Our History
It started with six power boxes
...very few taps and a lot of work
Back in 1982, Austin Tourist Park wasn't Austin Tourist Park at all.
It was Walls Caravan Park, originally part of a larger property incorporating a hotel and service station owned by Ellis Wall.
In those days, being sent out to Walls apparently meant you'd been chucked out of camping at the showground!
Frank, his ex-wife Christine, and Frank's parents Martin and Eva purchased the caravan park at an auction in Sydney and took possession in August 1982. What they'd bought could politely be described as a project. There were six power boxes — each reportedly accompanied by about five pages of electrical faults — and very basic water infrastructure. There was a water meter out the front, but taps around the park were another matter. There weren't even amenities ready for guests. Thankfully, the pub next door came in handy.
For those first few months, the park "borrowed" the amenities at the back of the pub while Frank, Martin and a group of friends got to work building a new amenities block. Even the bricks had a story. They came from Tamworth's old Westpac Bank building and were hand-cleaned by Frank and his mum, Eva, ready to be reused.
The new amenities opened in January 1983. With about a week to spare before the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Nothing like a deadline.
So, why is it called Austin?
For that, we need to go back even further.
The Austin in Austin Tourist Park comes from a 1927 Austin 7, built by Frank and his younger brother Mark with plenty of help from their dad, Martin. And if you've ever wondered about the little car in our logo, there's another piece of Austin history hiding there. That's Frank behind the wheel.
The car became part of our identity, and the spirit behind it still fits us rather well: get out there, take the interesting road, have a go and enjoy the adventure along the way.
Growing up Austin
In those early days, owning a caravan park also meant living the caravan park life. Frank and Christine, along with their children Alison, Belinda and Phillip, lived in a caravan onsite for almost 12 months while a family home and the park office were being built.
The first guest accommodation wasn't the collection of cabins you'll find around Austin today, either. We started with road vans before purchasing our first cabin in 1986. It was a tin block with a toilet at the back — a toilet which, for reasons that still make us laugh, caused considerable angst with Council. There was apparently concern that giving people access to it might mean they'd go to the toilet twice as often. We're pleased to report civilisation survived.
That same year, Austin joined Top Tourist Parks of Australia, now G'day Parks, beginning a relationship that continues today. Alison eventually headed off to do other things, before returning in 2013 to help Frank run the park.
Today, Austin remains genuinely family-owned and independently operated, with three generations involved in the business in one way or another: Frank; his daughter Alison; his son Phillip; and his granddaughters Louisa and Jessica.
Alongside them is the wider Austin team — the people looking after our guests, cabins, grounds, gardens, maintenance and all the little things that keep a tourist park ticking along.
More than four decades of building, changing & having a go
If there's one thing Austin has never been particularly good at, it's standing still.
During the 1990s we began significant work improving our riverside area — a project which, depending on whom you ask, may never actually be finished. We've progressively upgraded power, water and other infrastructure throughout the park. Electrical capacity alone grew from 100 amps over three phases in 1982, to 200 amps by 1987, and doubled again to 400 amps in 2011.
Road vans became cabins. Sites changed. Facilities grew. Gardens were planted. Things were built, rebuilt, moved, repaired, reconsidered and occasionally looked at with the words, "There's got to be a better way of doing this."
More than 40 years later, we're still improving Austin. That's part of who we are.
Your adventure is next
Austin Tourist Park has changed enormously since Frank and his family arrived in August 1982.
Thankfully, there are considerably more than six power boxes now. There are taps. You no longer need to wander next door to use the pub's amenities. And yes, our cabins have toilets.
But underneath all that change, we're still a family-owned Tamworth tourist park filled with people who enjoy welcoming travellers, swapping stories, sharing local knowledge and helping people get on their way.
Whether you're here for a night, a week, a festival, a family holiday, a group gathering or simply because Tamworth looked like a good place to stop on the way to somewhere else, we hope Austin becomes part of your story. And if you're wondering where to go next?
Come and have a chat. We might just know a road. Happy and Safe Travels!
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