“It has been going really well,” Bombala Caravan Park manager Dale Halligan said. 

“I’ve been pretty inundated with a lot of people travelling to and fro. I’m really happy with this year’s outcome because we had a lot more people than normal over Christmas.”

He said the park was full again on New Year’s, where 13 vans from one family pulled in for about five days. 

Mr Halligan said a lot of people stop in Bombala because it is the halfway point between Sydney and Melbourne and it breaks up their journey.

“Every day they just come in off the road at 4.30 – it’s like a freeway,” he said.

“Everybody wants to get off the road before the trucks start running up and down the highway.” 

This season he has seen tourists from almost every state and territory in the country, including Western Australia, as well as international tourists from places such as New Zealand. 

But travellers end up staying at the park for around four days on average as they get captivated by what Bombala offers, which brings a boost to businesses in the town. 

When people pull into his park, Mr Halligan recommends they visit Myanba Gorge, check out the historic railway station or machinery shed, go for a bush walk or, of course, look for platypuses. 

He also thought a reason more people were visiting Bombala was because of “word of mouth”, as more were hearing about the local sights.  

There are still more visitors to come too, as next week the Canberra Caravan Club will bring 13 vans to stay and next month the caravan club from Batemans Bay has booked the whole park out. 

The busy season does not end at autumn either, with Mr Halligan saying he still gets vans in all year. 

On the website Tripadvisor, Bombala Caravan Park has an average score of four stars.

On it, Mr Halligan – who has managed the park for the last few years, but managed different parks in the country for about 13 years - has attracted praise from multiple reviewers. One describes him as “courteous, helpful and efficient” while another says he is “very obliging”.