Travel with Kids

What was the 460km car trip REALLY like? by Linda Anderson
in Travel with Kids
30 Jan 2012 | 0 Comments
Last week I blogged about preparing to embark on the longest car trip I have ever undertaken with kids in tow and my plan to make it happy for all. We were heading out past Coonabarabran to camp on a friends property for 3 nights.

So with my grand plans in place what actually worked and what didn't?
- leaving Wednesday afternoon and spending the night in Mudgee was perfect. Although it was later than hoped when we arrived (9.30pm) we still had kids asleep by 10pm and got a good night sleep
- I hadn't paid enough attention to the instructions downloaded off internet about best way out of Sydney. So we found ourselves in long weekend traffic, torrential rain, slightly lost and taking much longer than expected to really get on the road. One very cranky husband in the car and Miss 3.5 saying "I don't want to go on holiday, I want to go home"
- In car entertainment for kids: colouring in was a flop - crayons just didnt cut it for Miss 3.5 and I refused to have textas in the car; lots of kids CD's was fantastic so always new songs to sing; DVD player an absolute lifesaver although ours is a handheld one so the batteries don't last 460km ... will definately invest in one that plugs into car. Miss 14 months was the hard one to entertain in the car when she got bored/tired/grizzly so jumping in the back seat to sit with her was helpful
- We did the whole 460km in one go on the Sunday. It took 8 hours including 2 stops. One stop in Mudgee for lunch in a cafe & a cuppa stop at a friends house in Blackheath. It was actually a lot better than expected although DVD running out of battery caused a meltdown. It rained most of the way which meant no playground stops for the kids which was a shame but I was really impressed with how good they were for such a long time.
Where on earth is Coonabarabran?

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And our weekend in the country?

Well, there were 5 children under the age of 4 to juggle in the plans (Miss 3.5, twins just turned 2, Miss 14 months and a 7 month old baby) ... and it rained a lot so we didn't get to DO as much as we would have liked. But I had a wonderful time catching up with my girlfriend, Miss 3.5 LOVED playing with the dogs on the farm and patting Nelly the very tame Kangaroo, we did a couple of very short walks in the bush and enjoyed just being out of the hustle and bustle of Sydney.

Would I do another long car trip with my kids - absolutely!

Linda x
9 hours in a car with kids ... that sounds fun! by Linda Anderson
in Travel with Kids, Helpful Hints
24 Jan 2012 | 0 Comments
Tomorrow afternoon I am embarking in the longest car trip I have ever undertaken with kids. I am hoping we return to Sydney with smiles on our faces.

We have decided to make a 4 day weekend, thanks to Australia Day, and head bush to visit friends who live near Coonabarabran ... this is a 6 hour drive without stops. How many hours will this be with kids involved? I have laid a bet with my husband that says "9".

Here is my plan that I hope will make this enjoyable (or at least manageable) for all of us:
- leave Wednesday around 4pm. Drive 90min then make a short dinner stop at the Golden Arches or some such I thing. Drive onto Mudgee which is another 90 minutes away
- I have booked us into a motel here for the night. Hopefully we arrive by 8pm so we can settle kids to sleep before gets too late. I have splurged on 2 rooms for the night so my husband and I can actually sit up for a while together
- Thursday morning, take a stroll around Mudgee after breakfast then set off around 9am hoping that Miss 13months will fall asleep.
- Pack lots of CD's and books for Miss 3, throw in a Chupa Chup at a critical moment and hope this keeps her happy while her sister sleeps.
- Keep middle seat in back free from bags etc in case I have to sit in the back to provide entertainment.
- It will be 3 hour drive to friends house ... I figure 1 playground stop needed and some snack?
We then have 3 nights on our friends property, we are pitching the tent. They have promised a good country BBQ/party with fireworks for Australia Day, a camp fire and camp oven meal on Friday night under the stars, and some kid friendly bushwalks. I should note my friends have 3 kids, the eldest (twins) just turned 2 last weekend. This should be a lovely few days.

Then the drive home ... the BIG unknown. Sunday we will set off some time after breakfast for the long drive back to Sydney ... 6 hours without stops ... with kids ... can we do in less than 9 hours ???
My plan:
- frequent stops in cute country towns, playgrounds, coffee etc
- more music
- more chupa chups
- "discover" the portable DVD player for Miss 3 (hopefully I haven't needed this before then
Have you done long car trips with your kids? What tips can you share to help me keep my sanity? Or do I just need to suck it up and remember if the car trip is horrid the weekend away with friends will still be worth it?

