Our next trip!

[battymum]

I am sitting here pondering the possibilities for our next trip, there are a couple of options, in no particular order

1: Some people we met on the cruise are trying to get together for a cruise in Feb March 2014 - Would love to do this but timing and finances mean that we could only go without the children.

DD will be finished school and hopefully just starting uni, (I would like her to take a gap year OS somewhere) DS's will be 16 and starting Year 11 . I am probably not comfortable leaving them home alone, they are too old for babysitting and probably wouldnt enjoy a cruise as much again, even if we did take them. But if we go back to Florida, well.....we have to go to WDW and for that matter would have to tack on a couple of days in NYC. So basically a rerun of our last trip.

We have grandparents that will happily move in for a couple of weeks to oversee them, (and my house) so that could work, if my conscience allows it.

2: A family trip to Hawaii - this would have to be in school holidays, maybe January 2013 or possibly April 2013 - looking at airfares, its hard to justify - I know it sounds exotic the further you travel and it is part of the USA - but we do have some beautiful beaches and scenery here that we havent seen yet.

3: As per the above - maybe Hamilton island and the Whitsundays - I know there isnt the shopping like Hawaii but you have to save a lot of money to justify that airfare. If Hamilton island was part of Hawaii, I would probably want to go there more. We have been to the Gold Coast a couple of times and we always love it there too.

4: A tent down the south coast somewhere! Its all about being together right?
Actually if we are talking 2014 and we dont figure DD into this trip, the boys would actually prefer this option, maybe Mummy can do the cruise and the boys can camp in the bush.


So what are your thoughts!

 

[WAMUMOF4]

for planning another trip

2 weeks ago we left DS16 DD 14 DS13 home with a friend who is 21 I cooked all there meals before i left and she was really just here because no one had a license we took DS11 with us only to Melbourne but it was a trial run for a trip to Phuket that DH is insisting we have on our own I thought i would be stressed the whole time knowing they were at home without us but surprisingly I discovered the joys on traveling with 1 child and the remarkable price difference. I m still a little shocked with how relaxed i was with them being on the opposite side of the country so I'm thinking the conscious adjusts very quickly Mind you our 3 older kids decided they weren't coming so maybe that was part of it.

I think you should do whatever your budget and conscious allows that suits your family best but for us i must say I am very happy we are able to do one more (surprise) family trip this year and i am really resigning myself to this being our last big overseas trip with all 6 of us once DS16 gets his license he has no intention of traveling with us but is excited about the fact that he can stay home.

 

[battymum]

How long did you go for? For us to do that trip would be three weeks.

When I first started dating my husband he was eighteen and staying at his grandparents for a couple of weeks while his parents were away. I really didnt think much of it at the time, then a few years on I thought it was hilarious and what an overprotective mother she was - now I understand. DH didnt care either way, there was food on the table and his washing was done (just like being married!)

We figure that a cruise ship, WDW and NYC is always going to be there - there will be other opportunities to travel on our own - but few left to travel as a family. (although maybe not when the $ is so good)

I have spent all day researching and have pretty much decided that we will do Hamilton Island and then Gold Coast in April 2013. (Maybe September this year, but might have to get DH on board for that)

As a dummy I can book flights SYD -HTI , HTI-BRIS, then BRIS-SYD in April this year all on FF points for all of us. I will only have to pay for accomodation, there is an abundance of self contained apartments.

 

[OziJo]

I know it's hard to justify the airfares bit we live close to Cronulla Beaches and have been to the Gold Coast 3 times. We go down the south coast at least once a year and love the beaches but we would pick going back to Hawaii over all that. We have been to Maui and Honolulu and next time I want to Kauai with a few shopping days in Honolulu. I have already checked out some accommodation I want to talk DH into going next Jan.

I will admit I have never been to Hamilton Island and I know North Queensland is beautiful but whenever we have been to Queensland for what we paid we have never been that impressed. Even our annual trip to Burrill Lake seems over priced compared to the value for money of our trips to Maui and Waikiki.

