Bateman’s Bay for the Bosnjaks
David Ahern
David is the editor of The Majellan
November is Family Stories Month, and we believe families should set aside the month to share stories amongst themselves. Story telling is a fun way to learn more about the different generations before it’s too late. This article is about a family, Andrew and Donna Bosnjak, and their children Jack and Annabelle, whose traditional summer holiday involves the beach.
“I think family holidays are important,” says Donna. “(And) we go for the simple which usually involves a beach holiday.”
Andrew agrees the family tends to head to the beach but not every time. “It’s very difficult to remember holidays that haven’t been at the beach but there’ve been a few. We hired a campervan and drove around Tasmania once which was a lot of fun.”
Many beach holidays for the Bosnjaks have been at Bateman’s Bay on the NSW south coast. “Jack and Annabelle were always keen to leave early and feel like they were in charge. We’d take off first thing in the morning to beat the traffic. Sometimes we’d be woken at 4 or 5 in the morning which was fine because we were on holidays,” says Donna.
“Our holiday starts the minute we all get in the car and take off. We’ll drive to Bateman’s Bay where the weather is warmer,” says Andrew. “It takes longer to drive there (from Melbourne) but it’s an enjoyable drive. There are also fewer jelly fish in the sea compared to the waters further up the coast, say in Queensland. It’s warm enough to swim but not warm enough to attract too many jelly fish.”
Donna adds that the spectacular coastline is a major drawcard. “You have the perfect mix of coastline with mountains, so we would get up in the morning and go for a very long walk while Jack and Annabelle were still asleep. Later, we would pack a lunch and go down to the beach with the kids.”
The holiday shack at Bateman’s Bay has never had a dishwasher, Donna says, so the family decided early on how to overcome the potentially divisive issue of washing up duties. “It (the shack) becomes the Monopoly championships of the world,” she says.
“We play Monopoly after dinner and the first person to lose their property and everything … they have to go and do the dishes. We’re all in this together and I don’t want to spend my holidays washing and cleaning for everyone,” laughs Donna.
For details and ideas about November Family Stories Month go to: nationaldaycalendar.com/family-stories-month-november/
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