A Great Christmas Trip in Brisbane

Christmas is always a big deal in our house, we do lots of special things and count down the days until the man in the red suit arrives.   Last year on the last weekend before Christmas we headed into Brisbane for the weekend to celebrate.  I found a really great deal at the Royal on The Park for a family (which is available again this year, details below) and booked it straight away.

We checked in on Saturday at lunch time and headed into the city (which was a short walk) for lunch and to visit the Myer Centre and have the kids photo taken with Santa there.  We walked over to Southbank and the kids had fun swimming in the beach. Then we headed back to our room to get ready for our evening out.  We took the kids to Southbank for dinner at the turkish restaurant.  

We caught a ride on one of these (below) back to the other side of the river.  The kids thought it was awesome! They laughed and had so much fun.

We got dropped off at King George Square where we got to see the giant Christmas Tree which was gorgeous.

Then we headed on foot to The Queen Street Mall and lined up to see the Myer Christmas window. It was such a good story last year and once again the kids loved it. 

On our way back to the hotel we were lucky enough to come across some real reindeer in the street and get a photo.

On Sunday we got up and spent the morning at Riverside Markets before we had to checkout at 12 noon (we also had time to swim in the pool and enjoy a delicious breakfast).

We had the best weekend, and it was really good value for money.

I saw on the Royal on the Park website (link HERE) that they have the same offer available for summer holidays this year which you can book now.  It includes breakfast too which was super delicious and I would highly recommend a weekend just like ours.

*This post is not sponsored by Royal on the Park, just a good experience had by us*

Travel Tip Time: In case you lose the kids!

When travelling with kids you are always extra cautious.  I always make sure I pay extra and take the 'well known tour' etc. because I need to make sure that we are really safe because we have the kids.    Losing the kids is always a big worry, especially when you travel to places that are crowded or if you have a child like me who likes to wander off!  

So I have found something which I think is great so I am sharing it here.  

Temporary tattoos that are custom made for you!  How good is that?  You put them on your kids, they can come off easily when you don't need them and if the kids get lost if someone finds them they can then find you.  You can order them HERE.

I haven't ordered mine for our upcoming trip yet but I will be soon.  I am actually still deciding what to put on mine.  Do you have any ideas?  We are going to be in Asia, visiting 4 different countries.  We won't have our mobile phones on global roaming due to the fees.  So what number do we put on our tattoos?  I'm thinking my sisters phone number back home as she will know our itinerary and where to contact us.  Can you think of a better solution?  Please let me know if you can.  If not I may have to succumb to taking the mobile phone.

Anyway I hope this tip helps you.  These are even great to have for trips you do from home like to the beach or museum or anywhere really.  

1770

We stayed in 1770 for one night on our way home from Airlie Beach so we didn't get to do a lot of things there but I can tell you about what we did get up to. You can click on the link HERE for more information about 1770.

We were in our caravan on this trip so we stayed at one of the caravan parks in the area - Captain Cook Caravan Park.  It was a bush setting and the beach was a walkway away so it was in a good spot.  

We headed along the coast road and visited the spot where Captain James Cook first landed in Australia. 

We then drove a bit further along (until we couldn't drive any further) and came to a lovely walk that took us to the Joseph Banks Conservation Park and lookout.  It was sunset by the time we got there.  The scenery was beautiful and you could see the boats coming in.

After dark we were treated to a really great experience.  A couple of possums came down to visit near our caravan sites.  They were so friendly and we fed them a few bits of fruit.  The kids got to feed and pat them and they didn't even seem bothered by the flash of the camera.  I'm sure they are very well fed possums and visit plenty of campers on their travels.  They were super cute and really made our day.

And to finish our day off we had a little play around with some sparklers.  You know it is not easy writing or drawing with a sparkler so that it turns out in a photo.  We did have a lot of fun trying though, this was the best go we had, Emma with her heart.

Notes:  

* We payed $51 a night for our powered caravan site.  

* The caravan park has a really good Indian Restaurant on site for dine in or take away.  We got take away and it was delicious!

