Holidays Afloat!

You are lulled to sleep by the gentle slap of water on the hull. The occasional stretching anchor line propels marauding pirates into your dreams. You wake when a single sunbeam flickers below your eyelids then dances away as your floating home swings five degrees.

The kids are laughing around the saloon table and you stumble into the small bathroom feeling like the large version of Alice in Wonderland. Excitement for the upcoming day travels through your limbs. Will you catch the biggest flathead in the river? Land like an alien in a welcoming new culture? Swim with schools of Picasso-esque fish?

We all know the challenges of holidays with kids: their routines are interrupted which can lead to grumpy travel companions; they always want to eat outside of regular resort meal times; the cost of feeding the whole family can break the bank; by the time you arrive home you have lost half your luggage through constant packing and unpacking; travelling between destinations is a test of endurance.

Many of these challenges can be overcome with a holiday afloat. There are many ways to experience life on the water and we have chosen to focus on three: exploring new lands on a cruise liner, sailing through tropical waters in a family bareboat or plying calm waterways on a houseboat.

Fully catered escape

Cruising has long been considered an activity suitable only after you have let your hair go grey and chucked in your job. The truth is, however, some of the same reasons that cruises suit seniors also make it a great option for families. Cruises offer the chance for exploration in a safe environment, package rates that allow you to budget before you even leave home and enough entertainment to keep the kids amused while you travel.

Leah Squires from BYO Kids has taken her family on numerous cruises and says there are a range of ages onboard and they offer kids’ clubs for children from toddlers to teens.

“There are many organised activities for kids like mini golf, remote control car races and competitions,” she says.

“Some cruises, like Disney cruises, are designed especially for families, but during school holidays cruise liners tend to tailor activities more to children.”

Leah suggests the most family friendly routes are those in the Pacific that visit Noumea, Vanuatu, Fiji and smaller Pacific Islands. “These islands are English speaking, safe and very friendly for shore excursions,” she explains.

“Another favourite would be a Mediterranean Cruise and these start around $1190 per person with kids cruising free.”

I know many mums will agree that a real holiday is one where you don’t do ANY cooking, and cruises cater for this desire too. Besides these obvious benefits, there’s also the convenience of unpacking once and still being able to visit numerous destinations and that, when you travel with kids, can be a godsend.

Sail away to tropical islands

While cruises suit many families they certainly aren’t for everyone. Some of us prefer a little more adventure and a bareboat delivers. Of course, it’s essential that you know how to sail before you cast off the dock lines and rummage around for a chart, but even if you need to brush up rusty skills, it’s possible to take along a sail guide to show you the ropes.

Sailing is one of my personal passions and I spent the majority of my youth sailing through the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Australian waters – including eight years skippering boats in the Whitsundays. Each of these destinations comes with its own advantages.

The ‘Med’, while relatively crowded, offers old-world style, different cultures and stunning scenery. Picture escaping to tropical palm-lined islands with English-speaking locals and easy sailin. The British Virgin Islands are certainly my favourite option… but they’re a long way from here. Weighing up all the pros and cons, you really can’t beat the Whitsundays, right on our doorstep. Sailing distances (and initial travel distances) are short, the backup services are second to none and the 74 Whitsunday Islands offer a wealth of experiences for the whole family.

Having said that, bareboat sailing is great with a baby and wonderful when the kids are comfortable swimmers, but that bit in between can be a little uncomfortable in such close proximity to the water. Queensland Yacht Charters owner Suzette Pelt says babies sleep well on boats. “But the moment they are crawling or climbing, you’ll not have a moment’s relaxation.”

While adult life vests are provided, I suggest you take along your own for kids, so you make sure they fit.

Suzette says she would prefer a sailing holiday over a resort any day. “It’s like having your own private holiday home, transport, adventure, sightseeing and restaurant all rolled into one perfect floating holiday resort,” she says, and I tend to agree. One of the big advantages is the cost: bareboating is not particularly expensive when you take into account the per person rates at a resort. All the costs are paid up front so you aren’t constantly digging into your wallet and a provisioning service is available with special children’s food options so, although you have to do your own cooking, you don’t even have to do the shopping.

