One of the things we really like about caravan parks is peace and quiet. When we travel with our grandkids, we want playgrounds, swimming pools, jumping pillows and anything else that entertains them. When we are on our own, we want the things that entertain us: peace and quiet!
Finding Five Ways Caravan Park in Dingley Village, Vic, isn’t as easy to find as you would think. It doesn’t have a website, but it does have a very good person-to-person recommendation system.
Peter heard about this park through other caravanners’ recommendations on WikiCamps and put the park on his list of ‘must stay’ places when we wanted to be in that area.
We booked in for a week and made our way there on a Tuesday morning. Once we were on Lower Dandenong Road, we began looking for a large ‘caravan park’ sign. Well, forget that: it’s not big, and we learned very quickly to recognise Five Ways Caravan Park by the visitors’ cars in the car park out front of the park – and the small sign.
MEETING MAL
We pulled into the park and went a long way in because the boom gate was up. The last thing you want is for it to come down on your car, van or you! Anyway, it didn’t take long to realise that it’s not in use and just stands up there like a post!
The office is a small building next to the large, very happy bird’s aviary. We met Mal, the owner, who was welcoming and very happy to help. As ex-park owners ourselves, Peter and I always enjoy chatting with park owners.
He doesn’t like lists of rules. His idea of rules is to use basic common sense. He uses that to help and support his clients, and hopes that his clients will do the same for him.
When we were checking in, I was waiting for the code for the amenities. I am not good at remembering a sequence of numbers, so I have a note book with me at all times. But that’s not how Mal does it. He handed us two keys, a blue tag for boys and a pink one for girls. That key lived in my pocket every day we were there, so I had no problems opening the amenities door.
Since Mal took on this park, he has helped each customer put their rigs on site. This is an old park, so the sites a smaller than modern parks. But we had enough room for our van, the awning and our car. We really don’t need more than that.
So he directed Peter with ‘left-hand down’ and ‘right-hand-up’, or whatever was needed, and Peter got the van right up close to the concrete slab. The only adjustment was to go forward about 3m, and a tiny adjustment so the tyres weren’t right on the edge of the concrete.
FIVE WAYS CARAVAN PARK AMENITIES
We set up and settled in. The amenities at Five Ways Caravan Park were spotless. The cleaner comes in about 5am and gives everything a big clean. Mal then goes through them 3 or 4 times a day just to give them a quick clean. It really does make a difference and they are spotless.
The laundry only has a couple of washing machines, but that really shows how many vans have their own washing machines on board. There is a huge dryer, which easily took the four loads I washed in my on-board washing machine, including a change of sheets and towels. The gas dryer is really good value: $1 for 5 minutes. Even the door to the dryer was hot to the touch!
As for the park itself, it’s just lovely, peaceful and quiet. People come and go but some keep on coming back. One of our neighbours was on-site when we arrived on the Tuesday but left on the Friday morning. Someone else was there for the weekend, but on the Monday morning, that other van was back again. Mal told me that the person had a job in the area, and it was too far to drive home and back each day. So he set up his van, worked the days he had to, lived in his mobile home, then took it home for a few days before coming back again.
We had to do a bit of maintenance and Peter needed to go to Jaycar. Was that a problem? No! The park is centrally located, with a Jaycar outlet 8km west, 9km north, 10km east and probably 11km south, but he really didn’t need to go that far!
If you’re into golf, well, there are two places within walking distance. The Goanna Golf is a bit different. It has two 18-hole mini-golf courses, one outdoors and one inside. Right next to it is the Spring Park Golf Course, with a nine-hole course.
Would we return to Five Ways Caravan Park? Yes we would, without any hesitation! You can contact the park on 0412 531 882. Happy travels.
– Alison Huth
