''Babymoon'' is a new marketing term for the last holiday a couple will take before a newborn arrives and privacy ends.

Couples have been going on babymoons forever, it's just that the folks at Crowne Plaza now have a new name for it.

I searched lots of websites before our trip to Bowral and Mudgee, and found many major hotels were incorporating spa packages, aromatherapy massages and seafood dinner in their ''babymoon'' packages.

It's a shame no-one told these marketing gurus that spas can raise a woman's core body temperature to the point where it is not safe for the fetus, some essential oils can trigger an early labour, and raw seafood can harbour listeria, which is an infection that can be deadly

in pregnant women.

I decided to avoid the unnecessary risks and design my own holiday away from the city.

The idea originally was to go to Noosa, but I reckon my baby bump would scare the seagulls away.

Well, that's what I told myself. The real reason we ended up driving and not flying was because Mr Thrifty could only score two days off work.

In the end, we got a great room rate at Peppers Manor House, Sutton Forest (Southern Highlands), which satisfied my need for luxury, and spent a nice afternoon at the Illawarra Fly Tree Top Walk at Robertson, which satisfied hubby's love of the great outdoors.

The Fly comprises a 300 metre-long steel walkway that towers 25 metres above a cliff face and has views to Shellharbour and Lake Illawarra. The Fly was opened in March and no doubt will win a swag of tourism awards.