Outback Australia Family Holiday - on a farm for freeWe were looking for a different kind of family holiday and had already successfully organized and enjoyed many house swaps for free accommodation and being relatively new to this big red country made me think that it would be a good idea to organize a house swap to the outback. We lived not far from the city and as Easter was approaching it was time to arrange another swap.
I contacted a few people and then spoke to Pam who with her husband Bruce ran a wheat farm in NSW. Unfortunately because of farm responsibilities they couldn’t swap, but invited us to stay in their caravan plus a tent next to the river on their land. I thought it would be great opportunity, good fun and a taste of an outback Australia farm and something completely different to what we’d experienced before. Everything was confirmed and the kids started counting sleeps to this next adventure. We were looking forward to an unusual family holiday.
The camping spot was great. Pam and Bruce had supplied all the camping equipment including a tent for the kids, which they loved. It was remote and very quiet and each night the kids lit a fire which we sat around and most nights toasted marshmallows.
We had the use of a boat and the fish were huge. My husband, John, caught a little fish and only a carp but one of Pam’s boys caught a Murray Cod which weighed over 30 pounds! So it was divided up between several families and was cooked on the open fire and it tasted great.
There was a quad bike that we took back and forth to the house about 2 km away to get supplies. This was another favourite ‘toy’ and the kids loved exploring the river banks and red gum forests.
We were delighted when a neighbor from a nearby farm offered us a flight in his light plane which we enthusiastically accepted. He circled the farms and rivers and gave us a bird’s eye view of some of this huge country.
Another neighbor owned a pig farm and had a new litter of piglets. My daughter Alex fell in love with the runt of the litter and wanted to bring it home. She was very cross when we refused and tried to explain that bringing a piglet to the suburbs to grow up was not a good idea.
John drove an ancient John Deer tractor, we checked the sheep and explored farm sheds, examined the wheat, fed the "chooks" and played with the pet kangaroo. There was loads going on and we learnt so much about living on an outback farm. We had a magnificent time and it was completely different to anything we’d experienced before.
So house swapping or hosting can be a great experience. Have a look and see what you can find and to think these kind of experiences come with free accommodation! Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe it's true. These holidays can be arranged through several organizations such as House Exchange, Couchsurfing which is not just for backpackers as there is a Families are Welcome group also house sitting can be another option. Explore this website and read some of the other stories and you will get an idea of what can be possible.
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