Destinations Family Archives - Page 4 of 7 - Aussie Destinations Unknown

The Nut, Stanley Tasmania

by Miriam | Dec 19, 2018 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Adventures Family, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Destinations Family

Driving along the windy coastal road through the misty rain we see The Nut through the low-lying clouds and it’s time to pull over, brave the wind, rain and the oncoming traffic (all 3 cars) to get ‘that’ shot. ‘That’ shot is meant to be a jump shot – but it was an epic fail – so we had to settle for this one. Lol.

Stanley is a cosy coastal town, nestled at the base of The Nut on a thin piece of land that sticks out into the Bass Strait on Tasmania’s North West Coast. It is about a 1-hr drive west of Burnie and is well known for fishing and tourism. But one thing it is really well known for is The Nut; an enormous flat topped, volcanic neck jutting 150 metres straight up from the water’s edge.

We have come here on day 2 of our Tasmanian holiday, having spent day one at Boat Harbour Beach.

Through the tiny streets of Stanley, past the perfectly preserved colonial buildings, quaint B&Bs and funky little shops we go, making our round the base of The Nut to have a quick look at the wharf where all the cattle trucks were loaded onto a barge (most likely heading to King Island) as we head to the Stanley Cabin Park on Wharf Road.

We walk in and have a chat to the lovely lady at reception who advises us that we certainly are booked in, but not until tomorrow and for 2 nights, not 3. Whoops! Lucky for us there aren’t many people here and we amend our booking and drive into our spot. There aren’t any slab sites in this park, so it’s a pretty wet set up and the awning is the first thing to go up giving us a little shelter from the weather while we shuffle things from the car inside the van.

We’d previously requested a beach front site but I made the executive decision to find the most sheltered spot and snag that! The weather is a far cry from the sunny 27 it was yesterday when we were at Boat Harbour Beach in our swimmers – it’s 16 degrees, raining and the wind gusts are pretty impressive!

Poor Chris spent ages outside trying to repair a broken latch on one of the caravan boot doors. He ended up with a temporary fix, quite a few phone calls and having parts express posted to my parents’ place so my dad can help him replace a hinge when we get there a couple of days before Christmas.

I had lunch ready and the kids had already eaten and cleared space at the table for us by the time he came inside. We ate lunch, Chris had a snooze, the kids played games and I did some writing and editing. An hour after I’d started, the kids came in and asked if I wanted to go for a bike ride with them. I did – but I had work to do. They had a great time and met a gorgeous Frenchie named Winston who’s breathing sounded like a growl. The kids were in love with him!

About an hour after that, they returned and asked if we should climb The Nut while the weather was good. I looked outside and the weather had cleared, the sky was a bright blue and The Nut was looming over the town looking very inviting. So, I packed the laptop up and we headed off to see what this little town is famous for.

We all really wanted to know how The Nut got its name, so I asked google who led me to this website: https://www.stanley.com.au/about-the-region/faq/ which gave us this answer:

‘The Nut was first called Circular Head when it was discovered by Bass & Flinders in 1798. The region that surrounds the Nut has since been called Circular Head. It depends who you talk to on the origin of the name the Nut.

Some say it is a shortened version of the Aboriginal name for it which was Moo-Nut-Re-Ker. Some also say the name came from when the breakwater was built in 1892. The side of the Nut was packed with explosives to construct the breakwater, once detonated nothing happened and no rocks fell from the side of the Nut.

Apparently most of the crowd that gathered to watch the event, agreed that is was a “Hard Nut to Crack”.

The simple 5 minute walk from the caravan park across the road presented numerous photo opportunities from old fences to beautiful gardens and houses filled with character all set with The Nut towering behind or the shimmering ocean as the backdrop.

It seemed like the cameras were clicking away every few seconds!

We stopped and had a chat with a local lady who was out walking her sausage dog. She was quite happy to share all sorts of information about the local area from empty houses to dog poo bags! We love meeting new people 🙂

We all voted, and the kids chose to walk up and take the open chairlift back down. I mean everyone knows that walking down a hill is harder than climbing up it, right? We arrived at the chairlift at 3:55 and read the sign that stated very clearly it closed at 4:15.

