Beaches (and no, not that movie with Bette Midler)

I have a confession to make. The Girl With A Suitcase is a beach holiday kinda girl. Yes, I know it's a cliche but who doesn't dream of lying on a white sandy beach somewhere, sipping on a daquiri and watching the waves roll in.

Two years ago we bit the bullet and decided it was time to visit the ultimate beach location HAWAII.  I had visions of miles of pristine beaches, the towering waves at Sunset Beach and a whole lot of daquiris.

Reality check.

It took 10 hours to fly from Melbourne to Honolulu.  The flight itself wasn't bad (thank you Jetstar for amusing the kiddies) but sitting still for that long is enough to drive anyone crazy.  And I don't sleep on planes.  EVER.

We picked up our hire car after haggling for an hour with every rental company in the airport (could have used your  help here, Susan!) and set off to explore Hawaii.

Let's just say Hawaii is...um...overrated.

There were places of genuine beauty and the kiddies had a wonderful time.

But the beaches looked like this.

And every spare inch was covered in these.

Not exactly my fantasy beach holiday, fighting for sand space with a million American tourists.

And the view from our pokey hotel room above a nightclub?  Skyscrapers.

So The Girl With A Suitcase has learnt a few things on her travels.

No. 1.  Stay local.  Sitting on a plane for hours can drive you crazy.

No. 2.  Hotel rooms and families do not mix.

No. 3.  Australia has some of the worlds best beaches!

I'm not talking about The Whitsundays.  Too many tourists and backpackers.

This beach has been voted one of the top ten in the world.

Simply stunning.

Wineglass Bay in Tasmania.

When I saw this place, I did a little happy dance.  It ticks all the boxes for a stunning, family holiday.  And look.  No skyscrapers.

Freycinet National Park and Coles Bay is located 202km north east of Hobart and is noted for its spectacular coastal scenery and its emphasis on fishing, boating, bushwalking and swimming.  Apparently Wineglass Bay is so beautiful that on the last royal visit to Australia, the Royal Yacht Britannia anchored there to allow the Queen ashore for an Australian-style beach barbeque.  So if it's good enough for royalty...

Second must have for a family holiday?  Room to move!  No pokey hotel rooms here.

Plenty of room to hide the kids away.

Freyscape is luxury accommodation and has stunning views of the water and coastline.

The kiddies love to be kept busy on their holidays.  Trust me, in Hawaii the activities were very expensive (we're talking US dollars) so it cost us a small fortune to keep them occupied.  Here they can go kayaking, mountain biking, swimming, bird watching, abseiling, surfing, fishing, heck there's even a golf course in the area to keep the hubs amused.

But we all know that The Girl With A Suitcase prefers to take it easy and indulge on her holidays.

All I need is a quick visit to the Freycinet Vineyard cellar door to pick up a few of these...

So I can relax on the pristine beach, sip a vino and take in the amazing scenery.

Only in Australia.