I'll get onto the Hawaii part of my TR asap.

 

[OziJo]

You know Hamilton Island does sound good. It's probably the best bet for your family trip at this point with the cost of airfares.

You and your DH can always do Hawaii in the future child free

 

[WAMUMOF4]

How long did you go for? For us to do that trip would be three weeks.

When I first started dating my husband he was eighteen and staying at his grandparents for a couple of weeks while his parents were away. I really didnt think much of it at the time, then a few years on I thought it was hilarious and what an overprotective mother she was - now I understand. DH didnt care either way, there was food on the table and his washing was done (just like being married!)

We figure that a cruise ship, WDW and NYC is always going to be there - there will be other opportunities to travel on our own - but few left to travel as a family. (although maybe not when the $ is so good)

I have spent all day researching and have pretty much decided that we will do Hamilton Island and then Gold Coast in April 2013. (Maybe September this year, but might have to get DH on board for that)

As a dummy I can book flights SYD -HTI , HTI-BRIS, then BRIS-SYD in April this year all on FF points for all of us. I will only have to pay for accomodation, there is an abundance of self contained apartments.

We were only in Melbourne (Warnambool) for a week and we plan to go to Phuket for the same the thing is the kids just did not care they were happy and DS11 was extremely happy to have all our attention to himself
I am the same as you i keep saying there is plenty of time for us to travel after but i realised how important it is to DH for us to go away on our own so i am now only after our trial run open to Phuket without kids originally i planned on letting DH think we were going on our own and then going Surprise at the airport

I am wondering when Jetstar have their 2 for 1 sale if it included Hawaii as an option for you? I know that the birthday sale is a few months away but just a thought.

I can understand the only having to pay for accommodation option it makes it much easier to do a trip a lot sooner.

 

[battymum]

We went to Phuket a few years back without the kids - Grandparents came and stayed with them at our house - they were 10 and 12 at the time. We went during school time for 10 days and their routine continued as normal - I dont think they even noticed we were gone.
DD was pretty upset, but more because of what she may be missing out on rather than missing us.

We happened to be away on the boys tenth birthday and I remember sitting in a restaurant just bawling. DH was . But they would have hated it, it would have been no fun for anyone.

I guess I was thinking Hawaii looks nice, but then I thought, what would we do there. Is it better because it is further away , I get the whole value for money thing but its pretty hard to make up those airfares - but I have to look at the total trip cost -

Nothing has to be set in stone, if a great deal comes up, I will jump on, but if it doesnt, Hamilton looks just as nice. I just like to have something to work towards.

 

[aussietravellers]

Just a quick reply before I dash off to school pickup.

On planning another trip. It's so much fun planning a holiday.

We go to Hamilton Island a lot, at least once or twice a year. Last year we went for 3 weeks over Easter, then 2 weeks in December. Love it up there, and from Bris where we fly from, we get flights as cheap as $49 one way sometimes

I have started writing about our last trip in my blog. Kind of got side tracked but will get back to it soon.

 

[battymum]

Oh yes, I was hoping you would comment - I have read your blog, but it seems a new trip kinda took over -

But it really looks beautiful - and you get to drive around in golf carts - thats cool.

But tell me, is it a good alternative to Hawaii - I think we will do a week there and then a week on the Gold Coast - as I dont think there will be enough action for our teens for more than a week.

 

[aussietravellers]

Oh yes, I was hoping you would comment - I have read your blog, but it seems a new trip kinda took over -

But it really looks beautiful - and you get to drive around in golf carts - thats cool.

But tell me, is it a good alternative to Hawaii - I think we will do a week there and then a week on the Gold Coast - as I dont think there will be enough action for our teens for more than a week.

Yes I sort of became side tracked with new trip planning But I will get back to the HI trip.

We were up at HI (I was going to say last year, but it was the year before now), when Oprah was there. It was so exciting. It was funny, we were heading back from the gokarts and there was a private jet not long landed (there are always private jets there) and someone said "Oh I wonder who just arrived" I said "oh i bet it's Oprah" (not having any idea she was coming to the island, and sure enough, it was her!
Actually I should do a blog post about that, because that was a fun couple of days with her there, the island was so busy, filled with media and excitement.

