Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - 8 Days in Sydney with Kids - Need your ideas!

We're taking a family trip mid-April to SYD. We have 8.5 days in Australia. We also have little ones (3 under 4yrs), but i'd consider our family to be pretty flexible when it comes to travel.

Here are a few questions I'd love help on:

1. Best places to visit w/kids. On the table for discussion right now are:

Blue Mountains
Featherdale wildlife park
Bronte Beach to swim
Bondi Beach to watch the surfers
Museum of Contemporary Art
Exploring the Rocks District
Botanical Gardens
Rocks Market
Australian Museum/Royal Botanical Gardens
Opera House/Museum of Sydney
Driving through Kr-ring-gai Chase National Park


2. Neighborhoods to stay in Sydney. Right now we're looking at the Darlinghurst neighborhood.

3. Any ideas as to how to meet some families (in advance) with young kids that would want to meet to go to the park or zoo or beach, etc...

4. Day trip ideas?

Thanks!

Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbour is very impressive, much more impressive than the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

I asked a somewhat similar question and got some terrific responses, the suggestions of the ferry walks were particularly good and would be ideal with kids. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=460835&referrerid=10425

My kids have been traveling with me to Australia for years, from the "Umbrella Stroller" days until now (the youngest is 18). We have always enjoyed attending the Sydney Royal Easter Show when we have been in Sydney during the time the Show is held. This year it runs from 7 April through 20 April. Visit their web site http://www.eastershow.com.au/ and drill down in the section on "Just 4 Kids" to see what's on of interest to children. As for me, I enjoy the Lumberjacking competitions, food competitions and animal exhibitions mostly. I will also be in Sydney during mid-April and am planning to attend NRL (Rugby) Day at the Show on 13 April.

Fox Studios is now built on the original heritage site of the Royal Agricultural Society’s Sydney Showgrounds at Moore Park, which was home to The Sydney Royal Easter Show up until 1998. We used to visit the show there, before Fox Studios took over the site. The Easter Show is now located at Sydney Olympic Park which is easy to get to via public transportation.

As for Fox Studios, a visit to the "Entertainment Quarter" http://www.entertainmentquarter.com.au/ adjacent to the studio production facilities with the children, followed by a movie at one of the Hoyt's Theatres inside the Entertainment Quarter's grounds makes for a nice day. Once my two daughters and I attended the premier of one of the Harry Potter films on opening day there.

Another place that we have always enjoyed is visiting the Sydney Fish Market to eat outside and watch the boats and pelicans. You can choose your grub from a number of stands inside and take it to tables outside (or eat in, if you prefer).

I'll PM you regarding other ideas...

I don't know anything about you, but lots of Americans fear that young children can be scarred for life by seeing the exposed breast of an adult woman. If you're in that group, and I'm not making value judgments here, avoid the beaches.

I don't know anything about you, but lots of Americans fear that young children can be scarred for life by seeing the exposed breast of an adult woman. If you're in that group, and I'm not making value judgments here, avoid the beaches.


Tell me you are joking....please :confused:

Tell me you are joking....please :confused:50.1% of Americans think this way; 49.9% think the opposite. Or so the last 2 presidential elections have shown.

Thanks to all for the answers, very very useful! Our youngest often sees the exposed breast of an adult woman... uhh, nevermind.

1. Best places to visit w/kids. On the table for discussion right now are:

Firstly, Blue Mountains are beautiful but I'd be saying a big no to that one. Very similar to the Grand Canyon, it takes a long time to get there to see a beautiful piece of scenery that you can only look at for so long. If it was just yourself and partner, sure, but with kids you'll be back in the car singing along to Bob The Builder in no time, a day wasted.

Instead of some of your other options, head to the PowerHouse Museum (http://www.phm.gov.au/) - both you and the kids will adore. The exibits change regularly, and in the past have included Star Wars, Mushroom Records, Harley Davidson etc.

2. Neighborhoods to stay in Sydney. Right now we're looking at the Darlinghurst neighborhood.

Not too bad, but might be a little bit too "funky" for kids. It's a trendy area, some say a little too trendy.

3. Any ideas as to how to meet some families (in advance) with young kids that would want to meet to go to the park or zoo or beach, etc...

Try contacting PlayGroup (http://www.playgroupnsw.com.au/) who I'm sure will be more than happy to put you in touch with a group.

My Spouse reminded me of the Darling Harbour Hoopla which takes place in Darling Harbour during Easter. It should be of interest to persons of all ages... I did a search and copied the following from the Australia.com web site...

"Darling Harbour Hoopla - Sydney’s only Acrobatic and Street Theatre Festival - has grown into Sydney’s premier celebration attracting both interstate and local performers.

The Festival runs across the Easter Long Weekend at different locations within Darling Harbour offering free entertainment from circus acts, acrobatics and street theatre ensuring you are always entertained.

event date: Apr 14, 2006 - Apr 17, 2006

event type: Festival; Performance; Sport; Adventure; Circus"

I spent a week in SYD with my 9 and 11 year olds last Sept. We loved the:

Botanic Gardens (flying foxes hanging from the trees)
Maritime Museum (Darling Harbor - lots of kid-friendly exhibits, plus you can go into a real submarine)
Ferry Rides anywhere even if we just did a round-trip ride (Manly, Double Bay, Watson's Bay)
Luna Park Amusement Park (take the ferry across the bay from Sydney)
Fort Dennison trip ( fort on an island in the middle of Sydney harbor)
Walk along the Sydney headlands
Didgeridoo demonstration at the aboriginal centre in Darling Harbor - look for signs (thought it was going to be terrible, but it was great)

We enjoyed the Museum of Sydney, but it wasn't particularly friendly to younger children. Agree that the Aquarium in Darling Harbor is magnificent.

We enjoyed making a pit stop at the giant Kinokuniya bookstore across from the Queen Victoria Building. Lots of kids' books. Also enjoyed HobbyCo. in downtown area, which has an amazing selection of model trains, cars, etc. if you are so inclined - we certainly are.

Have fun.

All of the above, plus:

The zoo is great and going there involves a ferry ride and a gondola ride up from the wharf to the top of the zoo. Kids of all ages will enjoy. You can get an all-in-one ferry-plus-zoo pass at the ferry terminal.

Manly is not to be underestimated. It's a pleasantly long (half hour) ferry ride and the town/beach combo is very pleasant (with surfers, so it could sub for Bondi). You might find yourself going to Manly more than once.

Botanic Gardens (flying foxes hanging from the trees)

If you want to see the bats in action the time to go is at dusk - they are amazing! I suggest you start off in Woolloomoolloo (maybe too many doble letters!) and walk down through the gardens towards the Opera House -a great walk at any time of day but at dusk you get to see the bats and the cockatoos. Bring your video camera!

Thanks to all who posted. We had a wonderful time, Bondi, Palm Beach, the Zoo, the Opera house at dawn (thanks to jet lag), sydney royal easter show, breakfast @ Bill's & Dinner at Sailor's Thai and Billy Kwong; bats galore.

i'll write up a real trip report soon... the combination of flyertalk and egullet for trip planning is unbeatable!

Glad you had a good time - look forward to the trip report.

Glad you had a good time - look forward to the trip report.

Whoops. Got here too late... but for posterity...

The Sydney Observatory is an oft-underestimated place for kids (and adults!) . They've got a great little 3-D theatre... during the day you can look at the Sun through their scope... and if you are lucky enough to attend a night opening, you can see many fantastic astronomical objects not visible in the Northern hemisphere.