Holiday ideas for a family of 4!

It's our 5th wedding anniversary coming up in April! It will be DH, the 2 kids (ages 2 & 4) and my good self who will be about 5 months pregnant.

Our honeymoon was on a houseboat. I was pregnant with DS and we didn't have a lot of money but it was beautiful. So relaxing and we had such great weather. So, DH would like to do it again. However, I've looked at prices and it's $1600 for the week which doesn't include petrol that gets tacked on at the end. So would maybe be about $2,000 in total. So I've told him that I want to look at other options. I would love to go to Thailand but with flights for the 4 of us, it's going to be too much. So was thinking about a cruise (which we still would need to get to Sydney for. We are in Victoria) or even somewhere in Aus that is beautiful and relaxing but not overly expensive! I'm open to any ideas and I'm happy to spend up to about $3,000 for a week which includes flights and accom. We rarely holiday & when we do it's camping or somewhere closeish! So would love to do something a bit different.

So lay your ideas on me peeps! I'm excited to hear what you suggest!

Hamilton Island!! I lived and worked on the island for a while and go back often for holidays, it's brilliant for families! I'm a bit time poor right now but will come back and give you lots of info soon if you like? Otherwise have a search for my posts in Peanutter's holiday thread awhile ago, she was looking for a destination also, I suggested Hammo and gave her lots if info in the thread.. They went and had a great time from what I heard! Maybe she'll pop in to this thread too..

Perth!! You could head down south (cooler but still lovely), or go up north (still warm, swim weather etc).

Otherwise, what about Club Med or similar on a Queensland island? We went to Club Med just off Singapore a couple of years ago when the girls were 2.5 and 3.5 and it was fantastic. They really do the family thing well, and they have a kids club so if you're lucky you can have some time to yourselves. My kids went once - raved about how much fun it was, nearly turned themselves inside out waving to and hugging the carers when we saw them wandering around the resort but flat out refused to go back! Anyway, with all inclusive costs and the many offers they seem to have consistently throughout the year it makes for a pretty reasonable, very relaxing holiday.

Thanks girls! Any info is much appreciated!

Still having a look at places to go! Keep 'em coming! :)

If you are campers perhaps go on a longer camping or caravan trip maybe to the outback if you're into that sort of thing? Go up the centre of OZ, Uluru, mataranka hot springs, coober pedy and get an opal for your anniversary etc and camp along the way? It's a different experience though and it's not everyone's cup of tea and you'd probably want to go for longer than a week. I've also lived/worked in the Whitsundays and I found Daydream Island catered for kids the best out of all the islands. When reading your post I also thought of a cruise, have you found any good deals?

MMmm I would do something like Sydney babe and hire a car, do the Blue Mountains, aquarium, ferry rides to Manly, beaches etc. Lots to do there and you could get cheap accommodation either at holiday parks or last minute.com....That is my idea anyway.

Cherished- DH would love to go camping or to the bush, hence the houseboat as he sees that as a compromise. He still gets to fish and be away from everything etc and I still have all the amenities etc I normally like to have. I had a look at cruises but it ended pretty quickly as they won't accept you if you are 24 weeks pregnant or will be 24 weeks by the end of the cruise. I'll be 24 weeks on the 3rd weekend in April which is when the cruise ends. They said there is no exceptions, so that's out!

Tan, looking very closely at Sydney. Such cheap flights or could even drive there. I really want somewhere that is nice and relaxing but still has a few things around to do with the kids and some places for a bit of shopping!

what about NZ? flights can be quite cheap, it's easy to drive around & there are lots of accommodation options. there's a variety of things to do - mountains, beaches etc and the distances aren't huge for driving with two young children.

or you could go to tassie & do a similar sort of thing.

what about somewhere like fiji? you can often get special deals on flights + accommodation

i've always wanted to go up to the daintree & stay in the rainforest, that would be relaxing & different. i think some of them cater towards families as well.

Trinity Beach in FNQ - we went there with 2 kids earlier this year and it was amazing. Stayed in an awesome apartment too.

What about northern NSW beaches - you could stay in Byron and still do lots based from there including driving up to the Gold Coast for a day etc!! Then lots of time at the beach as well as going in to the hinterland and Nimbim - (don't forget your shisha ;) )

I was going to suggest an island resort too....no car hire or travel, so no worries about car seats etc. Self-catering accommodation but there's takeaways and restaurants if you like. Some resorts are all inclusive.

My brother swears by Hamilton Island too, though not sure how kid-friendly it is (they didn't have kids last time they went). He said wildlife (birds, not sure what else) came right up to the house they rented and there was a zoo there too...

Not sure how $$ a week in Fiji or Vanuatu is now.... we stayed in Fiji on Denarau Island about 7 years ago now and there were heaps of free activities each day (pool, beach games, coconut dehusking, dancing to watch, basket weaving and traditional crafts etc), you could easily fill in a week without needing to do organised tours. Meals were included, there was a free bus around the island and the bus/taxi into Nadi was 50 cents! There's also a kids club.

We were going to head to the Gold Coast for a bit of a break. It ticks your shopping criteria and we were going to stay at Paradise Resort as it looks amazing for kids and not too expensive. The Gold Coast isn't everyones cup of tea though and might be best to save that for when your kids are older and do the theme parks etc. If you are still keen on an island, Tangaloma (sp?) on Morten Island is good, bit expensive though, they have dolphins you can feed!