Linda x
Lesson learnt camping with my kids by Linda Anderson
in Travel with Kids, Helpful Hints
12 Jan 2012 | 0 Comments
Camping has been part of my life since I was a small child - and camping as a kid involved having to dig trenches to use as toilets ... that's the kind of camping I was raised with.
So as an adult (without children) I embarked on lots of camping adventures in National Parks, multi-day hikes in places like Patagonia where everything I needed for 6 days had to be carried on my back. This kind of camping involved being efficient with what you packed, keeping everything light weight and perhaps not super comfortable ... but I loved these adventures.

Now I have 2 small children, currently 3.5 years and 13 months and my husband and I are committed to having our kids camp from a young age so that it becomes part of our family culture. However, I confess I find camping with such young children a challenge and each time we go I learn valuable lessons.

Last weekend we set off for 3 nights camping in a National Park. It was the third time we have been camping with kids and only the second time with 2 kids - and perhaps the hardest trip so far.

I learnt some very valuable lesosns this trip:

If you buy new gear be sure to test before you leave

So enthused about camping this summer my husband and I gave each other all sorts of new camping gear for Christmas - and managed not to duplicate any gifts! For my birthday I received a camping fridge that runs off power, the car, or gas. What luxury ... no more UHT milk, no more melted ice. Luckily we tested it before we went as it didn't work when hooked up to the gas and we had to swap it over the day before we left.

I also received an email this week sharing this story "we bought a new double air mattress (twice the thickness of the typical air mattress) with a built in pump only to arrive, pull it out the box to realise we needed electricity to pump it up ;-)"

Extra adult makes life much easier
This was the first trip where it has just been my husband and I and the girls. Previously we have camped with another family or taken an adult friend with us. The lack of an extra adult was probably the factor that made this trip so challenging. My 13 month old can't be left alone for 5 seconds without getting herself into trouble which meant that at all times 1 adult was on "kid duty" and 1 adult was on "logistic duty". For example when we arrived my husband had to set up our big tent alone while I took the girls for a long walk to get them out of the way. At dinner time my husband took care of food preparation and cooking while I kept girls entertained. I found this quite exhausting so I think until the girls are a bit older we should ensure there are more people involved in our camping adventures ... even if this means more kids because I could have looked after 4 kids as easily as my 2 and life would have flowed more smoothly with an extra adult to help out.

Simple food still the best
With the arrival of all our new, luxury, camping gear - such as the fridge - I decided indulge in camping food we wouldn't normally take. Bacon & Eggs & pancake mix for example. This sounds great except it meant someone had to cook each morning and with the lack of an extra pair of hands this was very time consuming. I think next time I'll stick to good old fashion weetbix and keep it simple.
I had also bought a whole lot of "treat" foods for snacks during the trip - little packs of chips, packets or sultanas, jelly snakes, little juices etc. Only the jelly snakes actually made it as we managed to leave 3 bags of food behind! Note to self - don't assume hubbie has picked up all the food I have put together ... always do a check.

Bushwalking important for us
We discovered that the campground we went to was really set up for surfers. It was a 10 minute walk to the beach which isn't really far but for 2 small kids it is. If the weather wasn't good for the beach there was really nothing else to do. Normally we would take the girls bushwalking when we camp but there was really nothing there. Note for self: only choose camping areas with bushwalking nearby and try to have the beach access closer to the camp ground.

National Park organised activities are great
As it was school holidays the National Park had a selection of activities running each day. I had looked ahead at the weather before we left and noted one day was forecast to be cool and wet. On this day there was an aboriginal painting activity scheduled so I booked Miss 3 and myself in for this. It was fantastic ... for 90 minutes she was totally absorbed in the activity and the stories being told, we were dry under a shelter, and my husband got to chill out listening to the cricket on the radio while our baby had her morning sleep. It was so lovely to relax and let someone else create the activity.

Plan your "tent time" toys
"Tent time" can be a challenge for some kids ... whether it is forced by wet weather, or just because a little rest time is needed. This seems to be something we do quite well which is good. My trick here is to pack a small range of light weight, compact activities/toys that can have multiple uses.
For example:
- Finger puppets or small dolls ... great for variety of story telling activities. Miss 3 also like to put them all to bed in her sleeping bag
- Colouring in: I always buy a new colouring in book for Miss 3 before a camping trip. She can spend hours absorbed in this. However, this trip I also found her colouring in the flowers on her leggings! She told me she wanted to make them really pretty and I have to say she had done a very neat job so it was hard to be too cross about it. Guess what, 3 days later when I got to wash the pants at home the text washed out ... washable textas are an amazing thing!!
- Books: I packed 5 books for the girls to share. I pick ones that Miss 3 knows well so she can "read" them to herself or we can snuggle up and read together
- Small plastic balls: we have this small, light weight plastic balls that came out of a paddling pool years ago. A handful of these create great entertainment for both girls in the tent ... rolling between us, hide and seek, learning to juggle etc
Our next camping trip will be a little different. We are heading out west at the end of January to visit some friends and will pitch our tent on their property ... so there will be plenty of extra hands and a house to play in during the day. Our challenge on that trip will be the long drive to get out there. Then I will have to search for our next adventure.

