Sometimes you just need to escape the city, and go on a road trip. Pack up the car and head away for a staycation. It’s amazing what it can do to your mindset, it’s refreshing and a whole lot of fun. So that’s exactly what we did last weekend, heading north for a couple of nights of R&R and fun on the beach.
One thing you can easily forget to check is when the school holidays start, fortunately we remembered the night before, so our early departure out of Sydney was a wise choice to avoid the traffic heading North on the Pacific Highway. Port Macquarie was our destination, somewhere we hadn’t visited before. So we packed up the Ford Kuga with enough clothing to last us a fortnight, plus food, balance bikes, liquid refreshments for Mum & Dad and hit the road. I’ve said it before, but you really can fit a lot in the Kuga, take a look at our review here if you don’t believe me!
We only needed one pit stop on the way up, which is pretty good given one passenger was a 3.5 year old. We made the most of the Driver Reviver stops which are wonderful initiatives run by volunteers, make sure you give them a donation and enjoy a cuppa to break a journey and have a rest.
We’d chosen to stay at the Big 4 park at Bonny Hills and we certainly enjoyed all the facilities. My first round of golf in 12 months wasn’t quite what I expected, but mini-golf was fun, and free. A hole in one on the 1st certainly made me happy, if not my son. Seriously though, he loved it, and we played another 3 times over the 2 days which broke up beach visits and swims. There’s two pools you can have a dip in, one with a big bucket, slides and a bridge, the other which is heated (big tick of approval from me!). Although we didn’t have time to join in, the kids club was full of fun things to do, and at a reasonable price too. My son loved the towels that were left on his bed too, a sting ray and this elephant, complete with eyes, made his day!
We ate at the local pub, which had an outdoor area and a playground. The food was hearty, and reasonably priced. It was really nice to get a good feed after 5 hours on the road.
The scenery on the drive was spectacular. Only when you go for a long drive do you really appreciate the beautiful and changeable countryside we have just hours from our doorsteps in Sydney. It’s well worth exploring, stepping out, taking your family for a staycation to see NSW. However if, like me, you choose to try and build a dam to block the ‘small stream’ on the beach with your son, I advise you take a shovel, or even a bobcat.. my back is still aching from building something on par with the Hoover Dam with a child’s plastic spade!
We had a couple of hours exploring the Koala Hospital at Port Macquarie. The work these guys do is amazing, and you can visit them and see the great work they do. For a gold coin donation you can have a tour of the facility too. They run these every day at 3pm. Its not often that you can get such a good close look at koalas, some of these little furry friends have suffered some nasty injuries and are on the mend, all thanks to the volunteers and staff at the hospital.
We split the journey on the way home with a visit to some friends in Nelson Bay. This is a hidden gem, a little detour but worth it for the spectacular views. It’s not far from Newcastle, so easily a day trip from Sydney if you want to see some new places. We left there in a heavy thunderstorm which signalled the end of the holiday. In the battle of the Ford Kuga v hailstones, the Kuga came out on top – another reason why it makes an excellent staycation companion.
Staycations don’t have to be expensive, they don’t have to be far away, they don’t have to be anything long. It’s great to get away and see new places, have some quality family time and relax. Give it a try, you’ll be amazed at how refreshed you feel. We’ll have some more suggestions on where you can go on the website in the coming weeks.