Camping in Western Australia
We have a family ritual where we go away on holiday about every six months, for a total of three to five weeks each year. When we’re away from work, school and commitments, we really bond together. It’s a magical state that I wish could last forever.
I imagine the bonding being like an invisible web that brings us closer and continues to hold us together when we go back home. There is something amazing about waking up each day with the freedom to ask ‘what do we feel like doing today?’
It restores weary souls, like recharging a phone with a dying battery. Then reality hits and it’s time to go back home to our scheduled lives.
The ‘web’ remains strong when we first arrive home, like when one of the kids initiates a long, pleasant conversation rather than retreating to their room. Or when another child says they wish they could stay home with me forever. Or when siblings spend hours choreographing a dance for the family, complete with a production team that dims the down lights on cue.
As the weeks and months go on, the web starts to get a bit tattered and loses its stick as we drift in to a disconnected state of rushed busyness, otherwise known as normal life. But we always have another holiday to look forward to where this magical web will cover us once again. I wonder how different life would be for families if we all carved out three weeks each year to bond.
On a practical note, the way we afford to regularly go on holiday for weeks at a time, is by booking camp sites through the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPAW). Prices vary between camp sites but are very affordable. It’s currently $11 for adults and $2.20 for kids to camp at Ningaloo Reef each night! You can book six months in advance and if you’re an RAC member you can purchase a National Park pass at half the regular price.
Some of the other DPAW camp sites we’ve booked are Margaret River, Dwellingup and Karijini. Next on our list is the Kimberley, and there are camp sites in Broome, Mitchell River and the Bungle Bungles. If you haven’t already, I challenge you to spend three weeks on holiday with your family each year. The memories you create will last a lifetime. One day, your kids will be telling their kids about all the adventures you took them on. They’ll know how to weave a web for their own families, because you showed them how. If you'd like to see our Exmouth video featuring the amazing wildlife we came across from Exmouth, please see my Facebook page under the videos tab!
Written for the Northern Valleys News August 2018
