5 Fun and Frugal Things to do in Warburton
This year I committed to more travel with my kids. Family holidays don’t need to be big trips somewhere, sometimes the short trips closer to home are the most fun. We found unique accommodation we wanted to try within 2 hours of home, then planned our holiday around it. This post does contain affiliate links, read our disclosure here.
Costs
The cost breakdown for our trip is as follows:
Accommodation – A magical art studio/fairy house booked through Airbnb. Get $50 off your first trip of $110 or more here. With all fees included and minus a discount I had, it was $200 for the 2 nights. However, there is accommodation as cheap as $39 a night, we specifically wanted this studio.
Transport – I don’t own a car so got one from Car Next Door for $25 a day plus $0.33km which cost $106.10 for us. Get $15 off your first booking here.
Food – We took some of our own and my kids had pizza at one of the cafes. Aside from that, we didn’t eat out much this time. The pizza was $11.50.
Attractions – Free! Everything we saw and did was free.
Total $317.60 (if you have your own car and go with the cheaper accommodation mentioned, you can do it for much less).
(Clockwise from the top: The steps, water wheel and information centre; La La Falls; The Redwood Forest; Our accommodation; Some of Sioux’s art – a blue mosaic bird).
The Magical Fairy House/Art Studio
Sioux is a wonderful artist who also rents out part of her amazing house. She was an owner builder with her home, did all the rendering including the amazing artwork in it.
Rosellas and other birds frequented the garden, the home was warm and cosy, had everything we needed plus was in a great location with La La Falls walking distance from the house. Redwood Forest was 7km down the road and the house was only 25mins from the Rainforest Walk and Mount Donna Buang.
You can find Sioux on Facebook or her website which is being updated.
Attractions
Our main purpose for the trip was to have time out, away from the city and stay in a magical place. I knew there would be beautiful scenery, but hadn’t looked much into it until the day before we left.
1. La La Falls
Only a 1 to 1.5 hours to walk through beautiful a beautiful rainforest with native wildlife, La La Falls was the perfect start to our trip. After we checked in, we headed off around the corner to start the walk. We got rained on, but that didn’t make it any less perfect, in fact, for us, it added to the experience.
2. The Redwood Forest
Having seen the gorgeous redwoods in California, I was excited to show my kids these beautiful trees and the forest in Warburton did not disappoint. The trees are tall and beautiful. As you step into the forest, the whole world slips away.
Giant nests are scattered throughout which people have made. Sioux told us the nests were previously upright as ‘portals’, but someone pushed them over. Either way, they are fantastic and there wasn’t a kid in that forest who didn’t love it!
After exploring the forest, we walked further down and took the path along the river, exploring little paths along the way. My kids absolutely loved the freedom here.
3. Rainforest Walk
On the way to Mount Donna Buang is the Rainforest Walk. With a landing 15m above the forest floor, then steps down into the forest and signs along the way giving you information about the forest, it was a fun little stop.
Ash trees which are a few hundred years old are scattered throughout, along with numerous other trees, ferns, moss and a small waterfall running through at one end. Can you tell my kids love this sort of thing?
4. Mount Donna Buang
We were so lucky because the night before we arrived, it snowed! While the rain did wash away a fair amount, there was still enough for a snowball fight. When there is enough snow they have toboggans for hire plus food trucks on the mount.
There’s also a tower you can climb to see the view in every direction. When we were there kids were flying kites, throwing paper aeroplanes off the top of the tower, doing snowball flights and basically having a blast.
5. The Water Wheel, Mosaic Steps and Welcome Centre
While only a quick stop, exploring the big water wheel, the gorgeous mosaic steps and the information centre was something my kids loved. As it turns out, our Airbnb host was one of the artists involved in the creation of the steps and other artworks around the town.
In the centre, there is a tour if you want to take it. My kids didn’t because it had real animals on display (they don’t like the taxidermy section in museums either). It looked interesting though. And everyone there was super helpful.
Other tips
We make travel and experiences a priority in our life. It’s something my kids and I enjoy, plus it brings us closer as a family. If you want to travel more, check out how to make money travelling and how to travel for free or super cheap for more tips.
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