We purchased a one-way family ticket to ride up (2 adults and 3 kids) for $38 and stood in line behind the one family that was already there. We took 3 chairs up; the boys in one, the girls in another and me coming up last.

It takes about 5 minutes from base to ‘summit’ which is plenty long enough to admire the view (which is behind you). I saw a wallaby bouncing around below me and I’ve heard you can often spot sea lions and penguins if you’re lucky.

Before long we were wandering around taking in the spectacular 360-degree view from the top. At 150 meters above the sea, you can appreciate the beauty of Tasmania’s breathtaking and rugged northwest coastline.

All the kids had a great time letting their crazy imaginations run wild. Not far into the walk we could smell rice, so the kids decided they must be rice shrubs. There were giant holes in the ground everywhere which obviously meant there were still early Tasmanian’s living here digging for food. And the tree with the branches that created a tiny shelter has been added to their list of places to remember ‘if they ever get lost in Tasmania’. There was mention of Wolfe Creek as they played out scenarios of being stranded in the Tasmanian wilderness on their own.

We snapped our token ‘jump shots’ and I captured Chris capturing our token jump shots 😉

It had been blue skies and sun when we set off, but by the time we headed back down, the skies were once again grey, and it had cooled right down.

We made our way down the path, each in our own way. Aylah took the lead and ran most of the way down, Cooper hung onto the fence and went down backwards, I took small fast steps in the middle of the path in my hiking boots, Chris did all sorts of things in his thongs and Charli took her time in her new Nike Air Force 1’s. One way or another, we made it safely to the bottom with all limbs intact.

The Nut is just one of the incredible places to visit here on the North West Coast of Tasmania, and we’ve loved every second.

We are headed to the Highfield Historic House next, and the kids are unbelievably excited about that. I mean, what kid doesn’t want to explore old abandoned buildings and conjure up super scary ghost stories in their mind? I know ours sure do!

Boat Harbour Beach, Tas

by Miriam | Dec 18, 2018 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Adventures Family, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments

Magic. This one word sums up where we are, and where we wish we could stay for more than the one night we had planned for.

From the moment the ocean glimmers into view as you wind your way down the road to the minute your toes hit the cool, blue water washing over the white sand, everything about this small coastal village is pure magic.

Tucked away between 2 rocky headlands, Boat Harbour Beach is every bit what you’ve read about or seen in countless photographs. It’s no wonder that it was voted one of Australia’s top 10 beaches!

Boat Harbour is located on Tasmania’s north coast, 176 km north-west of Launceston and 31 km west of Burnie and interestingly, exists in a micro climate where frosts are unknown and tropical plants can be found.

We arrived just before 11am to find most of the free camp spots had been taken, but Chris hopped out and had a chat to a lovely guy in a camper trailer who said we could pull in next to him.

And what a spot we pulled into! It is overlooking the rocks and water, right next to the green, grassy area in front of the toilets that is blocked off by wooden posts. Our van is sitting alongside the posts and our awning is in the grassy area, so we only have neighbours to the back of us.

We set up and hit the beach straight away. Aylah was the first in without even ‘testing the waters’. My toes dipped in and straight back out! It was icy; but the longer you stayed in, the warmer it got. There were a few comments like ‘do you have any blood left in your feet?’ from the kids though.

They had a ball burying each other, playing in the waves and ended up spending most of the day on the beach.

It’s the middle of December and we are so lucky that today was a beautiful one. 27 degrees meant we were out enjoying the sun during the day, yet as the sun fell the temperatures dropped rapidly and the winds that had been gusting steadily throughout the day brought a chill with them. It was jacket and beanie weather for me as we wandered down the rocky beach below our caravan and around the bend.

The camp ground is quite small, but absolutely stunning as it overlooks a little bay and winds around behind some trees. We spoke to one family who have been here for 2 weeks as they fell in love the first day they arrived and couldn’t bring themselves to leave.

