Bounding Around The Huon Valley
With so many great places to stay and experiences to do with the kids here in Tassie, it is hard to decide on where to base yourself to make the most of your precious holiday time.
We were lucky to catch up with Jen and her family who have been travelling around Tassie for a couple of months. Sharing with us their adventures from the Huon Valley, Jen recommends the area as a great base for at least two weeks of activities! Check out her video of the area at the end of the article!
Images: Jen and her family, at the Huon Valley Caravan Park. Images curtesy of A Boundless Life.
TASSIE4KIDS: Introduce yourselves!
JEN: We are a family of five, from the Lockyer Valley in Queensland. Luke, Jen, Haylee (9), Matthew (7) and Milly (5).
Have you travelled a lot with your kids? What are some of the places you’ve visited? We have now been on the road for six months, travelling Australia. We’ve been to lots of places, with some highlights being Lightning Ridge in the outback, Jindabyne for the snow, the Bega with its beautiful mountains and nearby beaches, and of course all over the amazing Tassie! We’ve also been to the most easterly (Byron Bay, NSW) and southerly (South Cape Bay lookout, TAS) points of Australia so far on our journey.
You're about to finish your Tassie trip. When did you arrive? We travelled to Tasmania in early December and will be leaving in early March.
Images: The kids at the Huon Valley Caravan Park. Images curtesy of A Boundless Life.
How did you get to Tassie? We came on the Spirit of Tasmania. It was very exciting, and the kids had lots of fun. It was a long day for a seasick mum though, so I would recommend doing a night sail if you can, or booking a cabin even for the day sail. Pack your own food, too, because it can be quite expensive, although the food was great.
What attracted you and your family to Tasmania? We came for a short holiday in 2015 and absolutely loved it. We knew we wanted to come back again one day so we could see some more of the things we missed out on. We just love how laid back and quiet it is, and the amazing views, with so much nature to explore!
Images: Beach adventures, and bubble fun at the Huon Valley Caravan Park. Images curtesy of A Boundless Life.
You’ve recently visited the Huon Valley, what was it like? The Huon Valley was a highlight of our trip. We chose to stay there over Christmas and New Year because we wanted to be away from too much hustle and bustle and it was somewhere the kids would enjoy. It’s a very pretty, peaceful area, but accessible to lots of other places; from Hobart right down to Cockle Creek and over to Bruny Island. We were able to do lots of day trips from Huonville in the two weeks we were in the area. There are also lots of great little local businesses including some of the best pizza we’ve ever had! Being right by the river meant we could also swim when it was warm enough, kayak and fish. After lots of moving around, having the time to spend relaxing in such a beautiful part of Tasmania was so great.
Where did you stay when you were there? We stayed at the Huon Valley Caravan Park, which is definitely in the top five places we’ve stayed, possibly even THE best. We got a weekly rate on a riverfront powered site, which cost us approximately $50-60 a night. The amenities were really great: clean and modern, and the extra touches like the Tassie devil feeding, the homemade jam and the shared herb garden were really lovely. The camp kitchen was spacious and well equipped and the even provide a Weber BBQ on the river. We loved that you could have campfires there, too – it was such a treat for the kids!
Images: Kids paddling the rive at the Huon Valley Caravan Park. Images courtesy of A Boundless Life.
What was the highlight for the kids while in the Huon Valley? To be honest, the highlight for the kids was probably the huge piles of sand that they get put at the river to make a ‘beach’ each summer, at the caravan park. They spent hours upon hours playing in the sand with all the other kids who were staying there. It was a really simple thing that brought so much fun and joy to ALL the kids.
The best free family experience you participated in? Not entirely free as it’s included in the caravan park fees, but we all loved going to the daily animal show which included cow milking, sheep shearing, a dog rounding up ducks, holding the baby chicks and seeing the resident Tassie Devils. Besides that, our day trip to Cockle Creek was really great and the hike my daughter and I went on to get to South Cape Bay Lookout.
Images: Early morning milking, and a resident Tassie Devil at the Huon Valley Caravan Park. Images courtesy of A Boundless Life.
Best paid family experience you participated in? Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary was a really great day out. We loved that rather than a traditional zoo as such it was a refuge for animals that were sick or injured and there was a focus on rehabilitation and native species. Ida Bay Railway was another really family friendly experience that we all enjoyed.
Images: Waterfalls, and the Ida Bay Railway. Images courtesy of A Boundless Life.
What are your five top travel tips for families caravanning around Tassie?
- Stay as long as you can! There’s really so much to see. I think it’s important to take your time so you can have some rest days, too, otherwise, everyone gets a bit tired.
- Choose places to base yourself and then do day trips because everything is quite close and it saves having to set up and pack down all the time.
- Make sure you do some walks together. Some of our favourite places have been the ones you can only see by foot.
- Let the kids choose some of the activities.
- Spoil yourself and eat out sometimes, or splurge $10 on a small block of cheese. It’s worth it! There are so many amazing bakeries, restaurants and gourmet foods on offer and you will be supporting local family businesses, too.
Images: Becoming acquainted with the newest residents at the Huon Valley Caravan Park. Images courtesy of A Boundless Life.
What do you recommend other families do while in Tasmania? There are so many beaches and bush walks in Tasmania that little people are capable of and it’s a great way to see the stunning beauty of the area, PLUS be fit and active. There are lots of free camps that are worth checking out but there are some really special caravan parks, too. Some of our favourites were Huon Valley Caravan Park, Left of Field and Big4 St Helens.
The food is AMAZING, everywhere you go. If you can, visit some of the farm gates (some places you can pick your own), or buy their fresh fruit however you can. The cherries, strawberries and apricots we’ve had while we’ve been here are better than any we’ve ever tasted before. There are also lots of yummy chocolate shops around, and the cheese is DIVINE (we recommend Wicked Triple Brie – yum!). Pyengana’s farmgate café is a great little stop, where you can see the cows being milked, too! If you want to spoil the kids with ice cream, the cherry ice cream at The Cherry Shed was fantastic, and the musk flavoured ice cream at Richmond’s ice creamery was OUT OF THIS WORLD. If you’re looking for wildlife, you can’t go past Cradle Mountain and Maria Island – wombats, echidnas and devils galore, as well as lots of other amazing animals and plants.
Thanks so much, Jen, for sharing a great insight into the Huon Valley! If you wish to follow Jen and her family on their Aussie trip and see where else they visited while in Tasmania, you can find them at
www.facebook.com/aboundlesslife
Instagram: @a_boundless_life_aus/
Check out their 'A Boundless Life' website, too!
If you have a great story you'd love to share with other families travelling in Tasmania, please contact us directly via our email, we would love to hear it!