Entries about tips

• Travel High Chair Alternative

  Kaden in the Totseat

Totseat / Mobiseat – As they say it’s ‘the washable, squashable highchair’. (www.totseat.com). Made out of cloth, clip it onto/around whatever regular chair is available, and have your child safely sit in/on there. We bought one of these off ebay for our round the world trip to use with our daughter who was 9 – 12 months at the time. Packed really small and found it extremely useful. Even now with our 10month old son, we got extremely frustrated and annoyed at ourselves for not taking it with us to visit my parents for a week, two weeks ago. Trying to eat your own meal, plus feed and hold a squirming 10month old who loves to grab anything he can reach is not fun!

• Ipad or other tablet alternative

We hadn’t previously gotten one of these yet, so thought we’d pick one up and see how it went as an entertainment device for our 2.5yr old daughter, and as a laptop replacement for us while traveling. We ended up deciding to save a bit of money and not get the best, new, top of the range item, as we didn’t really know if it would end up being worth it or not. Plus, it’s not long till I’ll be needing a new laptop soon anyway… and many of the best tablets available, cost just as much as a new laptop! So we’re now the owners of a new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. Will see if it was worth it over the duration of this trip!

• Camps 7 Book

Was recommended this book, and from numerous previous long driving trips around/through Australia and overseas… thought it looked to be a pretty good investment not only for this trip, but also for future trips within Australia. I’m not a fan of GPS systems for driving, preferring a physical map to look at to get a better ‘picture’ of what’s where, and where I want to go. I’ve photocopied the Tasmania section to take with us, and will see how useful the campsite information provided with the maps is for us in Tasmania.

• Baby/Toddler Car Seats

We’ve decided the best option for us is to hire baby/toddler car seats through the companies we’re hiring vehicles from. Less hassle, and means we can bring other child items free of charge on the plane (Stroller, Kathmandu child carrier backpack etc).

• Tasmania National Parks Pass

Decided to pay for it online before we go and take the corresponding printout, instead of purchasing at the park, as we may want to go into a smaller park that doesn’t have that service available, before we get to somewhere we can do that. I rang and asked, and they said the printout should be fine if you haven’t had a chance to exchange it for the physical pass/card yet.

• Discounts

Definitely check these out!! A lot of the tourist brochures/booklets you can pick up often have local business discounts in them. The ‘Let’s Go Kids’ booklets, and online for each state are awesome sources of ideas and discounts. Also check out what discounts you can get through any of the cards/memberships you may have. For example, RACWA (RACV, NRMA, RACQ etc), YHA (Youth Hostel Australia), QANTAS Frequent Flyer. Also, we’re really lucky that our children are both younger than 3yrs. So entrance fees are not needed for them to any of the places we want to visit (as far as I know so far anyway!). Plus, our son pretty much fly’s for free as he’s under 2yrs. However… we found out that as soon as they turn 2, and you have to pay for a seat… it’s basically straight up to adult fare cause they’re taking up a seat. The downside to the age thing… they very likely won’t remember much (if any) of the trip.

• Plugs

Make sure you remember to pack both a medium/large and small/medium multifit plug for hand basins or washtubs. Especially if you're travelling with kids who aren't used to showers! I remembered to do this thankfully, and have used them at nearly every place we've stayed so far on this trip. Whether for bathing Kaden and/or Sonia, washing dishes, or washing a few quickly needed clothes. At both caravan parks and hotels.

• Mobile Internet

If you want regular access for checking email or whatever on the net, take you own access device, or plan in time to find somewhere for access. Most people would be able to do this on their phones nowadays anyway, unless they're like us and still haven't upgraded to smart phones yet. The majority of campgrounds we've stayed at haven't had wifi available. Or if they do, we've arrived too late to be able to purchase some usage time from reception for our tablet.

• Gumboots

This was an excellent suggestion we received from one of our friends in Hobart. She recommended we get some for Sonia. We did, and are very glad we did so! The amount of water and mud she's walked through since being here in Tasmania is amazing! Plus they're very quick and easy to get on and off which helps greatly with toileting and getting in and out of the car or campervan. Let alone the enjoyment she gets from being able to walk through water and mud!

