Holidays

[Guest Sandisonsonthemove]

Hi all

 

Having slowly worked on my son who is 10 to persuade him that moving to Oz would be the best thing for us as a family he asked the question what do people do in the holidays?

 

Obviously being in the UK you have your traditional 2 weeks holiday normally on the continent but what do people do there for their 2 week holiday? I realise there is the beach but anticipating spending plenty of time there at weekends not sure I want to spend my annual leave there as well.

 

Can anyone shed a little light on what there is to do or places to go?

 

Thanks

 

Donnaxx

[Rachiegarlo]

Cambodia to Angkor Wat, temples jungles, village stays.

Vietnam boat down the Mekong , sail in Halong Bay.

Sabah jungle walk, orangutang rescue, beach

Bali

Fiji

Malaysia

Singapore

New Zealand on a drive campervan holiday.

 

The theme parks in Queensland.

Sydney or Melbourne.

The Great Ocean Rd drive

Darwin for the tropical experience or Cairns.

Camping anywhere.

Tasmania

 

and then there are all the places in SA including good old Victor, Middleton Pt Elliot and Goolwa.

[ianb]

Hi all

 

Having slowly worked on my son who is 10 to persuade him that moving to Oz would be the best thing for us as a family he asked the question what do people do in the holidays?

 

Obviously being in the UK you have your traditional 2 weeks holiday normally on the continent but what do people do there for their 2 week holiday? I realise there is the beach but anticipating spending plenty of time there at weekends not sure I want to spend my annual leave there as well.

 

Can anyone shed a little light on what there is to do or places to go?

 

Thanks

 

Donnaxx

 

Plenty of places interstate, Sydney, Perth, Darwin, Melbourne, Gold Coast. Lots of places in SA itself. Camping is a big thing here and lots of camp sites scattered about and National Parks.

Relative near by places such as Bali, Fiji, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, Tasmania. Costs of flights interstate and near by places is resonably priced.

 

Main holiday seasons or periods are Christmas and Easter. If you head to places such as Darwin etc best to go mid year as slightly cooler.

 

Hope that gives you some things to look into

[Rachiegarlo]

Also skiing in June-Sep in the Alps in Victoria at Fall's Creek, Mt Buller , Mt Hotham and also in NSW (bit further away) Thredbo.

 

Swimming with dolphins/sealions aswell.

 

Cruises around the South Pacific are often heavily discounted.

[Anne B]

Depends on how much money you have ! Obviously with the beach on your doorstep and plenty of good weather there isn't that desperate need to get away to some sun every year. You know you are going to get plenty of it (unlike last summer in the UK !).

 

All the people I know in Adelaide are Australians, and some of them, especially the older generation, rarely go away on holiday, or if they do it will be for a few days at a time. Lots of people make do with a few short breaks each year. They like to save their long service leave up and then have 3 months off all in one go (when they might go to Europe). My brother-in-laws main holiday each year is to go to the Australian Surf Life Saving National Titles, wherever they are being held (currently Perth). So most people don't have a conventional 2 week break like we do here in the UK.

 

My husbands childhood holidays were always VictorHarbor or Goolwa, usually in September (ie. cold!), although one year they famously drove across the Nullabor to Perth (with 3 kids and no air-conditioning in the car!). Lots of people have shacks (holiday homes) in a different part of the state, like Victor, KangarooIsland, the Eyre Peninsular or Yorke Peninsular and they will head there whenever they can. Fishing is a big pastime. So is camping, there are plenty of places not too far from Adelaide to go - the FlindersRanges are great, or the Murray River.

 

If you are willing to fly then the Gold Coast is a great destination for kids. It is probably the most commercial holiday destination in Australia, more like a mini Florida than Spain, with 4 big theme parks. We took our kids there last April and they loved it. Northern Queensland is good too, you can go out to the Great Barrier Reef and visit the rainforest. Australian holidays are more about the great outdoors than here in the UK, there is so much more space, it is easy to get away from the crowds.

 

Shorts breaks to Sydney or Melbourne are popular, to go shopping or often to see a band or 'west end' show that hasn't made it to Adelaide. These bigger cities have other attractions like aquariums and museums too. Not many people seem to venture inland to the outback (they should because it is fantastic). It's amazing how few Australians have actually been to Ayers Rock (Uluru) or Alice Springs. They would rather go to the casino in Melbourne!

 

If you want to travel overseas then Asia isn't too far. One winter we considered going skiing in Australia or NZ but then decided we wanted some warmth and did a package holiday to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Penang) with Malaysian Airlines. It's a 7 hour flight though, so not as close as Spain is to the UK!

 

The good thing about Adelaide is that if you are hard up, you don't have to travel too far or pay a fortune to have a holiday. Now there are no-frills airlines it is much cheaper to travel within Australia too.

[Guest SA Great]

Everything that anne said!!!! Spot on anne

[Runcorn2Adelaide]

Go the beach everyday.... enjoy the golden sands and swim in the sea.....

[Guest Thongs Rule]

I would add that in Australia we get fewer annual holidays than you guys and as such use them sparingly. Many people i know just don't take holidays and accumulate them for a major trip as Anne mentioned.

 

Many Adelaidians love fishing and will take the family to a shack up or down the coast depending on what you prefer, and that trip would be many weekends in succession during the summer months perhaps taking their boat with them. I don't know many people who have a week off and stay in Adelaide itself.

 

From my experience though in the UK you guys love a 2 week break in the sun somewhere and sunbathing. We really don't have consistant enough weather for that kind of holiday anywhere. Queensland in the summer is their wet season, and the southern states can either be blinding hot or quite cool, so holidays take on an activity (fishing, hiking, touring) base rather than a relaxing 2 weeks all inclusive resort somewhere in the constant warm sun.

 

Going overseas is much more costly than what you guys can pay for a package deal as well as we don't have the travel industry that you do.

[Diane]

Going overseas is much more costly than what you guys can pay for a package deal as well as we don't have the travel industry that you do.

 

Although I can recommend http://www.travelonline.com - have a browse on there, they have good offers sometimes.

[Guest Sandisonsonthemove]

Thank you to you all for spending the time to respond - my son will be pleased that I am not going to make him sit on a beach all the time!!! I thought there was probably much more to do than here in the UK plus the weather is certainly better for a lot of the time. I had never considered going over to Asia but something well worth keeping holidays back for. I am glad there is a lot more than just beach hols as it is not our cup of tea. Activities are something we are desperate to get more involved in - one the reasons for applying to move. Just need to get there now!!!!