Popular Aussie campsite begs for more tourists

One of Australia's popular campsites is pleading for more tourists after the number of visitors dropped by a whopping 90 per cent last year.

The Wugudaji-Adels Grove camping ground, about 10km from the Boodjamulla National Park in North West Queensland, reopened in July after extensive flooding forced the holiday destination to close its doors for six months during the peak season.

Floodwaters caused heavy damage to the accomodation area, leaving “debris everywhere”, but the team did “a lot of work” before the firsts guests were welcomed back.

However, despite frequent advertising on social media, manager Melissa Gerard told the ABC’s North West Breakfast radio host Zara Margolis that Adels Grove only saw 10 per cent of the amount of people it recorded the year prior.

“It’s really not a lot,” Melissa said on Thursday, adding the extreme dip in visitors was somewhat “understandable” because parts of the Boodjamulla National Park remain closed and Adels Grove is not located on a main road.

However, the lack of interest has taken a big toll on the business, which previously had a team of 26 but now only has seven staff members, she said.

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Camping park's plea for visitors

Melissa told the ABC she fears visitor numbers will remain low because of the restricted access to the national park. “We hope that people will talk between themselves because we think that a lot of people enjoy the experience here,” she said. “So we hope to have a bit more people than last year.”

This summer, Adels Grove had another close call when a bushfire surrounded the camping grounds, which the manager admitted was “quite scary”.

While the former restaurant area is still not usable, everything else at the facility has been cleaned, Melissa added. “At the moment it’s raining and it’s getting greener and greener every day. It’s beautiful.”

Thousands of Queenslanders still without power

Queensland has yet to cop a break from the wild weather, with tens of thousands of homes still without power after Cyclone Kirrily tore a path of devastation through the state's north.

The cyclone wreaked havoc after it was downgraded from category three to category two on Thursday evening. It thrashed Ingham and Townsville, leaving more than 115,000 residents without power. While electricity has been restored for a number of homes, Queensland Police said there were still 48,500 homes and businesses in the dark.

Despite this, the Gold Coast airport is on track to record its busiest month ever this weekend with 80,000 expected passengers, the ABC reports. Authorities said the severe weather hasn’t deterred visitors.

With AAP

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