Travel TIp Time: Send yourself a postcard!

This is a new tip which I only recently discovered but  it is by far one of my favourites and I am definitely going to be doing it when we travel to Asia at Christmas time.  

In order to remember what we did on holidays I write a travel journal.  I love writing my journal, I put lots of information in it like where we went, where and what we ate, how much things were etc and I find it to be an invaluable tool when I travel to that place again, when I am sorting photos and recording memories here on the blog. It's also nice to read and remember.

Next time I go away I will still write my journal but I am going to send myself (or our family) a postcard each day.  It's pretty easy to do and completely affordable, after all postcards are really inexpensive and so are the stamps for them.  Then when you get home and collect the mail you will be able to relive what you did and bind them into a book (like a mini album) to display and look at for years to come.  

(Photo source: Pinterest)

Some days I will get the kids to write on the postcard or let them send one each. There are no rules here, you adapt it to suit you. 

Every postcard will have the following information on it:
* the date (so we can bind them in the correct order)
* the weather (I just use a small symbol and the temperature)
* where we were and something we did there
* a stamp from our destination which is interesting in itself

Pretty basic stuff but the stuff that good memories are made of.  

(I have no idea how I am going to bind my postcards at this point, but I have some time to think about it, I love the binding on the ones above)

Next time you go somewhere - send yourself some postcards!

3 Islands, 1 Day - The Great Barrier Reef

During our recent holiday to the Whitsundays we spent a day on the Three Island Discovery Cruise (Link here).  We had a really great day and I would recommend this particular cruise to anyone.

Our day started at Shute Harbour where we hopped onboard our boat for the day. We were given morning tea before our first stop.

 (Hamilton Island)

We cruised past Hamilton Island on the way to our first stop of Whitehaven Beach.  The sand on this beach is so amazingly white it's easy to see why it's one of the best beaches in the world.  We were able to spend a couple of hours here, walking the beautiful beach, playing beach sports and discovering some of the local wildlife.  The kids had a ball, although no swimming went on (the water was really cold, it is still winter after all).

  

Having a couple of hours here was perfect, enough time to soak up the beautiful surroundings but not enough time to get bored.

When we got back on the boat we had a buffet lunch which was plentiful and delicious, a mix of cold meats and salad and of course desert on our way to Hook Island Coral Gardens.

When we got to Hook Island we first all hopped on the semi submersible and headed out to the reef for some coral and fish viewing.  To be honest we weren't all that thrilled with this bit, it was hard to see much and I found myself itching to get back to some fun.

Once we got back and headed to the beach on Hook Island, I enjoyed myself sitting on the sand while Anthony and the kids had a go at snorkelling.  The water was pretty cold here too so no one stayed in for very long.  

They also had a go on the kayaks, racing each other around which proved to be plenty of fun.  Nathan managed to find some coconuts and have a go at husking them (I don't think I've mentioned that Nathan does this really well and everywhere we go! He learned it with all our trips to Fiji).

When we got back on the boat we headed to Daydream Island Resort.  

Another beautiful place.  They have a Living Reef at the resort which was full of fish and stingrays etc. We spent a bit of time watching and enjoying it (The resort runs experiences with these amazing creatures where you can get up close and personal with them in the water).

We had a couple of hours at the resort so we spent time wandering around and looking at what was on offer.  We walked to the point and had our photos taken with the mermaids and enjoyed a drink by the beach.  We also saw kangaroos on the beach which I was not expecting at all.

The kids swam (although the pools are not heated and the water was freezing!).  We didn't get to play the putt putt but apparently it is really good on Daydream.

After all that we had a super quick 10 minute boat ride back to Shute Harbour where the bus took us back to our accommodation.  We had a fantastic day, we loved everything that we got to do and see and would definitely do it again.

*I forgot to mention that we travel with our own snorkelling gear but you don't need to, they supply it all on the boat, as well as sporting equipment to play with on the beach and life jackets for the kids.  It wasn't stinger season when we travelled but when it is they provide stinger suits too.