Tips for Travelling with your Family

The annual Perth Caravan & Camping Show was held last weekend. Perth couple Kristy and Matthew Williams held a seminar at the show on Travelling with Children. They spent 17 months on the road travelling around Australia with their kids Jack 5 and Ashlee 3. Matthew states that he has "lived breathed and worked in the camping and caravanning industry for more than 15 years" and he is now running Perth's Getaway Outdoors stores.

Here are a few of the William Familes' tips for travelling with kids as written in the Perth Caravanning & Camping Show liftout.

• Plan and prepare well. Get the kids in a routine before you go, especially if they aren't good car travellers.
• Do at least one practise trip. It's a great way to work out what you really need before you go.
• Travel in the off season. There are fewer vans around and it's less stressful and much cheaper.
• Talk to other travellers. You will meet heaps of like-minded people travelling with kids and it is the best way to share advice.
• Prepare to be flexible with the itinerary. Anything can happen with kids.
• Look to join the major tourist club parks such as Aspen, Big 4 and Top Tourist.
• Make frequent stops. Let the kids out of the car to run about in communal parks in towns.
• Keep a diary or blog of your trip.
• Under-pack the toys. A bike, bucket and spade, favourite toys (such as lego) and a teddy are all that is needed.
• Get the kids their own camera. It's a great way to involve them in the trip and it allows them to express themselves.
• Give the kids a list of their own responsibilities such as emptying the bin or setting up the table.
• Re-use and recycle. Cereal boxes and plastic containers make great items for the kids to re-use in art class if you are home-schooling.
• When in the car, use audio books. This is especially good if kids suffer from car sickness when reading.
• Pack a copy of the Camps Australia Wide 6 Book. This traveller's bible is a great publication for planning itineraries around cheap and free accommodation.

Discover Australia Kids 'n' All is packed full of information for the family travelling around Australia or planning to. For a comprehensive guide and lots more tips like these please grab your copy here!

Our Love of Water - a social history

Water and its Historic Social

Connections with Holidaying

By Jacqui Barnsley
©Copyright 

Australian Beach Pattern

1940, Charles Meere

Water, the element of life; universally revered for its sacredness, beauty, power, necessity and versatility. In many of its forms, water is a global magnet for tourists, holiday-makers, recreationalists, leisure seekers, artists, spiritualists and sportspersons, to name a few. This essay examines the human fascination with water in regards to tourism and recreational use, exploring both the origin of the ‘holiday’ and specifically its historical connection with water. The social history is a 2050-year epic tale of beliefs, values, trends, delight, danger and manipulation. While the reasons why holidaymakers have been attracted to areas of water may have evolved, the attraction itself has continued to grow, changing the very way we live, work and play.

We cannot stray far from water. On a basic level we rely on water to drink, grow food and wash - it is essential to our survival. The necessity and usefulness of water has led to almost every populated area on the planet establishing itself close to a body of water (Waterstone, 1992). If possible, when there is no natural water source the land is manipulated to produce one; dams, canals, estuaries, pools, and man-made lakes dot the landscape that lacks a river, stream, spring, natural lake or ocean. Populated areas without a clean water source generally experience economical and health poverty (Corvalan, Hales & McMichael, 2005). Not surprisingly, water has become not only a symbol of status – at least in terms of real estate - but a major source of recreational activity, lifestyle, social expression and cultural identity (White, 2005).

Ten top Aussie destinations you've never heard of ...

Just when you thought you'd seen it all, Lee Atkinson shares her discovery of 10 places, from Tasmania to the Torres Strait and well beyond Bourke, that are worth getting back on the road for.

1. Poruma Island, Torres Strait

Mention the Torres Strait and most people think of Thursday Island but it's the outer islands that really give you a sense of what islander culture is all about - islands such as Poruma. Formerly known as Coconut Island, the tiny coral cay lives up to that name; it's covered in coconut trees and the beaches are littered with fallen coconuts. When you're not fishing or swimming in the crystal-clear, bath-warm water, sit out the heat of the day in the shade sipping coconut milk straight from the shell while chatting to local women weaving baskets and decorations from coconut leaves. Most of the baskets are used in cooking; filled with rice and lowered into simmering coconut milk, and will probably be served later that night. Community owned and operated, Poruma Island Resort has just two bungalows for visitors but what it lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in style. Set on the beach, open to the breeze at the front and complete with indoor plunge pool, this is serious luxury accommodation in a place where you least expect it. But it's the welcome of the locals that really makes this place special.

Where to stay: Poruma Island Resort. http://www.poruma.com/.

Pull Up Some Grass

If you think you've spotted a camper van covered in lush green grass on your travels around Australia you may think you've been smoking a little too much! But it is entirely possible that you have seen such a sight as Perth girl Kate Beese and her partner are indeed currently driving around Oz in a van completely covered in artificial turf!
"It always makes people smile and brightens up their day," Kate told the West Australian.
Given the heat absorbtion of synthetic grass I wonder if they have turned their van into a little oven? If anyone comes across Kate please ask her for me.

This pic was taken by someone who spotted it in Esperance WA in Feb 2011

Happy Travels