Life
Our Great Glamping Escape
Since rubber first hit asphalt, the road trip has been a ritual-soaked rite of passage that has shaped the relationship we all share with our country. Selector hits that road to explore how this great Australian icon has evolved.
For some as kids, packing the car meant going camping somewhere, or a caravan park; for others a beach house, or a receptive relative somewhere north or south.
These trips, especially during Christmas, Easter, or school holidays, are a tradition that's long transcended the practical passing of time to shape our view of the 'Australia' beyond our backyards. For generations, these escapes are how we have reconnected with family and friends, against the backdrop of the expanse of nature that surrounds us, in part shaping who we are and how we share our love for this place we call home.
A national pilgrimage
Reflections winding down: golden sunsets on the water.
According to Tourism Research Australia, over 11 million Australians took a domestic trip that involved staying in caravan parks or campgrounds last year. And why not? Australia's landscapes, from the rainforest and bush to the vast coast lines, deserts, and everything experience! Servo food, music, backseat squabbles, strange smells, random, oversized pieces of fruit, animals and crustacea along the highway, and watching the ocean appear around a bend: all part of a mosaic of memories etched into our consciousness.
Camping to Glamping: tent pegs to mobile mansions
It's fair to say that the road component of the experience has evolved considerably in the last few decades. Highways have improved markedly, bypasses have streamlined journeys and technology has softened the edges that form when you cram humans of varying ages into a confined space for hours at a time. Similarly, caravans and campervans have joined the Space Race, with en-suite bathrooms, solar panels, smart TVs, satellite connectivity, air-conditioning and state-of-the-art sound systems all adding a layer of chic to the layer of sand that came back with you from the beach and that now decorates the floor.
However, when it comes to the soul-cleansing effect of nestling up to nature, nothing beats sleeping in a tent. The 'kitchen' was a fold-out table next to the gas bottle and facilities were shared, but it was all good: the Great Outdoors would effortlessly dispense its medicine. Let's not forget the role that the 'getting there' portion contributes to this experience! Servo food, music, backseat squabbles, strange smells, random, oversized pieces of fruit, animals and crustacea along the highway, and watching the ocean appear around a bend: all part of a mosaic of memories etched into our consciousness.
Camping is without peer when it comes to coalescing with the environment, especially with children, family and the formation of foundational memories. They tend to be the kind of formative experiences that linger for a lifetime. But camping isn't for everyone, and until recently theexperience of getting up close and personal with the diverse abundance of our ecosystems was limited to swims, bushwalks and campfires. Glamping, however, affords a wonderful middle ground for those wanting to immerse themselves in nature, but don't feel like making a fire or sharing a shower.
Glamping - or glammed-up camping - has introduced a new layer of comfort to outdoor travel, and focuses around safari-style accommodation over a hard floor and solid frame. There's still canvas that separates you between the goings-on of weather, flora and fauna, but there's also a fridge, a bathroom, a 4-post queen bed complete with netting, linens, a bunk for the kids, in-built barbeques and claw-foot bathtubs overlooking the bush. Reflections Bonny Hills afforded the perfect testing ground to explore if there can be happy co- existence between comfort and nature without one compromising the other.
Based in New South Wales, Reflections manage 40 holiday parks across coastal and inland areas of the state, as well as caretaking 47 Crown land nature reserves. Across their caravan and camping sites, Reflections' tiny home, cabin, and glamping offerings remind us that nature - and our relationship to it - is at the core of every great road trip.
A Bonny location for a glamping experience
Beauty is all around, on every tree, ready to absorb.
The laughing song of this Australian icon provides a great soundtrack to your story.
One positive of our vast coast is that it is still relatively uncrowded, and most of the small towns dotted up and down it maintain a charm that's part past, now, and future. Pet, family, and couple-friendly, many of these parks are right on the beach and/or off the beaten path in rural settings. Across New South Wales, these parks are integral parts of the local community and economy of each location.
Bonny Hills, just south of Port Macquarie, is one such gem where time has slowed. Steeped in surf culture and sleepy seaside charm, Bonny Hills was a quiet fishing village that has a rich Aboriginal heritage pulsing through its undulations offering sweeping beach views framing its rolling green, coastal-scape. Sublime barely begins to describe it.
It's not a stretch to state that the glamping set-ups at Reflections Bonny Hills are more glamp than camp,however the construction and placement of each site delivers the feeling that you really are in nature, not alongside it: from the gumtree canopy overhead to the sound of the waves and fauna all around, it's a tonic all too rarely enjoyed outside of camping.
There are still outside showers along the way back from the beach to wash off sand and salt, and there's still a rustic fish and chip shop close by to facilitate a spur of the moment early dinner because mum and dad can't be bothered to cook and wash up: all the things that camping offers (apart from sleeping on the ground) are delivered when glamping, just with more comfort, space, and the convenience of a fridge, kitchen, air-conditioning, and - maybe best of all - your own shower and bath. Purists may well scoff, but we are already planning to go back and add it as a yearly ritual.
The road trip has grown up
Your glamping experience awaits.
The iconic Australian road trip continues to evolve but its heart is very much intact. Whether you're towing a caravan, hiring a motorhome, camping or glamping, the essence remains unchanged: freedom, escape, and a deeper connection with the Australia beyond our backyards.
What's more, our travel across these communities supports thousands of local jobs and contributes greatly to regional economies: each roadside bakery, beach kiosk, cabin hire and pub meal purchase feeds back into sustaining these beloved destinations, so we can return again and again.
And for families, that freedom - to step outside the routines of home and the demands of work is truly restorative.