We arrived shortly before they were closing, travelling up from The Oodnadatta Track to be told that although they were pet friendly our two small poodle cross dogs were not to make a sound otherwise we would be evicted from the campground. We were also assured that we would be able to erect our tent with ease and it would be no issue to insert tent pegs into the ground. Although there were a couple of other tents set up, upon further inspection it would appear that they had already taken the only available areas where you could easily set up. We drove around the campsite twice trying every available spot to insert tent pegs into the dried out, hard as concrete, gravelled ground but to our dismay we were unsuccessful in our attempts to penetrate the barren earth. We then returned to the the office to try to speak with the lady on duty, Susan, to try to see if we could pay to upgrade to a cabin for the night, however, she had already shut up shop. We tried telephoning her on the number provided, yet unsurprisingly there was no answer or response to our voicemail that was left. To add insult to injury when we telephoned the next day Susan confirmed that she had received our voicemail and note left on my business card with all my contact details yet was blasé in her response admitting that she couldn't do anything to help and had planned to ignore the issue. No doubt she had other dissatisfied clients to lie to and ignore.
With the sun rapidly descending and faced with the unappealing option of sleeping in a car that was packed full to the brim for the night we decided to drive on to the next town. At Craddock we found the delightful Craddock Hotel located in a charming period sandstone building where we were able to camp for free at the back in a wide open paddock. Although by now night had well and truly fallen and we had to set up in the dark there was absolutely no issue at all in getting the tent pegs into the ground. Toilet & showers facilities were located in the rear of the pub which was packed with very friendly locals for schnitzel night. Considering we hadn't paid a thing for camping at The Craddock Hotel the staff went over and above to accomodate us. Now that's what we consider "Country Hospitality" unlike what we came to experience from Susan and the management at Hawker Caravan Park who shamelessly hid behind company policy unwilling to provide a refund for services that they have catastrophically failed to deliver.
Do yourself a favour and drive the extra 20 minutes to the next town than give this lying, thieving place your hard earned cash that they don't deserve. read more
