Three meals a day, A shuttle bus. Access to support services. A private space and room for pets and vehicles. Tracey Kisvarda has no complaints about life in the former COVID-19 quarantine hub in Melbourne's outer north.
The Mickleham centre is serving as crisis accommodation for people displaced by the floods.
"If anyone is still displaced, they should really consider this place," Ms Kisvarda said.
She and her husband were staying at the Rochester Riverside Holiday Park until they fled the flood threat.
Hundreds of Rochester residents have been displaced since the Campaspe River burst its banks two weeks ago.
Most of the town was inundated.
"We got notified a few days before they actually flooded and we were told we needed to get our caravan out, which we did," Ms Kisvarda said.
Her husband heard on the news that accommodation in the $580 million former COVID-19 quarantine hub was available to people displaced by the floods.
"I was one of the first ones to come down here and be shown through the centre," Ms Kisvarda said.
"We've pretty much been here ever since."
'It's beautiful, it really is'
Ms Kisvarda, her husband and their dog are among the 115 people and eight pets staying at the Centre for National Resilience.
The quarantine hub opened in February and housed 2,168 people before its closure was announced on October 4.
Ten days later, the federal and state governments announced the facility would be reopening to help people whose homes had been inundated in widespread flooding throughout the state.
People staying in the 250 beds would be provided with three meals a day, and have access to services including medical care.
"It's beautiful, it really is," Ms Kisvarda told ABC Central Victoria's breakfast program.
"I've had a chance to speak with a lot of the volunteers from the Red Cross and Services Australia and Co Health and they're so helpful.
"The room's lovely.
"We've got our own space here.
"The meals … they're unbelievable — they're so nice, and plenty of it."
She said there were laundry facilities, a "shop" with donated clothing and a community hub where people could go for support.
"It's just a really nice place to be," Ms Kisvarda said.
Catering to residents' needs
She said the accommodation was similar to the kind of cabin people might stay in at a caravan park.
"It's new, obviously — it hasn't been used all that much," Ms Kisvarda said.
"They've got different sizes.
"The family ones are quite big, probably double the size of what I'm in at the moment, and then there's a smaller size."
Ms Kisvarda said there was an hourly shuttle bus to nearby shopping centres and a service to Rochester.
"We've got our own car here, so we're able to drive up," Ms Kisvarda said.
"We're actually going up to Rochester this weekend and try and assess where we're at and see if we can help anywhere we can."
Residents consider the future
Ms Kisvarda said it took a little while for the centre in Mickleham to fill to the point that it had.
"There are more families here now and I have spoken with a couple of people from Rochester, so it's really good that they've got on board," she said.
The centre is one of a number of crisis accommodation options available to Rochester residents.
The state government is racing to open a temporary "village" for displaced Rochester residents in Elmore, dubbed "Rochy South".
Couple's stay extended
Ms Kisvarda and her husband are expecting to stay at the centre in Mickleham for several weeks more.
They have called the centre home for about 10 days.
"Co Health managed to get us an extension, so that's been extended by a further two weeks," Ms Kisvarda said.
"The operations manager said to me yesterday, 'We're not going to push you out.'
"Co Health are going to try and help us to find alternative accommodation because we're not expecting to be able to get back to Rochester until about Christmas or the New Year."
She said she and her husband were building in Moama and had made the choice to live in their caravan.
"But a lot of caravan parks won't take pets and because of the housing crisis in Victoria it's very difficult to get a rental," Ms Kisvarda said.
