Forster, New South Wales.
Best known for its dolphin and whale cruises, majestic beaches, tasty food and my beautiful Gran 🙂
We’ve been visiting Forster for family catch-ups since I started sporting short pants – also long pants, swimmers and a variety of other clothes. We gather to mark birthdays, milestones, the sad passing of loved ones, the excitement of new marriages and just because we can.
For the last few years, we’ve been holding our mini-reunions at the Forster Holiday Village 🙂 It’s always exceptionally clean, comfortable and reasonably priced.
At the beginning of March this year, I made the trip to Forster and stayed overnight at the Holiday Village with my Mum and sister, while we helped my Gran out with a few things relating to her move to Aged Care.
The Forster Holiday Village is in a great location and perfect for family get-togethers – only a short walk away from clubs, shops, restaurants and the Forster Main Beach.
Hot tip – you’re just a five minute walk away from Jurassic Putt-Putt at the Forster Entertainment Centre. Any problem that can’t be solved by playing mini-golf with a bunch of fibreglass dinosaurs, just isn’t a real problem.
The owners of the Village – Jak and Viv – are accommodating and helpful and will graciously introduce you to Izzy, their three legged cat if you see it walking around, follow it and insist on a pat.
Izzy is not pictured here, as the cat is faster than me and 100 times more street smart.
The Forster Holiday Village books out quickly, especially during peak holiday periods – so it’s best to reserve well in advance.
We’ve previously booked out a number of cottages at a time (which is why you can never get in there) and it can be tricky trying to allocate everyone to a villa when guests arrive at different times and with a variety of different last names.
Jak and Viv are experts at getting everyone sorted though and have never once asked for my list of code names and family head-shots, to help with the organising.
Come to think of it, you really shouldn’t book a cabin – on account of we want all of them free when we need them so we can stay year round. I’m sure Jak and Viv are fine with that.
Each villa has it’s own covered car space. The parking can be a bit tight depending on what unit you’re allocated, but there is extra parking at the front of the Village and frankly – if you weren’t sensible enough to drive a compact Suzuki Swift, then you’ve done yourself a disservice. Best. Car. Ever 🙂
My Mum booked a two bedroom villa for a week & kindly let my sister and I set up camp in the second bedroom for our overnight stay.
Upon entering the unit, we all remembered fondly the time my brother got in trouble for sitting on the TV cabinet pictured below. Not everything low to the ground is a seat, Robert!
The TV is anchored nicely to the wall, and broadcasts as many quiz shows as you’d want.
You too can shout incorrect answers at ‘The Chase Australia’, while you take up all the space on the couch so your sister can’t sit down. You’re only one internet booking search away from living the dream!
Hang on … we decided you weren’t allowed to stay here, didn’t we.
Moving on …
The kitchen is well equipped with everything you’d need to serve, eat and wash up your cake dishes. Also other food, if you like that sort of thing.
If you look carefully at the picture below, you might spot my sister stealing mugs from the cabinet*.
She might be putting them away, but who can tell – she has sticky fingers from all that cake.
(*Do I need to specifically say that my sister didn’t steal any mugs?? My husband is telling me that I do. She didn’t steal them, but that really puts a dampener on my witty banter.)
If you’d prefer to sit around and let your family organise the unit, you can do that too. Again, I suggest spreading out on the couch so that your travelling companions don’t shirk their unpacking duty.
I looked away for one minute, and my Mum and sister really slacked off in the organising department 😉
The unit is self contained so you need to bring your own supplies, but there is a complimentary starter pack of milk, tea and coffee that you can use to give you energy to get to the local shopping centre.
My favourite shop is ‘Forster Tuncurry Meat & Chicken’ as it never fails to spark a debate over whether or not chicken is a meat! It also has very tasty meat and chicken.
The bathroom is fairly basic, but the shower has decent water pressure and plenty of hot water.
The owners also provide one of those weird non-slip shower mats that you can use, as you’ve got a big step up into the stall. Personally, I don’t like any kind of mat telling me what to do – non-slip or otherwise, so I tend to throw (place carefully) it to the other side of the room.
Others however, may like the comfort of not falling over on the wet tiles. Each to their own.
Below is a picture of me proving that the living room mirror has wonderful reflective abilities.
The master bedroom contains a Queen bed, and this picture of hearts. As far as I know, no-one … lost their head in the night. 😀
See what I did there? Alice in Wonderland reference? No? Ok, let’s all agree that my canvas-artwork themed jokes fall as flat as a deck of cards – and that you all need to read more.
Let’s continue.
The second room has a single bed along with a (set of??) bunk bed/s. Is a bunk bed a plural? Who knows?!
I refused to even try to get up on the top bunk, as I hate fun and would both hit my head and fall down the ladder at the same time, while getting snagged in the blankets like a confused sausage.
My sister was braver than me, and climbed to the top like a seasoned explorer conquering a blanket covered Mt Everest.
Here’s a picture of me proving that I could climb onto the bottom bunk AND give a weird thumbs-up at the same time. Classic me.
For those not confident of climbing onto either the top or bottom bunk, there was a single bed provided.
My sister ended up sleeping on that one, and I took the bottom bunk.
I mean, someone had to be ready to shoot rock salt at the ghosts that came out of the cupboard in the night. And I was that someone*.
(*Gun was imaginary, as was the rock salt and maybe the ghosts.)
The Forster Holiday Village has a range of activities that kids of all ages and levels of fun-loving can enjoy!
Once you’ve finished reading your sister’s diary, you might like to head outside and shoot for basket!
Are BBQs an activity? Yes! And there are a few dotted around for your sausage and thin steak needs.
The tables are a great size and are just right for celebrating with loved ones 🙂
The complex also has a coin operated laundry on site, for guests to use. Very handy if you’re staying for longer than a few days, or like to wash your one outfit numerous times.
Thankfully there is also a pool onsite, so you don’t need to just swim in the ocean if you’re scared of the Megalodon.
When you’re done playing basketball, tennis and swimming in the pool – take a break and put your children in this tiny house. I imagine there’s hours of fun to be had!
All jokes aside … can I even do that? We’ll see.
I would definitely recommend the Forster Holiday Village as a great place to stay. Located close to everything you need, with friendly owners – it’s clean and comfortable accommodation, with plenty of onsite fun to be had.
We’ve celebrated family birthdays …
Shared a lot of laughs …
Made memories that we now hold dear …
Celebrated our wonderful Gran,
And embarked on new adventures as a family …
- Price Point : $142 p/night for a unit on Friday/Saturday, between 28 Jan – 12 April. Prices adjust depending on the time of week and season. Please see the website for tariffs and further info. The spacious cabins are all fully self-contained and include all bedding and linen. A complimentary starter pack of coffee, tea, sugar and milk is also provided
- Cleanliness : A very high standard. Honestly, this is consistently the cleanest holiday accommodation we’ve stayed at. The owners take a lot of pride in maintaining the property and are very approachable if you’ve got any need of extra towels or linen.
- Cosiness : I shared a room with my sister for the first time in a number of years, and despite her snoring it was really cosy! 😉
- Overall Fishbird Rating : 8 Fishbirds out of 10.
Forster Holiday Village
1-5 Middle Street
Forster NSW 2428
The Fishbirdium 