers would snap at the kids if we dared play around the yard and the food, well that’s best forgotten. So much has changed in our hospitality industry I shake my head and sigh when I think of the so-called “good old days”.

If I ever want reminding about transformation of the humble campground, I only need visit the Ecopoint’s revitalised Myall Shores Resort. The property itself was first established as a hunting and fishing lodge almost one hundred years ago for well-healed city-slickers to relax and blast the bejesus out of the local wildlife. The original guesthouse, completed in 1927 from salvaged timber, is still there but now forms the basis of the restaurant, kiosk and bar.

Myall Shores Resort joined Ecopoint Management in 2003 and was immediately the subject of a $10M renovation, focussed primarily on upgrading the accommodation and conference facilities and reforesting and revegetating the grounds and foreshore to blend seamlessly with the surrounding Myall Lakes National Park. Working closely with National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), Ecopoint have strived for a solid ‘eco-friendly’ environment and were rewarded with a Bronze Gumnut Award by the NSW Caravan and Camping Industry Association for their efforts thus far.

Further billed as a family-friendly resort, I (read:we) came fully and totally equipped to explore the facilities and activities. Away from PCs, DVDs, Gameboys and Playstations, it would be an acid test to see if Myall Shores’ kids activities could occupy a restless young mind with wholesome, nature-based fun and games.

Managers, Barry and Tracey McGibbon, proudly showed us to our accommodation. The “Presidential” villa couldn’t be further removed from the musty crate I remember from my childhood. Polished wooden floors, stainless, spotless kitchenette, full-sized refrigerator, solid wood dining table, Jacuzzi, two DVD players (both of which would stay off) and a wide-screen TV. Needless to say scallywags (M9, F11) scampered around the four ample rooms opening and closing everything, emitting constant chirps of “oh, look!” “over here!” and “why can’t we have one like this?”

As you’ve already gathered, the Presidential is the select accommodation, but Tracey was equally happy to show me the Lake View Villas in comparison. Although slightly smaller with a narrow frontage, they are still smartly appointed. Each cabin is of the familiar, pre-built type, yet with a quality and finish I’ve never seen elsewhere. No beach shack ever looked like this.

Every villa and campsite is set either directly on the sandy edge of the Bombah Broadwater or in the native gardens immediately adjacent. The “gardens” are really just carefully trimmed and manicured native trees and shrubs with some judiciously placed lawn around the paths – and I’m sure that’s the very intention. It’s common to see big handsome goannas stroll confidently across the beach in front of your villa in search of an evening or afternoon snack.

The resort uses rain- and some bore water for all its needs and waste water is carefully treated and recycled for non-consumption uses.

As our stay was in one of the last weeks of January, kids of all ages were tearing around the grounds. Myall Shores employs staff with childcare qualifications and the infinitely cheery Amy and Miranda run the ‘Kids Club’ that includes damper-making, a disco, movies, karaoke nights and arts and crafts. We turned up in expectation of freshly baked damper emerging from a crackling campfire, but alas, it was high fire danger, so the steaming bush bread emerged from the electric oven instead.

The expansive Myall Lakes just north of Newcastle are more than just big ponds for boaties. There’s plenty of colonial history, wildlife, indigenous heritage and natural beauty to be experienced and Myall Shores Resort provide (at nominal extra cost) a set of interpretive tours for visitors. Each tour explores a different theme and location encompassing the local fishing industry, natural features, wildlife, canoeing, light hiking and lake cruise.

Skipper of the MV Emily, the resort’s cruise vessel, is Mick Johnson whose family has fished and farmed around the scenic Myall Lakes region for four generations. Laconic, dry and unflappable, Mick now ferries varying loads of holidaymakers and day-trippers around his beloved lakes highlighting points of historical and natural interest. We were treated to numerous tales from the earlier (bad old) days of fishing and hunting around the lakes – well before any thought of conservation. Mick’s mindset is now on the preservation of the four main water bodies: the Broadwater, Boolambayte, Two Mile and Myall Lakes. On each trip, he proudly points out a feature that bears his family name: Johnson’s Hill. Previously bare and clear-felled only two decades ago, it now sports a healthy regrowth including sturdy eucalypts and colourful banksias.

Mick explains that commercial fishing is now carefully controlled and that new licenses are no longer issued “willy-nilly”, but are now coveted assets. Stocks of the commercially harvested varieties (mullet, bream and blackfish) are carefully maintained at sustainable levels. Bass, on the other hand, is protected and may only be taken by recreational anglers

“Fisheries (department) now work on a one-in-one out basis, so licence numbers are effectively frozen,” says Mick “they’re even offering buy-backs now and then to get those numbers down even more.”

This type of first-hand narrative makes any visit to Myall Lakes much more than a simple holiday. It’s an opportunity for kids to learn about the then-and-now of an ecologically and historically valuable region of our country.

Apart from the suite of interpretive tours offered from the resort, it’s possible to join any of the NPWS’s program of tours scheduled for holiday periods. These tours include bush tucker, bush safety, Aboriginal story-telling and a beach safari.