Postprandial preparation is of the utmost importance at this time of year.
After eating Easter eggs for breakfast, a roast for lunch, and leftovers for dinner, suddenly, at dusk, it dawns on you: "What are we going to do with the kids during the holidays?"
Sure, some of us plan these things well in advance.
But, if you're like me, school holidays seem to descend like a prelude to an apocalypse.
Who will look after them while we work? Can we afford to go away?
The answer to the first: a combination of child-care, caring relatives, and camps and the second, a resounding "yes".
Fortunately, the good folks at hotel comparison website trivago.com.au have searched their database to find the cheapest spots for the school holidays.
The prices are an average for each area, for one room, a night:
QUEENSLAND
1. Townsville – $125
2. Mission Beach – $129
3. Cairns –$132
4. Hervey Bay – $132
5. Yeppoon – $136
VICTORIA
1. Bright – $133
2. Bendigo – $135
3. Lakes Entrance – $141
4. Geelong – $142
5. Port Fairy – $143
NSW
1. Batemans Bay – $126
2. The Blue Mountains – $126
3. Tweed Heads – $128
4. Ballina – $129
5. Yamba – $129
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
1. Adelaide – $142
2. Kangaroo Island – $142
3. Victor Harbor – $143
4. Port Lincoln – $148
5. Robe – $188
TASMANIA
1. Launceston – $139
2. New Norfolk – $142
3. Strahan – $156
4. Swansea – $158
5. Hobart – $164
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
1. Albany – $123
2. Bunbury – $141
3. Geraldton – $145
4. Busselton – $168
5. Mandurah – $195
Staycations are also popular, with plenty of free, or low-cost, entertainment for the kids either in, or close to, our major centres.
In Sydney, Cockatoo Island has comedy, magic and puppet shows, each with an historical bent.
Further west, Featherdale Wildlife Park has new feeding trails (no, you cannot feed your children to the crocs, no matter how annoying they are) and, of course, the Easter bilbies (to pat, not eat).
Quay West Suites in Brisbane has a $229 Easter package, including dinner for the kids and an in-house movie.
An hour north, there's an Eggspedition at Australia Zoo, bonnet competition and egg hunt at Aussie World, and twilight markets along Bulcock Beach.
In Western Australia, Perth Zoo is expanding its Eye to Eye animal encounter program, to include lions, rhinos, and lemur. (This gives you a tremendous opportunity to practise those funny lines from the Madagascar movies.)
During Victorian school holidays, kids can enter Werribee Open Range Zoo for free, to go on a guided gorilla patrol.
Active kids would also love the two-day Adventure Kids Festival, at Mount Baw Baw, Falls Creek and Lake Mountain.
So, if you're kicking yourself for not organising anything sooner, please stop: there's plenty of time to resurrect your holiday plans.
Have a happy Easter.
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