WINTER has arrived and whilst it is the coldest season of the year, it doesn’t mean that you have to hibernate. Most experienced RV’s have already headed north to follow the beautiful tropical sun, those less experienced are probably now on their way to try and escape the chilly south. We are so lucky that Australia is so big and offers many unique experiences and destinations and allows us to escape the chill especially for those of us that don’t enjoy putting on our winter woollies and braving the Australian cold.
Winter can be one of the best times to take a road trip and head off in your motorhome, campervan, caravan or pop top and enjoy the season, we want to give you just five reasons why you should get out and go this winter.
1. Escapism
Many of us feel trapped, suffering higher levels of stress and anxiety in winter. Staying inside going from work to home and back to work again, repeat and living inside a concrete jungle with air conditioning blowing. Heading away on a winter break gives you a new reason to get excited, planning new adventures, new destinations and more often than not can help you overcome the lower moods that are experienced in winter.
2. Less Crowded
Think of Fraser Island in the summer and then think of it in the winter – whilst many southern folk head north, it is certainly going to be far less crowded in the winter than the summer months. You won’t have to compete for the best camp spot, views or restaurant. Experiences will be cheaper being low season. Bushwalking trails will be more serene with less noise around. And for those that aren’t partial to snakes and spiders, most of them go into hibernation in the winter so there is less chance of coming across them on your walking trek.
3. Vista
The same destination that you usually head to in other seasons of the year can look completely different in winter. If rugging up isn’t an issue, why not head to Mt Kosciuszko or Mount Bulla and see the mountains in full snow it can be quite breath taking. Beautiful green eucalypts are buried in snow and you can observe the fauna and flora in unfamiliar seasonal behaviours definitely a photo worthy opportunity.
4. Winter Activities
There are many unique outdoor recreational activities that can’t be performed in other seasons other than winter such as skiing, cross country skiing, whale watching – watching the whales migrate north to warmer weather. The Aurora Australis – Southern Lights is year-round however is seen at its best in the winter, giving you even more reason to head south to Tasmania Mt Wellington (said to be one of the best vantage points in Australia) over winter to see if you can see it. Or why not experience Christmas like all the northern countries do in winter, many restaurants in Australia celebrate Christmas in July and nothing beats rugging up and sitting by a roaring campfire, sipping on a good mulled wine and toasting a marshmallow or two and breathing in the fresh cold air.
5. Shorter Days – Longer Nights
Nights in winter are longer and colder. Winter enlivens your senses, perfect to grab your beanie, scarf and gloves and sit out under the clear starry skies around a campfire gazing up at the billions of stars and tucking into a campfire oven dinner or damper or even a cooked spud in foil. It is said that happy thoughts and comfort food predominately eaten in winter are associated with the same part of the brain that controls sense of smell and also looks after long term memories, behaviour and emotions.
So therefore, you could say that in the cooler months families getting together in the great outdoors will form fonder memories for recall in later life.
What are you waiting for? Grab an Avida RV and get out there motorhome, campervan, caravan or pop top on a winter escape.
