Our initial plan for a portion of Australia and/or New Zealand was to rent a camper van and set out over large territories. Sarah was on board, but I was the driver behind the idea, particularly eager to inject more outdoor experiences into the family. I believe being out in nature and camping builds great life skills. Looking back, I hope to impart some of the lessons I learned on the girls:
learn how to sleep anywhere, on any bed (camping or otherwise)
be comfortable and embrace life at times without creature comforts
be dirty and embrace it
spending money doesn’t translate into a better experience
don’t vacation for instagram, do it for yourself and those on the experience with you (ok, this didn’t exist when I was growing up, but I want to get this point across as it’s a reality of today...I sound like an old man).
A camper van isn’t exactly high country backpacking, but many of these lessons are applicable.
For great reasons, friends and family joining for portions in Australia and New Zealand, it logistically didn’t make sense to hire a camper van. When looking at accommodation options in Tasmania, Big4 Holiday Parks came up and they were a way to get a bit closer to a camping experience vs a normal hotel experience.
Big4 Holiday Park - St Helena
Our first stay was at the St Helena location, just outside the Bay of Fires National Park. It had a range of stays from semi-permanent homes, camper/RV spaces, car camping to youth hostel shared bathroom accommodations. Scattered throughout the grounds were communal sites such as BBQ & picnic tables, playgrounds and bathrooms/showers.
The Community Vibe
The setup throws an instant vibe of community out there for the taking, you just have to take it! We did, going to the happy hour meet and greet - read Sarah’s recap in this post.
Tiny House
Sarah and I have a minimalist streak in us that has fed this experience. Without it, this trip likely would not have happened and certainly not in the way it’s played out. Along that minimalist thread, we’ve always been curious about the whole trendy tiny house movement. We were instantly excited when seeing our accommodations for our two nights.
People
A family theme for the trip is to value the people we meet along the way over the places we are in. Paige & Sadie got to do just that, making friends on the jumping pillow. Paige and Sadie became inseparable from Tasmanian sisters Chloe & Mia. It was so obvious what a great time they were having, we let them play hooky from school for a couple of days so they could indulge.
The friendship P&S struck up (read about it here), lead us to meet their parents Luke & Tina. We spent time chatting when them, learning about life on Tasmania. They live outside Hobart, the largest city in Tasmania, but were spending their first night in the holiday home they’d purchased the prior weekend.
Big4 Holiday Park - Freycinet
Moving on from the St Helena location, we moved to our next Big4 in Freycinet. We weren’t in a ‘tiny home’ but rather more of rustic ski cabin about the size of our last NYC 2 bedroom apartment.
We didn’t spend as much time at the Freycinet location, but we did come away with a desire for similar experiences. With the potential change to our itinerary because of the Cornavirus, we may find ourselves exploring Western Australia. I’d say there’s a good chance we may be back at a Big4 (they’re all over Australia), but perhaps in our own camper van this time ;).
Stay tuned.
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