CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge; kids will love the beaches; wombat in Wilsons Promontory; dolphin watching OPPOSITE: Kangaroos on the beach PICTURES: Shutterstock/Stephen Bridger, Dennis Moskinov, Robyn Butler, dancar, Neek89
commissionable – chain names to look out for include Quest, Adina and Mantra. However, the best value comes in the holiday parks. These are primarily aimed at campers and caravanners, but most have cabins, bungalows or villas with full kitchens too. They usually have pools, playgrounds and free-to-use barbecues, while some, such as the NRMA Murramarang Beachfront Holiday Resort on the New South Wales South Coast, have kangaroos bouncing about the grounds. Reliable holiday park chains bookable through Expedia’s agent programme include NRMA, Big4 and Discovery Parks. Per night prices for cabins generally start at about £70, although they ramp up during the Australian school holidays. Handily, the only loosely overlap with the UK school holidays. If customers have some
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flexibility with dates, they can save a fortune by going when the Aussie kids are at school.
ACTIVITIES AND TOURS An itinerary full of iconic Australian tours and activities, such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb or a Great Barrier Reef cruise, can get very expensive. However, several kid-friendly options are remarkably good value. Viator sells dolphin-watching cruises in Jervis Bay, New South Wales, at about £70 for a family of four. Alternatively, Aboriginal cultural tours in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens cost about £60 for four people. These cheaper experiences are still highly memorable, so mix some of them in to save money for the big-ticket activities. To create room in the budget for sellable tours, it’s worth emphasising how many of Australia’s best child-
Young kids will
be happy hopping between hundreds of world-class beaches, swimming in ocean pools and spotting wildlife
friendly experiences are free. Young kids will be happy hopping between hundreds of world-class beaches, swimming in ocean pools built into the cliffs and spotting wildlife. The trick for animal lovers is
researching reliable spots along the route. So, on a Melbourne to Sydney self-drive holiday, aim for the penguins of Phillip Island, wombats and seals on Wilsons Promontory and
kangaroos hopping along the sand at Pebbly Beach. Australia has hundreds of national parks too, with entry that’s either cheap or free. Pick up the national park information sheets from nearby visitor centres or online for guidance on the best walks, waterfalls and wildlife hangouts. Most popular parks have at least one relatively short walk lined with child-friendly interpretive signs about the flora, fauna and local indigenous culture.
ATTRACTIONS Australia’s theme parks tend to be mediocre and overpriced. They’re not what visitors come for either, so divert the money elsewhere. Wildlife parks tend to be better value – the Healesville Sanctuary near Melbourne costs about £47 for a family of four – and usually allow kids to hand-feed
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