Straight after Christmas last year we had our family holiday. Darren and Megan left on the 27th by boat with my car. Jessica, Eugene and myself left on the 28th by plane. We spent five nights in Devonport in a cabin at a holiday park. This allowed us to spend time with Darren's Dad, step mum and some extended family.
The boys spent lots of time fishing with Eugene catching some squid and Darren showing him how to cook it. Megan and I had a lovely walk on the beach collecting shells and a few beautifully colored, smooth stones. Jessica and I watched a few movies together and enjoyed some bargain hunting.
We discovered a discount store called Shiploads which is similar to Cheap As Chips, The Warehouse or Chicken Feed. Darren and i picked up lots of heavily discounted Christmas decorations / party items and Megan enjoyed the makeup section.
New Year's Eve was spent at Darren's Dad's place eating nibblies. About 11.30 pm the kids went down to the water for the party and fireworks. We got a phone call at 12.04 am asking to be picked up because the fireworks had finished and everyone was going home.
The Reject Shops in Tasmania as huge and once again we picked up lots of Christmas bargains. One was a white with gold stripe tablecloth we bought for $5 down from $20. We soon discovered most towns either had a Shiploads or Reject Shop and it felt like we were doing the national tour of all stores.
The girls and Eugene flew back home on the 2nd Jan and Darren and I continued our holiday for another week. We spent 3 nights in Stanley at a lovely spa cottage. We explored The Nut which is an extinct volcano the Stanley is built around.
We then travelled down to Hobart and stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in Margate. We visited the Salamanca Markets, took a lunch cruise on the Derwent River, visited the Margate Train and it's converted shops, drove down to the Huon Valley and explored New Norfolk and it's antique shops.
Darren and I enjoyed eating lunch out on occasion, bought afternoon teas at Banjos Bakery and cooked our own dinners most nights. Everything was budgeted for which gave us peace of mind. We caught the boat home on the 9th January arriving at the crack of dawn on the 10th.
Here's a list of how we saved money on our holiday -
* Used our thermos for cuppas when we were travelling. This saved us about $7 - $9 each time.
* Stocked up on cheap Christmas decorations, material and party supplies.
* Used our Flybuys dollars to buy the groceries we needed when staying in Devonport and Margate.
* Saved the paper carry bags from Kmart when we went shopping. Most plastic bags have been banned in Tasmania for about four years. Retailers offer paper bags or multiple use plastic bags to their customers or you can bring your own. I carried lots of fold up material bags in my handbag which were used many times over.
* Saved the plastic cutlery from the cafes we ate at. I don't usually do this but the cutlery was quite sturdy and seemed a shame to throw out.
* Reused the few plastic bags and bread bags we had over and over again to wrap food, cover bowls or to pack things in the car.
* We carried bottles of water wherever we went. This alone saves a small fortune and keeps us hydrated.
* I packed tea bags, sugar, breakfast cereals, spreads, muesli bars, sweet biscuits, savoury biscuits, pasta, tinned tomatoes, seasonings to make spag bol and rissoles, chips and chocolates. Yes we could have bought these items from the supermarket when we got there, but I already had them in my pantry. This saved us about $75 - $100.
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| Lighthouse at The Bluff Devonport |
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| Th Bluff Devonport |
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| Sunset in Devonport |
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| Huge craft shop in Spreyton Devonport |
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| Acoomodation in Stanley |
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| The Nut Stanely |
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| View from the top of The Nut |
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| On the chairlift with Darren. He didn't look down |
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| Historical Highfield House Stanley |
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| House on the main street of Stanley |
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| The Nut up close |
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| Stanley main street. Our accom was up the laneway - bottom left |
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| Stanley Hotel. Masterchef filmed finals week here in 2012 |
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| Margate train shops |
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| Margate train |
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| Discount super store. |
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| Historical bridge in Richmond near Hobart. |
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| View from our balcony in Margate. |
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| Derwent River cruise. |
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Looks lovely Wendy. I'm a Tassie girl so I'm biased! My cousins work at shiploads whilst they go to Uni. They are at the Cambridge one near Hobart airport. We got married in Richmond! Regards Tania in Hawthorn.
ReplyDeleteStanley is one of my favourite places in Tasmania. How lovely you got to spend time exploring there, Wendy. Great ideas too for making a holiday a lot cheaper. Meg:)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fabulous holiday. Hubby and I went to Tasmania for our honeymoon over 20years ago, I loved it, would love to go back there again one day.
