The Young and the Restless | Low-cost holidaying

Not so much now my kids are older and a little more aware of their surroundings and more co-operative when it comes to instructions from Mum, but seven years ago when I first found myself raising them alone, it was hard.

Even something as simple as taking them all to the loo could be a logistical challenge, given that they’re all boys.

I believe kids aged 5, 6 and 8 are too young to go into public toilets alone, but as a woman I couldn’t go into male toilets without disapproval and potentially without safety (as was my worry for my children).

And some parents believed that my boys were too old to be taken into a female toilet, where I was met with disapproval, too.

Fast forward a few years down the track and I suppose some of the biggest challenges of family holidays include whether there’s enough leg room for growing boys in the car among their luggage, who gets to choose the next song queued on Spotify and the fact that the “kids’” appetites are too big to be satiated by anything off a kids’ menu anymore — food bill = ouch!

Recently we holidayed to one of my favourite places in Victoria: Halls Gap, in the Grampians.

Sounds schmaltzy, but the place is magical.

It’s the kind of place you can go and, besides your food and accommodation, get all your holiday experiences for free if you’re on a tight budget.

We also reduced food costs by choosing to stay in caravan park cabins with facilities to prepare our own breakfasts and picnic lunches (because there aren’t really too many affordable food options in the area, but also because we were in the wilderness far from civilisation around lunchtime each day). Come to think of it, the biggest chunk of the food budget each holiday probably goes on ice-cream; my kids think ice-cream-eating goes hand in hand with any holiday, even if we’re at the snow.

The town itself is like a zoo, where the leagues of friendly animals aren’t at all frightened by humans.

After sharing our ice-cream with a cheeky parrot, we had walked to the footy oval late afternoon after a few kangaroos hopped right between our cabin and the one next door, leading us there, past several kookaburras sitting at eye level on posts and low-hanging tree branches.

There were hundreds of kangaroos there, too many to count — big ones, little ones, joeys inside pouches.

Earlier in the day we’d walked alongside emus on a bush track and on the way back to our cabin we watched an echidna cross the road and start digging a hole in the earth of the median strip as cars crept by it either side.

Lizards and other birdlife were in abundance, too.

Aside from animals, there are more than 30 different hikes to do in the Grampians for ages and abilities, and many can be accessed from the town of Halls Gap itself.

There are waterfalls close to town and plenty of impressive big ones more off the beaten track (some only accessible by 4WD).

There are lookouts where you get the most stunning sweeping views of the area and there is also the picturesque and recreational Lake Bellfield close to town, where you can swim, fish and go boating.

The Brambuk Cultural Centre is also worth a visit and from there you can head out back on foot to the Fyans Creek Loop walking track, where you will also spot lots of native flora, fauna and aesthetically pleasing scenery.

Plus there’s the botanical gardens right in the heart of town, which offer lots of information on that local flora and more art, mostly in the form of sculptures.

All of these things are free and could easily fill in a week.

But of course, as with most tourist areas, there are also plenty of paid activities to make it a multidimensional holiday.

We ditched horse-riding in favour of hiring e-bikes (those little electric ones that look like motorbikes) and went for a hoon around the shared bike paths, giggling all the way.

We battled each other for victory on the mini-golf course (where we also took in the art gallery and gift shop).

We went to the zoo and mostly bypassed the native animals to see the big game and exotic animals that weren’t already freely populating the surrounding areas.

And on our last day, we went on a rock adventure where we abseiled and rock-climbed for half a day with a local company, which also offers both experiences separately, as well as canoeing adventures.

I would have gone to the brewery, but my companions aren’t yet old enough to be my ‘buddies’, if you know what I mean.

There is no shortage of things to do for free and for a fee in Halls Gap and surrounds.

And even if you did absolutely nothing but sat on your balcony or tailgate literally anywhere in the area taking in the view, you would be wowed.

— Bree Harding is a former News reporter and a single mother to three children.