Family Holidays Getting Away from Technology & Appreciate Family Connections

An interview with Aleks a mum of five children who cherish getaways with friends

Okay. The first thing is first, Alex, thanks so much for your time. Could you just introduce yourself please? 

Yeah, my name is Alex and I’ve been going to Marysville for a long time. I love Yeah, coming to Marysville and spending time and love the stuff and everything about it.

Okay. And who do you normally when you go up to Marysville, who do you normally travel with or does it change?

So, we normally we have a yearly catch up in December just before Christmas with our friends. And so there’ll be 1 or 2 families with children and that is we try to schedule it like this year. 

The reason behind it is because it’s so hectic during the year and we just need to just slow down and Marysville is perfect place to do so just before Christmas. 

We always, always go with friends. So it will be a group of us. We will have three, four cabins and the next river one and yeah. We just love that it’s always with big groups.

Gotcha. Thank you. So how often do you, how often do you go on holidays.

Well I’m European, so we always go to Europe every year and try to get out in nature. Last year we went away twice. We don’t do camping. We just do cabins. At the beginning of the year and then December.

Okay. And so when you go on holidays, you’ve mentioned that you like slowing down. Are there any particular types of activities that you look for or you really enjoy in regard to Marysville? 

What I enjoy about Marysville is that it’s not a big caravan park. 

I love this. It’s not a Big 4 with a million children I can sit. 

We always take the river cabins. I have young children, the youngest is eight. 

When he rides or walks, I can see where he goes. It’s safe. Traffic around the Marysville Holiday Park is really slow and if it’s not, other people or Kim, the manager lets the drivers to slow down. So I know it’s safe.  

 I love basics. I love kids digging mud and going into the river and setting up the fire. 

I love the firepits at Marysville HP. Not activities at all in summer. 

When I relax, I kind of give my children space, but I can still see them. And that’s the best part about Marysville Holiday Park. It’s not the same busy at Big 4. So I like the small camps I like that.

Now, you mentioned a couple of times you’re about “destination choices”. It’s nature that tends to be the one that you’re most interested in. Would that be fair?

“Absolutely serenity and just nature. Yeah. Just go back to the basics. Because then children need to find their activities. They unfortunately forgot what to do. You know, they dig, they find sticks.”

We love it, we wouldn’t change anything in Marysville because that’s exactly what we need. I don’t like, as I said, get miserable. That’s basketball is great. Or maybe a net for, you know, those volleyballs, you know,  activities that the kids can do with their parents. 

How did you first find out about Marysville?

Our friends went there. 

We just came back from Poland and because I’m Polish, we camp a lot, and we do a lot of stuff,  in forests and nature. 

So probably that’s why I love Marysville because it just brings me home, I guess. And friends, it was just friends. And we tell our friends and invite others now. 

I’ve told so many people about Marysville because it’s just ….

”this world needs Marysville” 

Not big, massive mobs of big fours. And. Yeah, so I treasure that.

Do you have far to drive to get to Marysville?

Well we live In Melbourne. Yes. So it’s just 1.5 hours drive which is okay. 

Our other friends are in Ringwood. Croydon. Are they even closer So it’s kind of, you know, close enough for a weekend away. We don’t want to travel more than probably two hours when we go away on holiday. So location is great. So close to Melbourne. It’s convenient because you don’t have to travel too much.

So your friends introduced you to Marysville for the first time. That’s great. Can you give me your first impression of Marysville when you turn?

I love nature. It’s amazing with the fire pits there looking at the river and we could walk and talk…. It’s great. It was with our friends when we first experienced Marysville and we stayed in the Deluxe Family Cabins.

I was raised in communist Poland. Just to give you a little bit of an understanding so you can see where I’m coming from. 

When we want to really feel comfortable.. I’m not a person that has to be in luxury in six star. They are amazing. It’s just nice.

Some of my friends can’t afford going to deluxe, but that’s why they choose the smaller 2-3 bed cabins. It’s so good to stay somewhere where the one place can cater for a range of peoples budgets and needs

You’ve mentioned before about a couple of other reasons why you like Marysville. Can you just go into a little bit more detail on why you prefer why for you anyway? You prefer Marysville to potentially other holiday parks or anything else You might want to add?

So, yes.

 Location is one and two the park is small. 

I could see a lot in the park most of the time from the one spot so I could see my children when they were off playing. 

So it’s manageable, so I can. I don’t have to always run after them. I feel safe there for some reason. I don’t know why, but I just do. And you can see who is in the park, so I guess you that gives you safety as well. You know, the management is always there, looking after everyone. 

I do think that the river is amazing, the upgrades of the cabins and as you know, with everything price is going up and it’s harder to go away but I find Marysville is not putting prices as much as other places. That’s important part because we’re a family of five. 

There’s shops, a pub, there’s lovely local shops and a basic bakery and a pool. 

We recently discovered all the tracks that we walk in with just hiking which is amazing! 

So I think there is a lot to like about it all as a holiday destination with the family.   

There’s a playground, which is good. 

[00:13:47]

If you were going to make a recommendation about Marysville HP to your friends, what have you been saying? How have you been describing Marysville?

Marysville is the park that is a small park with natural serenity with amazing customer service. Kim is always very likable. 

It feels like home, which is important for me. And I just often say that we create memories. My kids are like, oh, when are we going to Marysville? 

I always said to parents that it’s very much back to nature, basic. I appreciate it. And as it’s a small park even if it’s busy, it’s still okay, it’s also so very close and now in the winter season, I was saying to some friends that to go to the deluxe cabins because they’re warm and we can go to the Mountain for tobogganing . 

In winter I absolutely recommend it as well.

It’s nice to slow down, isn’t it?

Absolutely. And the firepits are amazing. It teaches so many skills for kids. 

They building a fire and we’re there all day, and the tables are all through the park …., we sit and we play games, and then we bring our Badmington set and other games. 

And when we sit down at night and have a drinks or two it’s just great…. sigh…. 

If I’m being perfectly honest, I think it’s the nature and the trees and, you know, people around, everyone is respectful. 

I appreciate that the dogs are allowed in the park but on leads. If I left my son running around the park, I know there won’t be a dog that we might be unsure of.. 

Hi Aleks,

Once again thankyou for your time earlier in the week to chat with you. Please see the transcript that (has been slightly modified) please let me know if there is anything that you may want to add or change as our intention with your approval is to publish it on the website and potentially use parts ( as a testimonial) in our marketing.

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Cheers
David