Now that the trip has been well and truly completed, lets go back through some of the original questions we had...

• Campervan with toddlers in winter

Clancy:
Silly idea.

Renee:
Generally, it wasn't too bad.
Good that we had the availability to pretty much be able to camp anywhere.
Had some great experiences and created some great memories.

Recommendations:
For a comprehensive overview, see my entry titled 'The Campervan...'

• Weather and walks

Clancy:
Miserable weather, bring a raincoat.
Walks were fine.

Renee:
Totally changeable.
We were lucky, and I think for us, the worst weather during a walk was the day Sonia and I trekked in to see Montezuma Falls.

Recommendations:
Be prepared for all seasons (maybe excluding summer!), and be flexible in case a change of plans is needed.

• Stroller and walks

Clancy:
Some walks available.

Renee:
Yes, quite a few available.
Including some that probably aren't meant to be utilised that way!

Recommendations:
If it looks like you'll be able to use it, go for it, as it usually makes the walk a fair bit easier and faster.
Just be prepared to take it back to your vehicle, or hide it on the side of the track for your return trip if it becomes too difficult to use.

• Keeping toddlers warm and dry during hikes

Clancy:
What my wife says!

Renee:
Pram with good cover if available.
Raincoats and umbrellas if walking.
Child carriers - Raincoat for self, Poncho for child, Umbrella if heavy rain and not too much wind.

Recommendations:
As listed above, plus numerous layers. We were surprised to find their outer layers got rather wet, while their inner layers stayed quite dry nearly every time.

• Free camping

Clancy:
If you want to do it the hard way.

Renee:
Plenty of places available if you have your own amenities (toilet/shower).
Still quite a few even if you don't.
I didn't mind it, but have to admit I enjoyed my hot showers!

Recommendations:
It all basically comes down to how much comfort you want.
There's plenty of sites available if you want them.

• Accessibility

Clancy:
Plan ahead and use your brain.
You'll be fine.

Renee:
It all depends on the weather and timing of what, when, where, and how you're wanting to access something.
We'd done our research so didn't come across anything much that ended up causing great disappointment. (See entry 'Some Answers to Questions So Far')
We were also really lucky and missed most of the road closures. For example, access to Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake was limited while we were at Latrobe, but was fine for when we wanted to go there later.

Recommendations:
Do your research to make sure places are open during winter.
Listen to ABC Local radio, and contact the local shires or tourist information centres for information on road closures or other warnings.

• Booking accommodation

Clancy:
Yes, the earlier, the better.

Renee:
If you know definite dates, then yes, it is definitely recommended to do in advance.
If not, you can ring up the day before, or earlier that morning.
Remember that many places shut by 4pm during winter.

Recommendations:
See above comments.
Will definitely require early booking for the summer months!!

• Things closed during winter

Clancy:
Yes

Renee:
Yes, some areas are closed during winter.
See 'Accessibility' above, and the blog entry 'Some Answers to Questions So Far'

Recommendations:
See above comments.

• Definitely do/not do with toddlers

Clancy:
If you enjoy your sanity, don't take kids!

Renee:
With some research and planning, everything was generally pretty good.
Nothing obvious that I'd recommend not to do.

Recommendations:
Even a little research and planning helps to make the whole trip go a lot smoother.

• Highlights

Clancy:
Snow
Being cold!
Chocolate places (not so much the Cadbury Chocolate Factory though. No tour.)
Cherry Shed
Raspberry Farm
Platypus House
Seahorse World
Waterfalls
Greenery - Not a desert like WA!

Renee:
Everything!!
I thought it was all pretty good, and find it rather difficult to pin point specific highlights.

• Final Comments

I've generally enjoyed this whole process. Planning the trip, exploring Tasmania, and now finishing this blog. I have to admit that yes, sometimes I did get rather frustrated and annoyed at various things, but over all... it was pretty good. Undertaking new exploits and creating many fun memories in the process. And from what I can gather, I think Clancy (despite his occasional pessimistic outlook on things) and the kids enjoyed it too. So now, I hope this has been helpful in some way to others, and all the best with your planning and exploration. Enjoy the new experiences and creation of many new memories!