The biggest drawback is that basic boating experience is essential on a bareboat. Let’s face it, you are entrusted with a vessel worth a couple of hundred thousand dollars and the less experienced you are, the more stressful this responsibility will be, so pretending you are more experienced than you are doesn’t really serve you well. If bareboating is your dream, but you aren’t confident about your skills, Suzette suggests doing a competent crew sailing course together as a family. “Then everyone gets a turn on the helm and kids love nothing more than driving a dinghy around the anchorage and exploring with you,” Suzette says.

QYC (and many other bareboat companies) send out extensive pre charter preparation materials including an interactive DVD, safety manual and planning chart so you can sit around the coffee table with the kids and plan your escape well ahead. Once you arrive, there’s another 3-4 hours of practical boat and navigational briefings to familiarise you with the boat and area. Before too long you are setting course for destinations like the fjord-like Nara Inlet, the deserted reef at Border Island or famous Whitehaven Beach (from the Qantas ads!). Each day, in the morning and again in the afternoon, QYC contacts each vessel and offers destination advice. This is something you won’t find anywhere else in the world and it’s a real confidence boost.

Messing about in a houseboat

So, what do you do if you want the freedom of a bareboat, but you don’t have enough experience to skipper your own sailing boat? Perhaps houseboats are for you. Within only a couple of hour’s drive of where you are right now, it’s possible to escape on a houseboat up the Noosa River, explore the Great Sandy Strait or meander through the Broadwater. We might not have the offshore islands like they do in the Whitsundays, but we certainly boast plenty of calm water passages where you can get away from civilisation without much effort at all. Best of all, no special license is needed, so this type of escape suits even the novice boaties.

Starting at Noosa Marina Tewantin, Noosa Leisuretime Houseboats offers small cabin cruisers that suit a family of five or larger flat bottom vessels with room for up to 12. The former is easy to drive but boat-like in scale. The latter is more spacious with regular size furniture, all the mod cons in the galley and a huge sundeck with barbecue designed for lounging.

Distances are short through winding mangrove-lined estuaries and steering is easy because speeds are relatively slow. Once you’ve anchored safely in glue-like mud, it’s safe to swim right from the boat and, if you head upstream to Lake Cootharaba, the crowds thin and wildlife increases. Why not plan to be anchored at Boreen Point on a Sunday and wander up to the historic Apollonian Hotel for their Sunday spit roast?

Further north, the Great Sandy Strait (between Fraser Island and the mainland) is an unspoilt cruising ground inhabited by dolphins, rays and even the occasional dugong. The western side of Fraser is less explored than the east and offers quiet anchorages and wonderful sunsets over ‘Australia’. Luxury Afloat houseboats offer vessels that suit eight or 10. They give a detailed briefing and call twice a day to check on your progress.

Travel the other direction and the Gold Coast Broadwater, while a little busier, offers similar topography. Secluded bays, pumping for yabbies or exploring striking sand dunes are all on the itinerary. If you need a night of civilisation, you can even arrive at Couran Cove by boat, tie up at the Marina and take advantage of the resort’s delights! Broadwater houseboats and Coomera Houseboat Holidays recently joined forces and offer a range of vessels suiting families of 4-12.

Whether you choose calm waters close by or explore the world on a liner, Ratty (from the classic tale the Wind in the Willows) perhaps put it best. “There’s nothing . . . absolutely nothing . . . half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats,” he said.

For more information:

BYO Kids: 1300BYOKIDS or visit www.byokids.com.au

P&O Cruises: www.pocruises.com.au

Disney Cruises: www.disneycruise.disney.go.com

Queensland Yacht Charters: 4946 7400 or visit www.yachtcharters.com.au

Noosa Leisuretime: 1300 853 787 or visit www.noosaleisurtime.com.au

Lifestyle Holidays and Luxury Afloat Houseboats: 5486 4864 or www.luxuryafloat.com.au

Coomera Houseboat Holidays: 5502 6200 or www.coomerahouseboats.com.au

Did you know…On the P&O Pacific Sun:

• 80 tonnes of food and drink are consumed on each cruise
• There are 72 chefs, cooks and bakers
• They produce 8600 meals each day
• Food is delivered by 96 waiters
• 123,000 plates, 10,000 glasses and 125,000 pieces of cutlery are washed each day
• Luckily they have 29 dishwashing machines