We debated staying another night, but we hadn’t allowed for it and sadly don’t have enough water in the tanks.

There is a toilet block, a couple of undercover BBQ’s, some tables scattered around and a playground.

Down on the beach is the Boat Harbour Beach Surf Club with a restaurant that I wouldn’t mind having breakfast in tomorrow morning.

This is a gorgeous, unspoiled piece of the North West Tasmanian coast that is tucked away with a handful of houses perched up on the surrounding hills.

Due to the limited parking and camping spots, there doesn’t seem to be a high chance that this the pristine beach could ever become too crowded, although I imagine more people would be around during the school holidays.

You will always find your own little piece of paradise here that is guaranteed to steal your heart.

It is a photographer’s dream, so bring a huge external drive to save those once in a lifetime shots you are guaranteed to be snapping during your visit!

The weather did turn for us; overnight the winds picked up and by morning it was overcast, drizzling and chilly. It looked like an entirely different place. This is still a beautiful place, no matter what colour the skies are! These are some ‘rainy day’ pics.

CSIRO Telescope Adventures

by Miriam | Dec 15, 2018 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Adventures Family, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments, Reviews

Our kids love learning, especially when it’s hands on. And for Cooper, anything ‘sciency’ is right up there on the list.

So when we were planning our trip from Brisbane to Tassie and back, and the Paul Wild Observatory (home to CSIRO’s Australia Telescope Centre) popped up on our radar, we knew it was going on our itinerary. When we kept looking and found that ‘The Dish’ at Parkes was not much further down the road, the deal was sealed.

We left Brisbane at about 4:15am and headed straight down to Narrabri. A quick set up and lunch when we got there gave us enough time to jump back in the car and find where we were going – 25 kilometres west on a fully sealed road.

Just the name ‘The Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), at the Narrabri Observatory’ had the kids excited and peering out the windows as we got closer.

There were dishes scattered around all over the dry woodland along with quite a few signs asking you to switch your phones off or to airplane/flight mode, and turn off other WiFi and Bluetooth-enabled devices before you enter the facility.

Apparently ‘the ‘noise’ created by our modern gadgets can overwhelm the weak signals from space our telescopes are trying to detect.’

When we first got there we were a little disappointed as it appeared to be closed. It said quite clearly on the website that it was open every day, so we were a bit puzzled. We had a look around and things just seemed ‘old’.

But the closer we looked, the more it made sense, and the more little signs we read – the more amazing the place became.

CSIRO’s Australia Telescope Compact Array is a world leading instrument for radio astronomy and deep views into the universe.

I must admit that when you see those 6 huge 22 metre dish antennas, weighing 270 tonnes each, located on a six kilometre road and railway track (or ‘telescope track’ as Chris called it)- you get kind of ‘blown away’ – especially when they start moving! They move either a lot or just a little every few minutes or so. It’s pretty impressive.

All together these 6 dishes simulate one very large antenna!

While the kids and I were wandering through the outdoor astronomy exhibits, Chris opened a door and called out that it was open! Maybe we didn’t pull the door hard enough? 🤔

The Visitors Centre is unstaffed but open from 8:00am to 6:00pm daily. Just keep trying the door!

Inside there are many more exhibits to look at and lots to read.

The kids did some activity sheets, had a look at the puzzles and Cooper did some reading. There is also a theatrette showing free films on space and astronomy. Chris and the kids spent some time in there while I headed back outside.

When the others came out it was all fun and games! There are a few interactive exhibits including a dish that you can spin and tilt with a wheel and our favourite- the ‘Whispering Dishes’.

This was a set of 2 smallish dishes set a long way apart and facing each other.

Chris and Cooper ran to one end and the girls and I stayed at the first dish.

We decided to play a ‘Simon Says’ type game where one ‘team’ would whisper into the dish what the other had to do.

There was hysterical laughter all around as the girls started running around the dish, jumping up and down and acting crazy as instructed by the boys.