What great lessons have you learned about camping with your kids?

Linda x
Child-Friendly Businesses … who does it best …Sydney or Melbourne? by Linda Anderson
in Child Friendly Experiences, Travel with Kids, A Mum's View
23 Nov 2011 | 0 Comments

I have 2 beautiful daughters – one born in Sydney (now 3.5 years old) and one born in Melbourne (turning 1 next week). Grandparents other immediate family are spread across the country and in fact across the world so anywhere I go my kids go too. If I need to do something for myself … get a haircut, have coffee with a girlfriend or even make an emergency appointment at the physio … at least one of my kids come too!

Having lived in both Sydney and Melbourne recently with small children I figure this leaves me in a pretty good position to have a view on which city provides the most child-friendly businesses!

For me, child-friendly starts with a good customer service attitude but it has to be much more than that. I want a business to go out of their way to make it easier for me to bring my children with me for example a box of toys, a high chair or some crayons and paper.

Child-Friendly cafes are the most frequently sought business in my life and I have to say Melbourne wins hands down as being most child-friendly for eating out in my book. I have been so impressed by how many cafes go to the effort to be child-friendly in Melbourne. Anytime I went exploring a new suburb I was guaranteed to have a choice of child-friendly eating options. After to returning to live in Sydney a week ago we went down to our local cafe strip. We live in a very family orientated suburb so I was amazed that we had to go to 4 cafes to simply find a highchair!!! This would never have happened where we lived in Melbourne. It is clear that Melbourne’s reputation for great food and coffee is something Mums and their kids can enjoy too.

Sydney, however, gets the thumbs up for Mums & Bubs fitness. My second child was born a few months after we moved to Melbourne. We moved to a beautiful bayside suburb filled with young families so I was surprised at how difficult it was to find Mums & Bubs fitness groups in my area. Not being a fan of going to the gym (which often have crèche facilities) meant my postnatal exercise options were very limited. In Sydney I was spoilt for choice when I had my first baby.

So which city would I say is most child-friendly? I am going to sit on the fence here (sorry!) … both cities have some wonderful child-friendly businesses available for Mums to ensure you can still look after your needs even if you need to take your children with you. I really enjoyed our time in Melbourne and feel very grateful for how child-friendly it was but I am also very happy to be back to Sydney and look forward to reconnecting with all the child-friendly businesses here.

Linda x
Camping with Children for Beginners by Linda Anderson
in Travel with Kids, Helpful Hints
2 Nov 2011 | 0 Comments
I have just had my first "real" experience of camping with children ... and survived! We haven't been as adventurous as our good friends currently travelling around Australia or the Hoffmans who did 10,000km with 4 kids and a tent

Camping was a really important part of my childhood. My Dad had a great group of friends from Uni who all had kids around the same time and would set off on bush camping adventures ... dig a trench for a toilet kind of camping. In turn I grew up loving bushwalking and being away from the hustle and bustle of other people.

Before having children my husband and I had many great hiking/camping adventures together. Multi day walks, carrying everything we needed to eat, sleep and stay warm on our backs which meant keeping things small, light and to the bare essentials.

So when it came time to think about camping with small children it as quite hard for us to adjust to a new way of thinking. More gear, much bigger tent, probably driving to our destination and camping with lots of other people around. When my eldest was about 18 months old we invested in our "family" tent and set off camping for 1 night. We invited another family with an 18 month old and we all shared our tent together. I couldn't bring myself to 'car camp' so I picked a campsite that involved a 500m walk from carpark - LOL. It was a great weekend but as it was only 1 night it didn't feel "real".

