Short and sweet family getaways

The current COVID-induced climate might have put a hiatus on an annual Hawaiian holiday or Balinese escape, but it doesn’t cloud your opportunity for a family getaway.

In fact, now is the ideal time to explore your own backyard and either visit somewhere you’ve never been, rekindle an old annual family road-trip tradition or finally explore that bucket-list destination you’ve been putting off.

By its very size and nature, Australia offers a huge variety of holiday experiences, from coastal, river and lakeside escapes to ‘classic Australia' inland adventures and so much more.

Even being confined within your own state doesn’t put a dampener for fun and adventure.

While loading up the car and spontaneously getting out of town provides a quick release of tension, a family road trip requires at least a little planning and preparation to prevent more arising once you’ve actually left the house.

For starters, decide what sort of holiday is best for everyone; whether you want to sit back and relax by the pool while the kids frolic around or have suitable activities and attractions for the entire family at your fingertips, and whether you want to go camping, take the caravan or have the space and convenience of self-contained accommodation.

From there – and this can be just as critical as the destination itself – work out how far is reasonable to drive from home with the whole family in the car, because you can easily make or break a holiday with the road trip element.

Having that sorted will then clarify where you could travel to and where you could stop along the way. It could also dictate the best time of year to visit specific areas and towns or the road you take to get there.

Knowing where you want to go will then dictate where you can stay. But that’s not as difficult as you might imagine with BIG4, as Australia’s favourite holiday park network has you covered.

With more than 170 parks, BIG4 has been creating fun and affordable family-friendly holidays for more than 40 years in the best locations across the country. With a wide variety of accommodation options – from traditional camping and caravan sites to luxurious glamping set-ups and first-rate self-contained cabins and apartments – BIG4 holiday parks cater for a wide variety of family vacations.

Beyond the actual accommodation, what sets BIG4 destinations apart from most traditional caravan parks are their solid reputation for quality and customer service, resort-like amenities – some have world-class water parks and bicycle tracks within their grounds – and beautifully manicured gardens and grounds.

Most also have convenient amenities such as wi-fi, cooking and activity areas, games rooms and groceries as well as essentials for fishing, boating and camping.

Operated by friendly staff, they can provide information on local destinations and events and some will organise regular activities to entertain the entire family during peak-season periods.

Becoming a BIG4 member provides additional benefits, including at least 10 per cent discount on all bookings, exclusive holiday offers, in-park perks such as early check-in and late check-outs and special member-only offers from BIG4 partners, such as Nissan.

Membership costs $50 for 24 months.

Another attractive element is that many BIG4 parks are also dog-friendly, allowing you to share your holiday experience with the whole family, including Brutus or Fido. And that’s something you can’t do in Hawaii or Bali.

Get all the info you need to plan your next family trip with BIG4.