It was heaps of fun! The way it works is that the sound waves produced by your voice bounce off the dishes surface and travel in a straight line over to the other dish. This other dish collects them and directs them to its focal point – the ears of the listener!

It was fantastic – especially when you could hear how quietly they were speaking into the dish and how loud it bounced back from the other end!

It’s free to wander around and to get into the visitor’s centre. There are also BBQ facilities to use if you feel like having a bite to eat while you’re there.

We had a great time and were excited to see how ‘The Dish’ located near Parkes, was ‘so much bigger’. Chris has been there and told us enough about this Australian icon that we were keen to check it out.

It was the next day, on our way from Narrabri to West Wyalong that we stopped and saw the huge dish that played a key role in televising images of the Apollo 11 Moon landing on 20 July 1969.

On the way we saw lots of three-dimensional planet models in various rest stops and it wasn’t until we stopped at Gilgandra did we get to find out what they were.

They are all part of the Worlds Largest Solar System Drive! The planets are displayed on huge billboards with the size of the planets and the distance between each billboard scaled relative to the dome – the Sun – along the five main roads that lead to Coonabarabran in regional NSW. You can also learn interesting facts about the Solar System and the unique features of each planet. Incredible!

These only increased the excitement as we approached our next destination.

With a diameter of 64 metres, Parkes is one of the largest single-dish telescopes in the southern hemisphere dedicated to astronomy so; it’s no wonder that we could see it from the highway before we even took the turn down the road that led us to the centre.

There is a big carpark that had only a handful of cars and lots of lovely shady trees. We walked through the gardens and outdoor exhibits (not unlike the ones we had seen the day before) and the kids were pretty excited to see bigger and what appeared to be newer Whispering Dishes.

Inside the visitor centre is amazing – there is an abundance of things to see and do including a theatrette, gift shop and café. Needless to say, the kids headed straight to the counter and ordered themselves some lunch which was eaten with a pretty speccy view of The Dish right out the window.

We read the signs that were dotted around and once again were completely astounded by the vast amounts of pretty crazy information.

“By almost any measure, the Parkes Radio Telescope is the most successful scientific instrument ever built in Australia. The telescope is unsurpassed in terms of the number of astronomers, both national and international, who have used the instrument, the number of research papers that have flowed from their research, and the sheer longevity of its operation (now over fifty years),” wrote Peter Robinson for the 50th anniversary of the telescope, in 2011.

There is so much interesting information about ‘This Dish’ that I could go on forever! But I won’t. I found 4 very interesting facts on the CSIRO website that I’m going to share with you.

1. The dish is not fixed to the top of its tower, but just sits on it.

The moving part of the telescope weighs 1000 tonnes – as much as two Boeing 747s – but it is not fixed to the tower, and instead sits atop it with its own weight holding it down.

2. The site was bought from a farmer named Australia.

Australia ‘Austie’ Helm (named as such because he was born on a special wartime Australia Day in July 1915) was the owner of a 360 hectare property known as Kildare in the Goobang Valley. After the site of Parkes had been selected, negotiations began and, in the end, Austie sold 70 hectares to the CSIRO for the radio telescope.

3. It has listened for ET

The Parkes radio telescope was the first stop for US researchers from the SETI Institute in California when they launched Project Pheonix – a search for extra-terrestrial intelligence by analysing patterns in radio signals of 800 nearby stars, similar to ours.

4. In the famous cricket scene from the The Dish, the actors used a tennis ball, not a cricket ball.

One of the problems the directors had with The Dish movie was showing how big the dish actually is and came up with the idea of playing a game of cricket on it. As a real cricket ball would damage the surface, they were given a soft tennis ball instead.

These 2 places are incredible … and if you are heading north or south and have to choose which route to take, be open to the inland road and all the adventures it has to offer, like this one! You never know what your kids will remember from your adventures; perhaps it will be the huge dish towering above the cafe, or it could be just the fact they had some pretty tasty chips and a sausage roll for lunch!