No Zooming here...

It's really quite different to Hawaii. I guess in my mind Hawaii is shopping, USA shopping but one of the things I love about Hamilton is that I can actually go away and not go shopping. There are a few shops, but nothing fabulous, really just beach wear and tacky souvenirs. But Hawaii is so big, HI is only a small island and really has that isolated more intimate and very laid back, very relaxing feeling where as Honolulu is a city, lots of busy traffic (but gorgeous, I love Honolulu too).

Funny you are talking about the GC, I live there so I know a lot about both of your possible planned places

There is a bit to do for teens on HI, but they are not cheap activities. There are the gokarts which my DS loves, quad bikes, the shooting range, tennis (if they play) and heaps more. Here is their daily activity sheet http://www.hamiltonisland.com.au/Activities/Documents/daily-activity-guide.pdf. Then there are the tours off the island.

My son goes fishing too, but we have rods where we stay and we are on the beach, so he just walks down the rocks and off he goes.

If you are getting apartment or house accommodation you can do a coles online order. The store on the island is really good as are the restaurants but to eat out 3 meals a day can be very expensive so to order groceries so you can have your own breakfasts and bbq's at night is great. The bakery is really really good, mmmm, I'm getting hungry thinking about it

 

[Andona]

We figure that a cruise ship, WDW and NYC is always going to be there - there will be other opportunities to travel on our own - but few left to travel as a family. (although maybe not when the $ is so good)

I think you've hit the nail on the head there! We have a 25 year old DS, a 22 DD and a 15 year old DS.

For overseas trips the oldest DS only came to NZ with us, DD came with us on our first trip to Disneyland and also to the UK. However, once they left school neither of them have chosen to travel with us on subsequent trips - they prefer their friends to Mum and Dad . I can't imagine why?

I treasure the memories of that trip to NZ when we were all together so I think your Hamilton island idea sounds great.

We did the far-north queensland holiday several times when they were younger ( and loved it!) but we have never managed to get to the Whitsundays. It is on my definite to-do list. But I also understand the draw to go further - Hawaii is on my to-do list too

I must admit the high AUD$ is a huge draw to travel to the USA again - we went to Europe last year and , we had a wonderful trip, but kept thinking we should be in the USA, the dollar was NEVER so good for any of our other trips there. I just hope it stays good for our trip in September.

If you think the kids would all love Hamilton Island then it sounds like a great idea to me ( Especially if you can fund all the airfares from FF points!)

Andona

 

[queenie82]

I adore Hamilton Island..

But with the dollar where it is I would go Hawaii...
But get OFF Oahu and go to the Big Island, Maui and Kauai...

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Hawaii!!!!!!

 

[Travel Mum]

Yep I'd say Hawaii while your dollar is so good and because I'm sure your whole family would love it.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Happy Planning. As long as the family is together and the finances are fine, pick whichever option you'd like to do. They all sound grand (although I personally would do Hawaii because the dollar is so good).

 

[battymum]

Oh you guys are supposed to tell me that for a beach holiday - HI is just as good as Hawaii - (without the shopping, I know) -

I have to research some more, but a self contained apt on HI for 7days $2500 we would probably do another 7 days on the GC - say another $2500 - HI would be just a beach holiday, (maybe a trip to Whitehaven $500 for the family) - we have done the Warner bros parks a couple of times, so would only do Dreamworld (guessing $500), so we are looking at $5k without any airfare or food. mmm - Hawaii is looking good.

I am jumping ahead of myself - we wont go until at least January - so I will be on the lookout for some good deals, if nothing comes up then we will think about HI but that doesnt need to be booked so far out. We will treat it as an "in between" trip. I am thinking I should be putting some spare $$ onto a travel card for a future possible trip, trouble is, I dont have any spare $$ at the moment.

I just cant stand sitting here at work and having nothing to dream about -