The park
The picturesque town of Cohuna, in Victoria’s fertile north eastern corner, is a hassle free three hour drive from Melbourne, or seven hours from Canberra. The town’s defining feature is Gunbower Island – Australia’s largest inland island – which is formed by Gunbower Creek branching off the Murray River then rejoining it further downstream. The park occupies one of the island’s most attractive corners, within easy reach of native forests and wetlands. The holiday park is a great base from which to fish, kayak and spy native wildlife, and it’s an ideal location for families, with facilities including a jumping pillow, a playground, as well as children’s activities and an outdoor cinema during school holidays.
The accommodation
There’s not a bad spot to set up camp across the entire park. All powered and unpowered sites offer shade and seclusion, plus there’s free wifi for the digitally inclined. There’s also a diverse range of cabins, including spacious budget cabins, which sleep up to six and are conveniently positioned close to a shared amenities block. Opt for a comfortable ensuite cabin, available in one or two bedroom configurations, if you’d like more privacy and your own facilities. You can also treat yourself to a two or three bedroom waterfront cabin for knockout views and even more space. Every cabin is fitted with reverse cycle air conditioning, a TV and fridge.
The neighbourhood
With so much at your fingertips, it may be tempting to stay within the holiday park, but the surrounding area has so much to offer, too. Begin the day at Cohuna Golf Club, which offers 18 manicured holes across diverse terrain (Cohuna is the birthplace of Australian professional golfer Stuart Appleby), then hop aboard a boat operated by Cohuna Nature Cruises to get a better sense of the region’s geography. (The Wetlander cruise, which departs from nearby Gannawarra, is also excellent.) The Cohuna township also has some great places to eat. For lunch, visit the Bower Tavern, which sports a wonderfully diverse menu – thanks to kitchen staff who hail from India, Nepal and Thailand – and reliably good coffee. For dinner and drinks, the Cohuna Hotel is hard to beat. Here, pub grub is done the traditional way, with plenty of flavour to spare. To learn more about the surrounds, visit the Cohuna and District Historical Society Museum housed in the former Presbyterian Church, then drop in to the Gateway to Gannwarra Visitor Centre for the latest that’s going on about town and in the surrounding Gannawarra Shire.
