Have you got a holiday booked for this year? Any ideas? How do you choose your destination? Do you start with where you want to go and work out whether you can afford it? Or start with the budget and go from there? Now that both of our kids are at school, we try to restrict our travel to school holiday times. Which is expensive! So to make it as affordable as … [Read more...]
Top 8 kid-friendly city hotels for a weekend in Brisbane
Reader Trudy is taking her two kids to Disney on Ice in Brisbane in June and wants to make a weekend of it with a stay at a CBD hotel. What a fabulous idea! I'm a big fan of the staycation and love playing tourist in my own city. Unless you work in there, most of us don't get into the city very often, so it's just like a weekend in a new place, but without all the transport … [Read more...]
Hamilton Island | For the adventurous family
Brought to you by Hamilton Island Primary-school age is such a perfect time to travel with kids. No longer are they too young, too short or too scared. Instead they're fearless and enthusiastic balls of endless energy, with an insatiable appetite for new adventures. If it involves water, sport or thrills, then they are there! Fortunately, Hamilton Island has a veritable … [Read more...]
How to find holiday rental accommodation you can trust
Let me introduce you to Leanne. This woman of awesomeness and all-round lovely lady runs Getaway Guru, an online agency offering a large and VERY tempting range of Australian- and NZ-owned holiday rentals in France and Italy (I'm dreaming of this one!). She is my go-to gal for advice and hand-holding for holiday rental accommodation anywhere in this wonderful world. This type … [Read more...]
A leisurely Blue Mountains day trip – shopping, scones and the Scenic Railway
It's about 1.5 hours from our place to the Blue Mountains. I call that perfect for a day trip. A long drive is not only a chance to get out of town, breathe air that is fresh and see something new. Sitting side by side in a car is the ideal way to chat. Hubster and I had the best conversations. Nothing deep or heavy. But talking through some stuff we needed to make decisions … [Read more...]
Disney On Ice – Too much excitement is barely enough!
Last night we went to DISNEY ON ICE! Did I just shout that? Ooops! Sorry! We were just a little bit excited. I adore all things Disney, hence our Disney Extravaganza trip later this year, and mix that up with some ice skating and death-defying stunts and I'm totally there. Rapunzel was the star this year and, being an adventurous sort, she made Disney On Ice - Dare To Dream … [Read more...]
The 3 best ways to wear out your kids on a sunny Sydney day
Do you consider yourself an outdoors-y person? Nope. Me neither. But kids have all that energy to burn. Luckily, here in Sydney there's endless ways to wear them out. When you're from Melbourne like we are, the standout benefit of living in Sydney is pretty obvious. The weather here is truly sensational. Not too humid like further north, but much milder than down south. And … [Read more...]
8 ideas to get you through the rest of the school holidays
So far so good is where I'm at these school hols. There's been a lot of fun and very little pain so far. How are you coping? Having a ball or barely hanging in there? I never know how it's going to go. I look forward to them because by the end of term we're all tired and in need of a break from the routine. But I'm always worried how long it will take me to lose my … [Read more...]
Top 8 kid-friendly city hotels for a winter weekend in Melbourne
Last week I did the Sydney version of this post in response to a reader request (thanks Katherine!). Well that was all well and good, but reader Meg needs the goss on Melbourne. Which hotels would suit a young family wanting to explore beautiful Melbourne this winter? My top tips for choosing your city hotel Location - Stay as close as you can afford to the places that you … [Read more...]
Top 8 kid-friendly city hotels for a winter weekend in Sydney
I recently received a question from a reader. Katherine is keen to have a winter weekend in a city hotel with her kids aged 4 and 8, and would like some hotel suggestions. Well Katherine I think that sounds divine! With so much for a young family to do in the city, stopping off for a night or two in a fancy hotel will be a whole lot of fun. My top tips for choosing your city … [Read more...]