Where Guy Sebastian goes on holidays

Superstar singer and songwriter Guy Sebastian chats to Holidays with Kids about his top holiday tips and favourite family destinations in Australia.

Singer and songwriter Guy Sebastian may have been topping charts and winning a legion of Australian hearts for 17 years, but when it comes to family holidays, he’s just a regular guy.

Childhood memories

Recalling his own childhood family holidays, the memories that stuck hardest for Guy were of time spent together, fishing and camping. And though he’s one of the hardest working artists in the country, Guy is dedicated to making the same kind of memories with his wife, Jules, and their sons, Hudson and Archer – even building time for exploring into his tours.

“I really lap up travelling. I can’t believe it’s my job to travel around Australia to these different beautiful little towns and meet the locals. It’s probably the thing I look forward to the most,” he says.

Balancing work and family holidays

While Guy was lucky to be able to take his kids on tour when they were younger, since they’ve started school he’s had to make adjustments, and now tries to tour in the school holidays so they can join him.

“I struggle to be away from them now… and you know, I have the time on tour during the day to soak in the town.”

“In the last two to three years, I’ve really taken a deep breath and realised that life still happens. And my work life is better when I’m recharged and refreshed, and I have room to actually let creativity kick in.”

Spending time on the NSW South Coast

To that end, Guy Sebastian and his family spend much of their time at their property in Gerroa, a green and beautiful area on the NSW South Coast that Guy describes as the perfect blend of country meets the sea. “There’s this little inlet and it’s so safe for swimming and exploring, and you can pump for little nippers and fish in the creek. It’s such a great spot, and it’s protected for the kids to bodyboard and surf.

It’s a great base. There’s just so much to explore down there. We do a lot of mountain biking and bushwalking. Day trips to the Kangaroo Valley, or we’ll head to Jervis Bay and a little beach called Culburra to surf with the kids. We do a lot of day trips to Berry, which is only 10 minutes from Gerroa, to visit the doughnut van and Berry Tea House. They make the best scones.”

Working with Destination NSW

Guy is sharing his love of the area with Destination NSW for their six-part The Long Road web series, aimed at encouraging travellers to take a road trip. The series features a number of Australian musical artists undertaking NSW’s best road trips, reconnecting with regional communities and discovering hidden gems along the way.

Keep reading:

• Highlights of the NSW South Coast
• 15 incredible water parks at caravan parks

Planning as a family

When it comes to family holidays, Guy and Jules share the planning. “Jules takes care of making sure that the kids are going to have a good time. She’ll remind me we have kids and that it can’t just be a full day of wine tastings and stuff.”

“We went away recently to Bulahdelah in the Hunter Valley with a whole lot of other school parents. She [Jules] and the mums have done it a couple of times without the dads, but we were a bit jealous. So we all stayed together in a massive Airbnb property and went mountain biking and had a couple of hits of golf and beers with the locals down at Bulahdelah Golf Club.”

But Guy takes full credit for organising a spontaneous motorhome holiday up the New South Wales North Coast to Noosa in Queensland, which he rates as his most memorable trip to date.

“It was in a big, awesome motorhome from Let’s Go Motorhomes. We drove up north to Noosa over three or four days. I never had a plan, we would make a call on the day as to where we wanted to land. We stayed in caravan parks at Foster and Byron. The kids loved it.

Our readers have some questions for Guy Sebastian!

Do you always win karaoke at holiday parks? – Tiah, 8

“I don’t. I don’t think karaoke is supposed to be sung well. You know, I did karaoke in LA with Delta and The Veronicas. We ended up just trying to sound as bad as we possibly could, which actually ended up being really a fun night.”

Do you sing in the car? And what’s your favourite song to sing? – Marlo, 9

“I do. My favourite is a song by Julian Lennon called Saltwater and it’s all about looking after the planet and being responsible as a human, and the chords and melodies are so beautiful.”

Do you have family singalongs by the campfire? – Brody, 9

“Yeah, we do quite often down at Gerroa. We’ve got a firepit … and we have a lot of sunset moments down there with the family playing and singing.”

Do you like playing beach cricket on holiday and do you let your kids win? – Jackson, 7

“No way! I’m a bit obsessed with cricket and beach and backyard cricket is fought hard … the kids have to earn their wins.“

This article originally appeared in Holidays with Kids magazine. Subscribe to the latest issue here.

Keep reading:

• The best holiday parks in Australia
• Feeling lucky? Check out our latest competitions

Australian family accommodation