A plan to semi-retire to Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park has been cut short after one of its owners suffered life-changing injuries in a hit-and-run accident that almost left him in a wheelchair.
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Owners Marina and John Clements are selling the holiday park, about 15 kilometres east of Camperdown, they've owned and operated for the past seven years.
Mr Clements was the victim of a hit-and-run accident near Bendigo in 2020 and has had three spinal surgeries - two shortly after the incident and the most recent in February 2023 for injuries he sustained.
His ongoing injuries have affected his mobility and limited the tasks Mr Clements, known for his unstoppable work ethic, is able to perform.
"We've done all the hard work and we're going to step back and allow someone else to enjoy it because we just can't anymore," Mrs Clements said. "He can't do basic day-to-day stuff that he used to do."
Mrs Clements said it was a shame but it was now time to be closer to their family and Allansford businesses with the couple living between the two locations.
The couple want to be near their adult children and grandchildren and to concentrate on their businesses Pearson's Nursery and its wholesale operation Green Life Production Nursery.
It's been a tough few years for the family with the park hit with a severe weather event which emergency services described as a "tornado", causing an estimated $2 million in damages.
They rebuilt in the following months and have restored the park to its former glory with the weather event making way for more vacant grassed caravan sites.
Mrs Clements said they never set out to purchase the caravan park and initially visited it as guests. They plan to continue to holiday there and hope to have more time to enjoy it in future.
"We built a cabin there and we loved it so much," she said. "We love the park, the people, the location and the quietness.
"We loved everything about it. It was like a little slice of heaven in the middle of nowhere."
She said the park had lake frontage and was popular with campers and annual holiday makers.
Some of its regulars have been visiting annually for more than 35 years, with others coming for 50 years including second and third generation families who had their cabins passed down to them.
"They get an emotional attachment to the cabins and the place," she said.
Located on the south-side of Lake Purrumbete, the park is home to 60 camping sites, including nine cabins, and 102 annual holiday sites which provide regular income.
It's for sale for $995,000 and Mrs Clements said it was a rare opportunity to purchase a holiday park in an "amazing location".
"There's so much business growth in it for someone to come along," she said. "We're still making a good profit with it the way it stands today without doing any (major) work to it....It's only a win-win for somebody to come along and run it as a very successful business."
She said the park had already attracted lots of interest from potential buyers since it was listed for sale in early December 2023. It's listed with agent Susan Zeldan susan@ppa.com.au or call 0405 019 542.