Sawn Rocks

by Miriam | Dec 14, 2018 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Adventures Family, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments, National Parks

When we were planning our trip from Brisbane down to Tasmania, there were so many factors that came into play. Of course, we wanted to spend Christmas with my family in Grindelwald, a gorgeous little Swiss Village just 15 minutes north of Launceston, but we also wanted to see things we haven’t seen, visit places we haven’t been and show our kids something completely different.

For the last 3 years we have ventured to Far North QLD and loved every second of it! We have some wonderful memories and visited some magical places. See trip one here, and trip two here – I still haven’t written up our trip from last Christmas! Slack, I know.

So, this year we finally decided to ‘just do it’ and booked our tickets across on the Spirit about 6 months ago. Then we had to choose coast road, or inland. So, we had a look at what there was on both routes, and we decided that inland was the way to go. It turns out that the coast road is flooded from Sydney to Melbourne, so we definitely made the right choice!

One of the deciding factors was what we could visit while staying in Narrabri – the CSIRO Telescope Centre and the Sawn Rocks. And wow – we are so glad we came this way!

We’ve heard so much about Sawn Rocks, and have seen so many spectacular pics, that we really wanted our own happy snaps in front of ‘nature’s castle ruins’ as the kids have called it.

This meant leaving Brissy about 4:15am, booking in at the Narrabri Big Sky Caravan Park, eating a quick lunch upon our arrival at about 1:30pm and then jumping back in the car to make the 45 minute (or so) drive to see this natural wonder for ourselves.

We stopped off to check out the telescopes at the CSIRO centre on the way for a while (which was insane! Stay tuned for those pics 😁)

Once you get the location correct in your GPS, Sawn Rocks can be easily found in the northern section of Mt Kaputar National Park and is an amazing reminder of Kaputar’s volcanic past. It is one of Australia’s best examples of the geological formation known as ‘organ-piping’.

I can remember being taken to see the The Organ Pipes National Park in Victoria when I was no older than 3 or 4, and I can still remember it! I know the Sawn Rocks have had the same impact on our 3 youngest.

To get to the rocks from the car-park it’s just a short 750 metre walk along a lovely track that was dotted with little signs filled with information about the park, and according to one of these signs, once was lined with gorgeous flowers and shrubs. Today we saw some tiny purple flowers amongst lots of burnt trees. It was still beautiful ♥️

Once you get closer, there is a viewing platform which gives you the perfect photo opportunity of the towering wall of pentagonal basalt pipes that is the sheared off remains of a basalt lava flow from the Nandewar Volcano many years ago, and then some stairs that wind down to the base.

This is what we found the most intriguing … all the huge broken clumps of pipes that have crashed to the ground at the base of the wall. Home to many snakes I would imagine! Not that we were lucky enough to spot anything other than ants, moths, birds and a cute little lizard that Aylah tickled until it ran (really fast!) into the scrub.

Over many years, huge chunks of rock have tumbled down to rest on the bed of the (now dried up) Bobbiwaa Creek. I’ve read that these are buried about 60 metres into the ground below!

Cooper said that it reminded him of ancient ruins of a temple or castle – he was absolutely right! It was just like that.

There is also a great car park, toilets, and BBQ’s and tables/chairs.

What a top spot! We totally rate it 👌🏼

FUNdraise for Farmers 2018

by Miriam | Dec 5, 2018 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Adventures Family, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments

FUNdraise for Farmers 2018 was a huge success and we are so humbled by everyone who pulled together to help make one of our dreams become a reality.

A recent trip to Birdsville was the catalyst for the idea to put together a family friendly outback themed camping weekend to raise money for our struggling Aussie farmers. We saw, first hand, the devastation wreaked by the ongoing drought that we are facing not only here in QLD, but across Australia, and wanted to do something to help.

We spent quite some time researching what was the best way to ensure the funds went straight where they should, without anybody taking a cut of the profit on the way. We found out some shocking truths about ‘fundraising’ and settled on the Burrumbuttock Hayrunners – volunteers who deliver donated hay across Australia. Each time they do a run it’s a mammoth task and costs an unbelievable amount of money. Our funds are deposited directly to the Rotary Club of Sydney who give it straight to the Haryrunners with no fees or money deducted.

