By DENNIS AMOR

A New South Wales caravan park is celebrating its latest gong.

Guests enjoy a cooling dip in the river adjoining Willow Bend Caravan Park

The waterside Willow Bend Caravan Park at Wentworth, a member of the Oz Parks chain, has scooped an Encouragement Award in this year's Mildura Business Excellence Awards.

"We are thrilled ... we were the only park to get an award in our category," delighted owner Donna Smith told Caravanning News.

"It feels good to see your business is one of the top in Sunraysia. It makes the long hours worth it."

It was the second award in less than a year for the three-and-a-half star park at the junction of the Murray and Darling rivers. Last July Donna and husband Andrew collected an Inland Tourism Award of Distinction.

Donna and Andrew took two weeks off from Sydney's nightclub and restaurant scene and fell in love with the park when they first saw it eight years ago.

"We went back to Sydney for a couple of years and decided we would like to enter the caravan park business," Andrew explained.

They scoured about 300 parks in WA, Queensland and NSW but were always drawn back to Willow Bend, which they finally bought four years after first setting eyes on it.

Andrew and Donna said they had since "worked their butts off" earning the 100-site park its current status.

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