ReplyDeleteI had the last week of the holidays at the north coast with my four children. I had paid for the accommodation six months earlier, so there was only food and petrol to organise. Did a big shop day one and cooked most meals at home except for fish and chips x2 and a special brekkie which is our tradition on the last day.
ReplyDeleteWe went to the beach or lake every day it was wonderful!
Your holiday looks divine too.
Happy New year!
Cathy
Wendy, thanks so much for the write up on your holiday and especially your photos! From over here in the Arizona desert, I really enjoy seeing so much of the wonders of Australia. Much better than a travel programme :)
ReplyDeleteLooks lovely Wendy. I would love to go to Tassie one day. I have something to add to bread bag uses... i have run out of nappy sacks (the little bags u put nappies in so it doesnt make the bin smelly). The good old bread bag makes a wonderful nappy sack!!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week
beautiful photos!
ReplyDeletemy sister lives in tassie near to where you went, Geeveston, another pretty town
there are some lovely cottages down there
thanx for sharing
Greetings from Tasmania, we really hope you enjoyed your visit. We live here and consider ourselves very, very lucky!
ReplyDeleteWendy loved your story on Tassie. It is our favourite place to holiday and we have been to all the places you visited. The people are so friendly and helpful in Tassie and life seems to move at a slower pace which is magic. We have been pricing a holiday there in a few months and the biggest money killer is car hire. It has increased exhorbitently over the years. We can't take our own car and travel by boat. We are waiting and hope prices go lower soon.
ReplyDeleteWe've had a super frugal and money saving week here,
# bought 4 spools of whipper snipper wire half price. Saving $10
# Made 7 jars of tomato relish using our delicious homegrown tomatoes. Tomatoes free, other ingredients cost approx. $2. Savings at retail price of relish $4 ea. $26
#. I cut hubby's hair. Savings $20
#. Hubby repaired a Stampin Up punch. Savings to replace $30
#. Bought 2 balls of knitting cotton for dishcloths at half price. Savings $5
#. I sewed 4 hankies from 100% soft quilting cotton for my Mum. I recently bought a box of 3 hankies for $10 at Best and Less. The pretty fabric cost $2.50 on sale at Spotlight. Savings $7.50
#. Bought a strip of fabric 40 cents to make wide straps for a sundress that had shoestring ones. I cut the narrow ones off and attached the new straps. Looks lovely and saved donating the dress to the op shop. Savings cost of dress $15
#. Hubby cut out a metal plate for our gifted Webber BBQ from scrap. Savings $70
#. Enjoyed eating limitless delicious tomatoes we've grown
#. Made all meals at home, utilising leftovers, no waste. I take cold water whenever I leave home in my s steel flask, stays cold for 24 hrs. Cooked your muesli slice Wendy. It is hubby's favourite one, all he ever wants to eat and it is so simple to make. The best recipe I've ever used.
#. If I'm out in town and want a coffee I go to Coles Express and buy a latte for 80 cents!!! Delicious.
#. I crafted 2 birthday cards that were very intricate. Savings $12
#. Planted potato pieces that had sprouted in cupboard. We did this couple of months ago and harvested 3 kgs of the best tasting potatoes from 4 part potatoes!!! Also bought spring onions and planted the bottom part with the roots for ongoing use.
Well Wendy so glad I finally got to post here. I love our frugal life and my husband and I make a great team both thinking of ways to make our money stretch further. Your blog is always an inspiration and I look forward to every one of your posts. So glad you had a wonderful family holiday.
Best wishes, Lorraine
Re the car hire. I just got back from a trip to Tassie last week. We hired through East Coast Car Rentals at Launceston. It is a 2 min free shuttle from the airport. The chap there told us the people get put off because it is not "at the airport", although you can literally walk there. My sister did the research and they were the cheapest she could find. I was impressed with the quality of the cars available. I highly recommend them. I hope this helps. Traci
DeleteWe love Tassie, beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteThis week I made cards, cooked stuffed zucchini with free large ones, picked cherry tomatoes, baked a jam/coconut slice to use a jar of jam that no one particularly liked, hosted a friend for lunch rather than going out and put together a 60th birthday gift for a party we are attending with items from the gift stash including home made relish. Also found a stack of unused spiral a4 notebooks at Savers which the teens took to school for immediate use. Sold a dress that I'd worn once.
Encouraged the teens to wear clothes in their wardrobes to the numerous parties they attend, rather than buy more stuff! Marie
Gosh. Tassie looks great! I have traveled the world but never been to Tasmania (shame on me). I'm with Darren on not looking down - good ol' terra firma for me thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteTraci thanks so much for the info on the car hire. I'll certainly look them up.
ReplyDelete