Let me preface this with the fact that our twins are now seven years old, and we travel quite a bit. What we don’t really do is “holiday” though. As in stay in one place for more than a couple of nights. Unless we are staying with family, we tend to move on every couple of days and find a new destination, explore a new area.
Going on a “holiday” was quite a new concept for me, so going on holidays with twins was a huge step!!!
Travelling as opposed to holidaying – yes, there is a difference!
I remember when we went to Bali when the twins were two. Everyone kept asking us where we were staying. I always replied that I wasn’t really sure, but that each hotel was quite central etc. It turns out that most people don’t go to Bali and stay in 5 different cities/towns/villages in two weeks!! Apparently most people check in once, upon arrival and then check out of their “resort” on departure.
Last year our family took six weeks to drive from Brisbane to Cape York and back. We were on quite a tight time frame on that trip. So we decided not to stop and explore Cairns/Palm Cove/Port Douglas etc as we figured we would be back there one day. Little did we know that almost exactly one year later we would be back in Port Douglas celebrating the most wonderful wedding, my “Sisters” wedding.
This time we thought we would try to have a “holiday”. I have always been a bit worried; going on holidays with twins or multiples – would it actually be a “holiday”?
All in all, I didn’t think we did too badly. We were away for 11 nights and only stayed at three different places. And we had a great time.
Accommodation in Cairns with twins
Cairns – As we had hired a car I wasn’t too worried about being too central. We chose to stay at the Cairns Coconut Resort, a Big 4/Ingenia property. Let me tell you – the kids had a BLAST!
It was our first time staying in a Holiday Park like this before. I highly recommend it. There was so much to do. Free mini-golf, two jumping pillows (their first time on one!), two waterslides, a splash zone, two pools and little peddle buggy things. I read two books in the first couple of days, as the kids were having so much fun playing on all the equipment and didn’t really need anything from us. This allowed us, the tired parents, to have the choice of joining in or relaxing from the side.
Palm Cove with twins
Palm Cove – We only stayed here for one night. While it was lovely, we probably wouldn’t go back. Maybe it was the hotel we stayed at, but there wasn’t much to do. Or maybe it was the “let down” for the kids from the previous place. Let’s just say the pool and little waterslide into it just didn’t match up.
Port Douglas Resort holiday with twins
Port Douglas – My sister was getting married at a gorgeous resort, so we decided to stay there as well to make it easier. It was beautiful. We decided to splurge, as we were having a “holiday”. We splashed out and booked a ‘swim up’ room. I remember staying in previous hotels with a pool with the twins. One would need to go to the bathroom, or forget their goggles etc, so a parent would constantly be traipsing back and forwards to/from the room. Now they are seven, and quite good swimmers, we thought we would trial a swim up room, as then at least we could relax a bit on the sun loungers without having to “take” them to the pool each time. While it was more expensive, I think it was worth it. It meant that those (ie me!) who don’t like swimming could still easily watch them enjoy themselves in the water.
So, the verdict………………. going on holidays with twins or multiples – did I feel like it was actually a “holiday”?
In a nutshell, I would say “no”. Basically it’s the same old thing, just in a different environment. You are constantly trying to ensure they are fed, rested, entertained, clean, dry, swimming, sun screened up, wearing hats, looking for lost thongs etc. It’s just that you are not doing it in your own house. Which in one way makes it harder.
When we take time off work to go away, we are normally we are on the move each couple of days. So there is always something new for the kids to explore, different gardens to play in, different activities nearby. By staying in one place for a whole week I found it harder to entertain the kids. They spent a LOT more time on the I-Pads and watching TV than they usually would. However we decided that we would have a “holiday” as well, so if that meant more time on electronics than normal so WE could relax and read our own book then so be it.
Is it really a holiday when the dishes and the laundry are still piling up?
The apartment had a self-contained kitchen and washing machine etc. Which in one way made it easier for us, but on the other hand it meant the “daily chores” still needed to be done. We did have a sort of break from the laundry I guess. While we did do a load most days, there was no place to hang it out, so it just went into the dryer – which is a novelty for us. We ate out a bit, but still had to stack and unstack the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen every day. It wasn’t all groundhog day though. I did read lots of books and had quite a few ‘cheeky drinks’ along the way.
Kids Club when on holidays with twins and more
Having now been on “holidays” with twins or multiples I can finally understand the appeal of Kids Clubs. I have never been interested in going on holidays just to put the kids in Kids Club and sit by the pool. I know many families do love it, but it just isn’t something we have been interested in. However after having to entertain the kids in the SAME hotel room for a full week I can definitely see the merits of a Kids Club!
Don’t get me wrong, we had a great time and I certainly would prefer to look out the window and see the amazing pool fringed with palm trees than my neighbours back wall! But all in all, our holiday really just gave me an escape from the day to day school routine and opportunity to ignore the dust bunnies under the couch for another week.
And that in itself is a great reason to go on holidays with twins or more!!!
What was memorable was spending a full week with our family and seeing my sister and her amazing wife get to celebrate their love for each other.
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