Manjimup - WA < Aussie Caravanning Lifestyle

I grew up in Western Australia around the Perth region and many times I heard about people having summer holidays in Manjimup and to be more specific Fonty’s Pool. So it was with great delight when I saw an opportunity to stop at the Fonty’s Pool Caravan Park and Chalets with Graeme. It’s set in the heart of the Southern Forest Region just between Manjimup and Pemberton.

I can tell you we were certainly not disappointed. What a beautiful place and the history of how it all began is quite awesome. It reminded us so much about the history of Paronella Park in Northern Queensland which we visited last year. To give you a little understanding of how this beautiful place began you need to go back and read about a young Italian man named Archimedes Fontanini who was born on 14th April 1880 at Giangugnana in the Province of Lucca, Italy.

Fonty’s Pool in Manjimup Caravan Park

To cut a long story short Archimedes (Archie) arrived in Fremantle in 1904 with 12s.6p ($1.25) in his pocket and worked for some years at Greenbushes sawmill. However, he wanted to become a farmer so he taught himself English and in so doing read an article that the government was urging people to take up land. Archie married in 1909, had 5 children and together the couple built this amazing place for others to enjoy. Archie died at the age of 102 in 1982.This is such a fascinating story and I don’t need to repeat the words. You can read it all at Fonty’s Pool.

In 2005 the Fontanini family offered the property for sale. The new owners Jeremy and Kelly Beissel and at the time their young family purchased the property.

Wow they have done an incredible job bringing “Fonty’s Pool” back to life. The caravan park is just lovely and very quiet. As usual you have a camp kitchen and very clean and modern amenities. Those who stay in the Caravan Park have free entrance into “Fonty’s Pool”. If you’re not staying in the park then they do ask for a $3 per person fee to enter the pool area.

Manjimup Caravan Park

Powered and unpowered sites are available as well as chalets and cabins. Seniors receive 10% discount off site fees and they have a deal where you can stay 7 nights and pay for 6. The park is pet friendly, but you need to seek permission from management before arrival, and pets must be leashed at all times.

If you like walking or cycling this place has some wonderful tracks. Or just walk down the road a little way and buy some fresh fruit and vegies straight from the farmers. On top of that there are some wonderful day trips you can take.

The region seems like it’s thriving with many stone fruit orchards. You can also stop at a road side stall and buy locally grown potatoes and avocadoes and sooo much more.

Truffle farms are also becoming quite popular and one arfternoon we stopped into The Truffle & Wine Co. Inside the cellar door you can read about the history of the farm. In May to late August you book into a truffle hunt and enjoy walking through the mystical canopy of Oak and Hazelnut trees referred to as truffle trees while following highly trained truffle dogs as they guide you to discover the Black Truffle.

For those keen to sample a Black Truffle the cellar door has a Truffle Restaurant where you can have a sample plate with a glass of Truffle Hill wine. Again we missed out as we are too early for the truffle hunt and we were too late to go into the Cafe for tasting. But it was still a great place to visit and we did get to smell some amazing frozen Black Truffles.