This year we have managed to raise $7830 which we are really proud of.

Within an hour of making the decision to take on this somewhat daunting yet very exciting task, we came up with the name FUNdraise for Farmers, made sure the hashtag was available, and Chris designed our logo.

From there it was simply asking people we knew if they’d like to jump on board, and I honestly can’t think of many people who said no. Bigriggen was our first and only choice for location and they were keen to get involved straight away.

Bigriggen is one of our favourite camping parks, filled with shaded grassy areas, a beautiful swimming hole and flowing creek/river. Since the Eberle’s took over about 7 months ago, they have completely transformed the park into a camping oasis and it’s evident how much pride they take in what they do.

The campground is big enough for people to spread out and do their own thing, or park in groups next to others, or in their own little space. We found out on the Saturday morning that one group of about 5 families headed back down the other end of the park, plugged in the generator and cranked the tunes until 2am … and we didn’t hear a thing as we were up the other end in the powered sites!

I know those who entered our Farmer Fun Run on the Saturday got a pretty good idea of how large the park actually is!

We can’t thank Dave, Sheree, Trent and Toni enough for generously offering up the use of Bigriggen for our event, at absolutely no cost. They feel as strongly as we do about giving as much money as possible to our farmers.

Our pile of prizes kept growing right up until the day before the event and volunteers kept putting their hands up offering to help.

There were so many who contributed by sharing, including radio stations and local councils and businesses.

When I arrived on the Thursday, Chris was pretty excited as he’d just been on air with the guys from River 94.9! We’d like to say a huge thanks to them for sharing our event.

Then there were those who helped out by sharing on social media – businesses, individuals, families, couples who travel and share like we do … it really was so good to see. It’s amazing what we can do when we all pull together.

The weekend was the perfect combination of relaxing, fun (and somewhat challenging!) activities, eating, drinking, swimming, resting, riding, dancing, talking, sharing and enjoying the company of friends both old and new.

And you can’t forget the prizes – we had so many to give out we had more prize draws than songs during Tyson Colman’s set on Saturday night!

Louise won the Engel fridge just by buying her ticket!

Everyone had a great time from the youngest of kids right through to the ‘oldies’ and everyone in between. Our aim was to make it fun for everyone, and that’s exactly what it was.

Everything about FUNdraise for Farmers was a huge success and we want to once again thank everyone who helped out. An invitation is extended to anyone who would like to be involved next year, to contact us. It’s a great feeling to be a part of something so worthwhile and we would love to have you on board.

We are aiming for a weekend late in October, but the date hasn’t been confirmed yet, so please stay tuned.

The Eberle’s from Bigriggen are as excited about running FUNdraise for Farmers again next year as we are! This is us with Dave and his daughter-in-law Toni.

These people gave their time/money/products/services and we want to say

THANK YOU!

Bigriggen for providing the most beautiful location free of charge and purchasing obscene amounts of tickets in the raffle

Shorties Espresso Bar for raising $1040 in raffles in November and assisting with organising the event

TJM 4x4 Megastore for donating 4 TJM Tyre repair Kits, 4 Trailhead tyre deflators, 4 GME Uhf Radios, a couple of MSA tinnie tubes and an MSA winch dampener

Caravan RV Campingfor donating 1 GoSun Pro Pack, 2 GoSun Go’s, 2 Dometic Can Inverters, a Porta Potti Excellence and an Ampfibian RV Power Adapter

Laser Electrical Loganholme for donating a Weber BBQ

Liquid Life and Leisure for donating a weekend at Couran Cove, an Engel Fridge and 2 Muk Mats

BBQ ARM for donating a BBQ Arm Tray Bundle Pack

North Star Resort for donating a $750 Voucher

Beauty Oasis for donating 2 Nakhair Shampoo and Conditioner, Rusk Miracoil Hair Curler and Wahl Ionic Hair drier

LSKD for donating a duffel bag, Hat, T-shirt and Sock Pack

Giant Nerang for donating a Mountain Bike (2019 Giant Talon 3)

Caravanning with Kids for donating Pegless Clotheslines and sharing on social media

World Gym Southside, Aussie Fitouts & MiMFiT members for donating a 30+ bottles of mixed alcohol (spirits, wine, champagne)

Autobarn Loganholme for donating a Car Washing Bucket of Goodies

MiMFiT Members for donating over $300 in cash at various MiMFiT classes during the month of November.

