SUE and Paul Bartlett, the owner-managers of the Merredin Caravan Park and Av-A-Rest Village, retired this week after 20 successful years in business.

The caravan park has come a long way since the Bartletts first bought it on October 1, 1989, from John Gribble, who had built it in 1976.

Since then they have built it up from a tiny establishment with only eight caravans, to a large and thriving business with ten caravans, 18 air-conditioned self-contained chalets, six part-time employees and 80 caravan bays.

“When we started, we were happy if we got two or three caravans a week, but now it’s nothing to get 30 to 35 caravans in a day,” said Paul.

“The units are usually booked out – they have been our most successful investment because most people, such as business reps, prefer to have their own kitchen rather than eat out.”

The Bartletts said they had enjoyed the caravan park lifestyle because they got to meet all sorts of interesting people.

“We get people from all walks of life, including plenty of Australians, overseas tourists in mobile homes, backpackers, and people on business travel,” said Sue.

However they said managing the caravan park was a big responsibility.

“When we met other people in the caravan park industry, they gave us a maximum of four years before we would get sick of it, because you rarely get holidays and need to be on call twenty-four hours, seven days a week for your guests,” said Sue.

“But after four years we felt we were only just getting started and we couldn’t leave.”

The Bartletts now hope to spend two years travelling around Australia in their own caravan, but first they are building a house on their block east of Merredin.

“It’s been a good 20 years but it’s time to take a step back,” said Sue.

“We would like to thank to all the businesses that have supported us and the local people that have helped us over the years.”

They handed the park over on Monday to its new owner, Perth real estate developer Frank Delanotte, who also recently built the Park Avenue Homes on Mitchell Street.

Sandy and Trevor Karasek, who previously managed the caravan park at Jurien Bay, have moved in to manage the park for Mr Delanotte.

Mr Delanotte said he saw great potential for the park, especially with the increase of workers coming to Merredin to build the Collgar Wind Farm.

He said he planned to add five new units to the park within the next two months.

Sue and Paul will take with them their world famous pets Chloe and Munty, the kangaroos, and Billie, the parrot, who were a major attraction for tourists visiting the park.