Become a Tourist in your own City!

The school holidays are here and I don’t think I have to remind you all that I am ‘one of those mums‘.

I am a mother who loves the school holidays.  I count the days down to the holidays and I put off thinking about going back to school till I absolutely have too.  Not because I dislike homeschooling, I just want to enjoy every moment of the holidays we can finding the balance between relaxing and adventuring together.

Sure we could jump in the car and head up to Aussie World or the Australia Zoo, and there is nothing wrong with those options, but the cost of entry for a family of six can often be the deciding point when it comes to holiday activities.   So, what are some of our neighbourhood alternative options.

The Sunshine Coast has a beautiful array of fun activities.  All you need is a tank full of gas, a packed lunch and a good attitude.

1.  You can do a playground crawl.   Google all the parks and playgrounds in your area and set yourself a goal to get to as many playgrounds as you can in a day.  The Sunshine Coast spans from Beerburrum right up to Tewantin. You can choose to explore a different area of the coast over a period of time. Don’t forget to take photos.
2.  Explore the little hinterland townships.   Check out Maleny, Montville, Eudlo,  Eumundi and Palmwoods just to name a few.    The Eumundi markets are on Saturdays and Wednesdays so Eumundi is definitely a fun place to check out.
3. Do an art gallery crawl.  Give the kids a project to find a piece of art that speaks to them and their goal is to try and do something similar.
4. Organise a group of friends to meet at a park with a basketball hoop and play a game of basketball together.
5. Op Shop Crawl.   I have an app on my phone that tells me where all he op shops are according to where we are.   I love op shopping and I have a few favourite op shops in our area, but we find it fun to explore op shops in new areas.
6. Organise a sandcastle competition with friends.   Who doesn’t love the idea of building a sandcastle on the beach?
7. Hit your local libraries.  Libraries are great fun these days.  Many libraries organise holiday activities for kids and the majority of the activities are free.
8. Check out events for kids and families for your area.  There may be open air movies, art classes, music events in your area.
9. Plan bike rides or scootering at nearby beaches, or start from home and see where you end up.
10. Go camping at a tourist park that you have heard is popular in your area.
11. When you have done everything you can possibly do in your area…..go to an area you haven’t been too and start over.  Check out what’s in Gympie, Caboolture or Morayfield.

Its easy to stay home and do very little in the way of holiday activities, but in my experience holidays are neither fun or entertaining being at home all of the time.   Holidays are a chance to make some memories with your kids.  They are a chance to get some new photos and a chance to have some fun.   Term time is often very busy with varied assessment pieces for the kids in progress and extra curricular activities, so holidays are a great time to ‘become a tourist in your own area’ and make some memories together.

A friend recently put on their facebook status that they want to live their lives in such a way that they don’t need a vacation from their life.    I think everyone needs to have a vacation from their normal day to day life.   Going away is fun, but when you aren’t able to go away for whatever reason, it is important to do things that are a little different, and becoming a tourist in your own city is a fun way to have a fun holiday.