From Last Resort To People’s Choice

It’s been almost six years since Angie and Aaron Barton took an ailing caravan park in Flametree and transformed it into a modern, eco friendly holiday paradise which has carved a reputation for being at the heart and soul of many family memories.

When they first arrived, the couple had never worked in tourism before and it was just the two of them operating the entire park for many months, dedicating seven days a week to improving the facilities.

Now they employ almost 20 local staff and have reinvigorated the resort, working on every aspect from beautifying the lush garden setting to adding a children’s playground, a ninja course, a little on-site café and the addition of 10 new eco lodges.

The transformation is almost unrecognisable, and they are incredibly proud of how far they’ve come.

“We had this vision to create a unique and memorable eco experience – and we’ve done that,” said Angie.

“When we first got here we nicknamed ourselves ‘The Last Resort’, but now we have become people’s first choice - and that was in our vision – we’ve done that and got there.”

With dreams of getting bigger and even better, Angie and Aaron purchased adjacent land last year so that they would have a total of three blocks, increasing the site from seven to 19 acres.

This would enable them to expand further to Stage 2 which includes eight two-storey treehouses, a waterpark, a three-bed disabled villa and two 40-bed dormitories.

Unfortunately, the new vision has become too big for the couple to manage alone, and hidden costs made it unfeasible for them.

This is why, with heavy hearts, they have made the “bitter-sweet” decision to sell the park to a worthy owner who has the capital and support of a national-brand that will allow their vision to come to reality.

“This company can come in and they can take our vision and dream and make it happen,” said Angie.

“I can’t wait to come back and see that what I’ve drawn on this piece of paper has come to reality.”

After working seven days a week for the last seven years, Angie and Aaron are moving down to the Gold Coast where they will take much needed time off to “live” and then decide their next step forward.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to all the staff, everyone in the community and all our guests for making our time here so magical,” said Angie.

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