Life sometimes gets in the way and that's exactly what has happened the past few weeks that I've not shared a post. I live my life to create memories, experience joy and have many adventures. To do this I must work to get paid, which then gets spent on all these experiences. Sometimes work is prioritised to make these experiences happen. So for the past few weeks I've spent a LOT of time working and less time writing than normal. But at the end of the “busy” time I scheduled a mini-getaway to recharge the batteries. Mini-getaways have now become my go-to break for a quick recharge.
Australia is a large country/continent so to get to all the places I want to go without a built-in travelling companion (read husband/girlfriend/partner) to share driving and pitching tent duties, or taking six months off work to travel around the country in a van, the mini-getaway is a perfect solution. Apart from the capital cities in each state or territory (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Darwin and Canberra) there are many regional airports that the major airlines fly to from Melbourne, which is my closest capital city.
So after exploring Perth and Fremantle for a week in February, my most recent mini-getaway took me to Nelson Bay/Shoal Bay in NSW. I flew to Newcastle regional airport, just north of Sydney and then hired a car to drive the thirty or so minutes north to get to my destination. I was going to insert a map here but you know, Google can help you find it. You’d be surprised at the number of my work colleagues who didn’t know where Nelson Bay was - and they’re Aussies!! The flight was an hour and half from Melbourne and my drive time to Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport is approximately an hour and a half, give or take a half an hour for stops and break downs! I had pre-booked the hire car so it was ready and waiting at the airport and I wasn’t charged an arm and a leg. I also pre-booked accommodation at a little motel rather than a fancy resort, close enough to walk to the beach in the photo above but far enough away from the family and school holiday crowds to satisfy my introverted nature.
Four days and three nights was long enough to drive around and see most of the sights in the small regional area known as Port Stephens. From visiting Fighter World (airplane museum) to local wineries, eating some great seafood at restaurants on the beach while watching the sun go down, sampling a lot of fish tacos and laying on the deserted beach and finishing those books I’ve had on the bedside table for awhile. The ease of having a hire car to get around was well worth it too. While I could walk to the local beach and a couple of restaurants it was nice to be able to drive to other places in the area.
Let me tell you how the mini-getaway works for me. As I work a four-day week, I can take a Thursday as annual leave (just one day) and get away for four! Or utilise other public holidays e.g. Easter, to take a longer break than normal without using too much annual leave (which is nice to have for those longer trips). Taking a four-day long weekend is enough time to explore a region or small town and long enough to feel unrushed. While I will always take longer periods of annual leave when travelling longer distances within Australia or overseas, the mini-getaway is a perfect compromise for exploring areas closer to home and short distances away by air. I usually fly with Virgin Australia for my frequent flyer points, so I recently made it a mini-mission to fly to as many regional airports as I can, well at least the ones Virgin fly to regularly.
Over the next couple of months, I have booked a few more mini-getaways. One in May but mid-week to avoid crowds and families. Again this is by the beach (my favourite destination) but in Victoria heading into winter and I will most likely drive my own car there and back. My accommodation for this trip is in a cabin in a local caravan park that I got at a very cheap price through online travel auctions. By booking mid-week they did give me an extra night for free so that’s a bonus! Online travel auctions can be hit and miss but I am giving them a shot to see what the accommodation is like. This particular one was very easy to book and the lady doing the booking was very welcoming. I don’t have any particular plans for this destination except to explore locally and write.
My second booked mini-getaway in June is a bit more on the flash side. Flying to Cairns in far north Queensland and then heading to Port Douglas (an hour north of Cairns). I am yet to decide whether I’ll book a hire car or not as there are plenty of shuttle bus options. This will depend on the cost as I will be staying within walking distance of everything I wish to see. I will only be staying four days and three nights so I have decided not to sightsee this time around as I have visited Port Douglas a couple of times before.
The main aim of this mini-getaway is to rest and relax and soak up the year-round sun. Therefore, I have booked an adults-only resort with a pool access room. As it will be winter in my hometown, but is always summer in Port Douglas the entire goal of this break will be to lay by the pool, soak up some vitamin D and read a stack of books in my to-read pile. Perhaps visit a fancy restaurant or two for a feed me special. Being by the Great Barrier Reef, where I have previously snorkelled and scuba dived, there is that option if I want to use up some energy but that is not a must-do this time around.
Now that mini-getaways are my mini-mission for the future, I might head off on more of these in the latter half of the year after a work conference in July that takes me to Adelaide. But I will need to plan carefully to ensure I have enough annual leave for my longer overseas trip to Central America in October/November. I’m sure I will feed back to you some of my favourite regional Australian places to visit that comes out of this ad-hoc mini-mission travel adventure! Stay safe and Happy Easter.
What I’m reading: I just finished reading Die With Zero by Bill Perkins and listening to The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape. I have conflict inside me. While I want to save like I never have before as inspired by The Barefoot Investor I really really, agree with the message of Die With Zero that the business of life is the acquisition of memories.
What I’m watching: Well we all watched The White Lotus season 3 and I still think Season 2 is the best of the three so far. I was glad Belinda got the money but disappointed with the ending.