The Lions Club International of Underwood for bringing their BBQ trailer out of the weekend and raising over $400!

River 94.9 for giving us an on-air shout out

Tyson Colman for donating his time and musical talents on Saturday night

Celtic Cowboys for playing up a storm and getting us all dancing Friday night

Visit Scenic Rim for promoting us on social media

Scenic Rim Council for promoting us wherever they could

Vaughn from AMM Engineering and Ange for helping at the event and selling raffle tickets

Trip In A Van for plugging us shamelessly on social media

Aussie Family Roadtrip for coming along helping us set up and sharing on social media

BUSHMAN TENT CHALLENGE

If you only watch one video, let this be it! We laughed so hard our bellies ached and I feel some may have even peed their pants a little. Please note: no one was harmed in the making of this video.

FUN RUN

This was an epic race around Bigriggen, which is not a small place! Such enthusiasm and so many exhausted sweaty smiles at the finish line made for an awesome start to the day 🙂

WEET-BIX EATING

Have you ever tried eating a dry weetbix? These guys had to eat as many as they could in 3 minutes!

TALENT SHOW

The kids did a fabulous job of keeping us all entertained with a talent show on Saturday afternoon.

BOOTSCOOTIN’

We had a great time with no less than 3 dance classes!

Coolum Beach Holiday Park Review

by Miriam | Oct 21, 2018 | Destinations Couples, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments

Website:

http://www.sunshinecoastholidayparks.com.au/holiday_parks/coolum_beach_holiday_park/

Location: David Low Way, Coolum Beach Qld 4573

Date of Stay: October, 2018

Type of Park: Beachside

Rating: 4.5

Description:

Chris and I are celebrating 8 years together and for this ‘momentous occasion’ Chris booked a weekend without the kids at this gorgeous little park.

Happy Anniversary to us! We celebrated with a Big Head or two and a weekend away 🙂

We usually stay at Cotton Tree when we head up this way, but Coolum has been high on our list of places to visit as we’ve heard great things and driven past many times.

We are pleased to say that it didn’t disappoint! We were a bit skeptical of how the weekend would turn out after what feels like non-stop rain for weeks, and storms were forecast.

We were lucky to have gorgeous weather both Friday and Saturday with only a few drops of rain on the Sunday morning which brought a whole lot of clouds that helped create a spectacular sunrise.

This wasn’t an adventure-filled weekend, it was a ‘let’s relax and unwind’ weekend, and that’s exactly what we did. It was a combination of lying in the sun, walking on the beach, exploring Coolum and kicking back in the caravan park chatting to people as they wandered by.

We want for a wander to try and find a coffee shop for Chris

He needed coffee to help with what the Big Head’s had done last night!

We found Alley Cat … down an Alley 😉

Tickle Park is located right next to the caravan park and is a great place for the kids to play. It has a playground, undercover skate park and a nice grassy area that was being used to hold a bootcamp as we wandered by. This would be handy if you had kids as there is no playground or swimming pool in the park. There were plenty of kids getting around in the caravan park and nearby on bikes and scooters who all looked to be having a wonderful time.

The caravan park itself has 3 amenities blocks which are well maintained and easy to get to. There are 2 laundries and an outdoor clothesline, a camp kitchen and a couple of well equipped BBQ areas.

There were also lots of dogs dotted around the park and playing on the beach.

We were parked up the top directly opposite the path that takes you to the beach. We fell asleep to the sound of the waves and woke up looking out the window watching the waves rolling in. Just magic!

This was the weekend we both needed, and this was the perfect place to do it.