Riviera Beach Resort is located by an estuary, just opposite a jetty complete with boats in the town of Lakes Entrance. The location offers an ideal location for a beach or tree escape. This is one of our favourite time shares and well worth a visit for a lazy school holiday.

The resort is tiny, consisting of about seven detached units on a plot little bigger than a standard house plot. The units are arranged around a central drive way with a single parking spot for each unit. Everything on site is very tight and your skills are tested parking in some of the designated spots. You may wish to park across the road from the resort.

We stayed in a two bedroom unit that was finished to a reasonable hotel level of finish complete with two TVs, lounge area and kitchen. Like most units, cooking is limited to a hotplate with the oven replaced by a convection microwave.

The staff are friendly and helpful, without the high sheen polish that Wyndham presents. With the resort being so small, staff are not on-site for large amounts of time.

On-site facilities are limited to a games room containing TV, pool table and futsal table. However this is more than made up for by the location.

The main beach is a long walk away. There are in fact several sections of the 90 mile beach accessible under different names within a close drive. There is also a bicycle/walking track just outside the resort that will take you along the estuary and the many boats and into town. Turning behind the resort, provides a more direct route to the town centre that contains all the usual holiday shops including an ice cream parlour and three mini golf businesses.

The town boasts a number of supermarkets including Woolworths and Aldi. Woolworths is a block or two away from the resort towards the back. In addition there are about three clubs that welcome visitors. The bowls club is also within a couple of blocks walk. The towns biggest feature, according to one local, is that it hosts 7 op-shops.

There are the usual water side activities: fishing, boating and swimming. You can get a free entry card to the well equipped local swimming pool for $20 deposit, refunded on the return of the card.

Further a field there is the town of Orbost. This is a historic wood cutting town which includes a number of walks. If you like history, the major buildings in the main street are labelled with their history. Many fine buildings, including an authentic slab hut, that contains a gift shop and the local tourist information.

Buchan contains two main tourist caves and a third that is toured on occasion. The reserve is a beautiful area planted with natives and imports. It provides good walking tracks, picnic and camping areas anchored by a well equipped visitor centre. Emphasis is on the fauna, flora and history of the site. The caves were first officially discovered in 1907 and have had a lively history of tourist visitation since.

Nyerimilang Heritage Park is also worth a visit. Dating from the late 19^th century, the campus was established as a holiday home while still being run as a farm. The house and buildings show a very long occupation and a range of dating and styles. The grounds are immaculate and there are several bush walks on the site.

Disclosure: The Chubb family are members in a resort administered by Holiday Concepts. We have no other relationship with Holiday Concepts or Riviera Beach Resort Ltd. This article was not created at the behest of or with the knowledge of Holiday Concepts or Riviera Beach Resort Ltd.