Owner Awards 2025

Meet Australia's 2025 Owner of the Year Runner-Up: Donna from Edward River Caravan Hire

The 2025 Camplify Owner Awards celebrate the people who make our community brilliant – and this year's Runner-Up for Owner of the Year proves you don't need to be in a big city to build something extraordinary.

Donna runs a fleet of ten caravans – soon to be ten – from Deniliquin, a country NSW town of just 8,000 people. She's completed over 400 hires, owns every van outright, and has become so well-known locally that tradies call her with caravan questions. The town knows her as "the crazy caravan lady."

She wouldn't have it any other way.

On how it all started...

When Donna first saw Camplify online, her reaction was immediate: "I'd never do that. Never hire out my pride and joy."

She'd spent two and a half years travelling Australia in her caravan, Betsy – a 17-foot A-van she still hires out today. When she bought a new van, she couldn't bring herself to sell the original. Too many memories.

Then came October 2020. COVID hit, redundancy followed, and Donna found herself with two caravans and a decision to make.

"I went, 'I'm just going to start a business.' I sold a house, bought another couple of caravans, and went all in."

From one van to nine – all owned outright, paid in cash, funded by investing back into the business. What started as a "crazy idea" became a full-time career she loves.

On customising every experience...

With a Master's degree in PR and graduate studies in marketing, Donna approaches her listings differently to most.

"You're not listing a caravan – you're listing an experience," she says. "Tap into that and talk about how you can make it easy for people."

She tailors every hire to the guest. Experienced campers who just want a stripped-back van? Done. First-timers who need everything from chairs to Starlink? She'll load it all in.

"I always find out their itinerary and ask if they've been to the area before. I've done 100,000 kilometres around Australia – I'm pretty well versed. I help them navigate the best route for their trip."

Her marketing advice for new owners? Know your demographic and highlight what makes your van unique.

"One of mine has a slide-out Dometic kitchen. I'm marketing it to off-grid families, so the cover photo is the outdoor barbecue. It works."

On the friendships she never expected...

With 400+ hires, Donna thought the business would be transactional – guests in, guests out, like a motel.

"That's not the case at all."

One family stands out. They first hired when they had a brand-new baby. Now, 40 of their relatives come up every year and book out an entire caravan park.

"We've been through so many trials and tribulations with them. They don't even book anymore – I just keep a caravan locked for Christmas. Whenever they're ready, they ring and I go, 'Yeah, you're sorted.'"

Her farmer guests have become particularly special. "Farmers aren't going to spend $100,000 on equipment that just sits there. But they can go away for two months between sowing and harvest and spend five grand on a caravan hire – it would cost them that much to fly the family to Port Douglas for a week."

And those farmers? They return vans in better condition than they left.

"One tiny rattle and they have to find it and fix it. My vans come back quite often in better nick than they went out. The wives sit there going, 'He had to do something.'"

On giving back to the community...

Donna is a fixture in the Camplify Facebook community, spending hours on the phone with new owners who reach out for advice.

"My relationship with the group has changed over the years. I've gone from being the new one asking all the questions to now I've spent countless hours helping other new owners."

She works closely with nearby owner Mick from Barham – they refer guests to each other constantly.

"If people want a family van and I don't have quite what they need, I'll say, 'Ring Mick.' He does the same. We all just work together."

Where she'd send you first...

Deniliquin might be three and a half hours from Melbourne, but Donna reckons that's part of the charm.

"We're on the Edward River, which is an anabranch of the Murray. The Murray's only 30 minutes away. We have so many beautiful free camp areas."

The local Big4 caravan park is award-winning – two pools, a water park, mini golf, pontoon boats, right on the river.

"It's a full-on resort. Families love it."

And 500 metres from Donna's house? A beautiful riverside free camp right in the heart of town – where she takes every new caravan to get to know it, kayaking with her staffie while bookings ping in on her iPad.

On living the dream...

Donna doesn't mince words about what Camplify has meant to her.

"It saved me. It gave me an income, but it gave me more than that. I wake up every day and I don't work a day in my life. I just say to people, I play with my caravans. That's my happy place."

She still travels three months of the year. She still takes Betsy – her original van – out on the road. And she still remembers the adventures that started it all: swimming with whale sharks in WA, driving around Tassie, working for Maggie Beer in the Barossa for six months and living in her caravan.

"Between you and me, I did get to go to Maggie's house and have dinner and wine. She's beautiful."

Ready for a country NSW adventure?

Whether you want a compact weekender or a luxury apartment on wheels with more TVs than your house, Donna's got you covered – with 100,000 kilometres of knowledge and genuine country hospitality. Check out the Edward River Caravan Hire fleet.

Meet all our 2025 Owner Award winners here.

Interested in meeting the Owner who took the title of Owner of the Year? Meet Jono and Chris here.

Got an RV sitting in the driveway? See how Donna turned redundancy into a thriving business she loves. Learn how to list your van.