21 Dec 2017
Another year, another set of resolutions – but how long do you actually stick to them before throwing by the wayside? We’re all a bit guilty of waning enthusiasm. Which is why we’ve come up with six easy and healthy New Year’s resolutions for the whole family. For the new year, new you – that you can actually stick to!
1) Make Family Time A Priority or Prioritise Family Time
It’s far too easy to prioritise the unimportant over spending time with our family. There’s always something to watch on Netflix, social media to scroll through or sport to watch on the telly. Enough. This is the top of our resolutions list for a reason: it’s the most important change you will make for your entire family. You say it every year, but when a new year of work rolls around it can be hard to make time. Not this year, the new you is prepared. Sit down with your family and decide together where you want to go – booking early will make it harder to bail and gives everyone something to look forward to. If you're penny-pinching let the kids pick their favourite free activities from a hat and stick to holiday parks with in-park activities for the whole family. Want to be absolutely certain you stick to it? Lock in four holidays, evenly spaced out to give the whole family something to look forward to. Remember: no backsies!
2) Discover Where Our Food Comes From
Let your kids discover the origins of our food – helping them to become less wasteful and more considered in their eating. Take them fishing and observe how a fish is caught – it can certainly help with practising patience. Teaching good fishing and water management is a brilliant and environmentally friendly skill set to pass to your children. Choose a location where there are plenty of fish, calmer waters and the opportunity to engage with other activities should the quiet allure of fishing all get a little too much for younger kids. Discovery Parks - Forster is set on the beautiful Wallamba River on the New South Wales coast – and there's plenty to do and see and taste in this idyllic part of Australia. July 2018 will host the Forster Family Fishing Competition, along with sunset sausage sizzles every Tuesday and a free kid’s movie night on Saturday’s. Take a look at Discovery Parks - Forster on the Wallamba River to plan your escape.
3) Travel More
Dreams of a midlife gap year or an early-retirement fallen to the side? If reality has set in and you’ve been wondering how to incorporate more travel into your day-to-day life – don't despair. Travelling more is absolutely a resolution you can stick to. If you're lucky enough to live in Australia, some of the world’s most beautiful destinations are in your own backyard. You don’t need to go to Hawaii or the Maldives to feel like you’re in paradise. Just take a weekend or a well-deserved week off work and make your way to one of the many splendours within your reach – and not just in the warmer periods. We have a tendency to focus on summer holidays in Australia, yet our cooler months have their own appeal. Temperatures drop, colours change and behemoths of the deep migrate – and you should be out amongst it. When it’s 40 degrees in the shade and the last thing you want to do is go outside, give yourself a break and plan your winter journey. G’Day Magazine has a wonderful winter adventure plan – use it as a map for your own or perhaps as a little bit of inspiration. Sneak a peep at our winter adventure map here.
4) Learn A New Skill (and Get into Shape!)
It’s an Australian stereotype that we all love our beer, BBQ and surfing – but that last one can be a bit tricky to get a hang of. Well, this year make it a resolution to face the challenge of riding the waves. Make the most of our learner-friendly waves and get yourself (and the family) into shape at the same time. Saying you want to lose weight in the new year is too vague, the best resolutions are specific and achievable: it should be about health, not looks. That’s why the new you refuses to associate working out with pain: it’s only saltwater, adrenaline and fun in the sun from now on. We have holiday parks to get you in the zone, near some fantastic learning breaks. Toowoon Bay Holiday Park on New South Wales's central coast is just a stone’s throw away from surf coach and Australian Surfing Champion, Sarah English. Cowabunga, dude.
5) Experience, Not Expenditures
Make sure one of your resolutions is to buy fewer things in 2018. You don’t have to spend loads of money or accumulate possessions to have a good time. Research from San Francisco State University backs this up – spending money on experiences over things makes us happy. So instead of buying trinkets why not try booking a couple of nights away for the family and going to a waterpark, or hiring a van and visiting a few spots for a classic Aussie road trip? It promises to be better than any gift you could imagine. Happy memories, happier wallets! Check out our summer road trip in our latest issue of G’Day Magazine for getaway inspiration.
6) Go On More Adventures
If you’re stuck in a working rut and your kids are zoned out with their phones at the dinner table, then it’s time for you to reconnect – get out of your comfort zone. Head to Australia's mysterious wilderness, Tasmania. Your adventure starts the moment you get on the ferry, with a crossing of the Tasman Sea. Beginning at Devonport give yourself a night to see the beautiful sights and recover before journeying toward Cradle Mountain. This is when the fun really kicks in. Over three magnificent days, you can take the family on the ultimate Tasmanian adventure. Try canyoning with Cradle Mountain Canyons and experience areas most people will never see with a full-on day of climbing, jumping, abseiling and swimming with local guides through ancient canyons. Trip your way back to the cosy confines of your Discovery Park accommodation and fall into an early slumber because the next day you’re going on a pony ride. Cradle Country Adventures offers a range of rides to even the most novice of riders. Choose your own adventure with a choice of two, three and four-hour rides through the stunningly scenic countryside of Cradle Mountain. Forest, old-growth eucalypts, creeks and historic farmland, all encased in the hinterland of the Mersey Valley - this is an adventure you and the family won’t soon forget. Take it easy on your last day and pop by to see a national treasure – our beloved Tassie Devil. Learn about the tireless conservation efforts for the furry beasties at the Cradle Mountain Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary, before an early supper gazing at the night sky. Horses, waterfalls and devils? Not to mentions a rough and ready ride over (a) sea? That's what we call an adventure! Definitely better than anything you’ll find on screen. You and your family can return to the ordinary with the memory of experiencing the extraordinary. Check out Discovery Parks - Cradle Mountain where your adventure awaits.
Whether you're hitting the wilds of Tasmania, travelling between dozy sunshine in South Australia and Victoria or just attempting to live a little bit healthier and connected with your family, these are six resolutions that are not only easy and healthy – they're fun. You and your family will want to stick to these!
Happy New Year from the Discovery Holiday Parks family, book below to make your resolutions come true.