So last weekend we set off for 3 nights to Wilsons Promontory with a 3.5 year old, an 11 month old baby and a good friend. The weather forecast was for showers, wind and top temps of 13C ... hardly enticing. I reached out on facebook to seasoned family campers for tips to make this a great weekend - tips included:
- Take lots of things to keep them entertained in the tent if its raining
- Take lots of snacks
- take lots of blankets or extra clothes to wear in bed
- Buckets to put wet shoes in
- if your child is toilet trained at night, use the bucket to pee in, so you dont' have to do the horrid walk to the toilets in the middle of the night!!!
- gumboots and a rain coat
- take the car dvd it is good as well when raining to sit in the tent and watch movies
- Lay out nappy changing gear and kids spare clothes before you go to sleep and have a small torch next to you.
So what was our camping adventure like? and what did I learn?
- Wombats like gumboots: our first night a wombat came to visit, dug a hole under the tent fly and left a "present" on the gumboots we had borrowed for Miss 3. She thought it was fantastic a wombat had come to say hello!
- It is really cold at night: the nights were cold and VERY windy. We all slept in many layers of clothes and that seemed to do the trick. I dresses my kids in their clothes for the next day, then PJ's on top ... that way I didn't have to strip them the next morning in the cold.
- Camping with the masses has an upside and a downside: The upside was there were plenty of kids for Miss 3 to hang with, play hide and seek with etc. Hot showers were also much appreciated. The downside was how noisy it was at night ... I craved the silence of the bush as I listened to the really annoying teenage girls next door still shrieking, swearing and carrying on like idiots after 10pm.
- Snack and Activities: lots of snacks was a very good tip - both my girls had extra appetites. A result of fresh air and activity but I also think an important part of staying warm.
- Babies, tent, sleep: these things don't seem to go well together
- Camping brings out the best in Miss 3: she really was wonderful to be with. She listened well, she played really happily in the tent with colouring in and finger puppets when the rain forced us to say indoors, and she had a great time bushwalking with a few "treats" to help keep her spirits and motivation up along the way.
Overall we had a great weekend and look forward to more camping over summer when we return to Sydney ... hopefully this also means much warmer camping! I did find managing the cold and little kids the hardest part of the weekend. Like all things it will also get much easier the more often we do it.

Linda x
10 Things to do in Melbourne before we go by Linda Anderson
in Child Friendly Experiences, Travel with Kids
12 Sep 2011 | 4 Comments
Although the date for our move back to Sydney is not locked in I do know we are counting in weeks rather than months. Heading home so much earlier than expected means there are all sorts of things I still haven't done in Melbourne that I would like to.

So I have decided to write a wish list and see what I can do before we leave and see how many we can tick off:

With Kids
- Collingwood Childrens Farm - we have already been here once but I loved it so much I want to go back. They have a great child-friendly cafe attached too.
- NGV Kids Space - Melbourne really does great art/science spaces for kids. A visit to NGV Kids Space has been on my list for a while so time to go!
- The Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden - My husband is a real green thumb and loves having Hannah help him in the garden ... growing herbs and vegies, sweeping up the leaves so I would love to explore the Ian Potter Children's Garden on a sunny Sunday as a family
- Luna Park - we live quite close to this and each time we drive past Hannah (Miss 3) looks at the rollercoaster and asks if she can go on it. Personally I don't think she would go on it but it would be fun just to go and walk around all the rides with her in case she is brave enough to jump on
- Camping at Wilsons Promontory - I haven't been here since I was a very small child so would love to take my girls camping and bushwalking here before we head home. Fingers crossed for some warm, dry weather!!
Grown Ups only
- AFL game at the MCG - have already booked tickets to Friday's game between Sydney Swans and Hawthorn
- an afternoon of shopping - Bridge Road, Richmond ... I dream of a long afternoon filled with shopping and great coffee
- Coffee at Middle Brighton Baths - I have been wanting to take myself here for coffee/brunch for a long time ... possibly with laptop for a change of scenery on a work day. What's stopping me?
- A night at Bennetts Lane - I love Jazz and Melbourne has a great reputation for Jazz venues. It would be a real shame not to experience
- Prahran Markets - I would love a morning at some markets ... just wandering and buying whatever tempts me
Linda x
Child-Friendly Sydney Weekend by Linda Anderson
in Child Friendly Experiences, Travel with Kids
23 May 2011 | 0 Comments
Recently I headed back to Sydney with my husband an 2 girls (2 yrs old and 5 months old) for a long weekend. It was our first trip "home' since moving to Melbourne in July last year. It was lovely to go back and catch-up with friends and enjoy some Sydney sunshine and to stay in Sydney as a "visitor" needing a child-friendly experience.

This blog is my reflection on what worked (at what didn't) from a child-friendly perspective.

FLIGHTS
I discovered that you can't do online check-in with Jetstar when you are travelling with a baby so we could not have seats allocated until we arrived at Melbourne airport. This in turn meant we could not get 3 seats together when we checked in. Funnily enough this turned out to be very child-friendly ... or at least Mum Sanity Friendly!
I was given a seat on the ailse with my baby ( and 2 people in seats next to me) and my husband and toddler in seats across the aisle from me (with a stranger in the window seat). This meant we were all "together" in terms of conversation and juggling books, toys etc but we each had an extra pair of hands. Hannah, my 2 year old, talked the ears off the man in the window seat and I had a spare pair of hands to hold my baby when needed thanks to the kind man seated next to me. I also didn't have a toddler climbing all over me or poking her sister! I would actually be tempted to book seats like this in future it was so good!!

One thing I did NOT find child-friendly was the new check in your own luggage system used by Qantas (our return flight). Trying to navigate touch screens, stickers, scanning bags with a toddler on the run was a nightmare - even with 2 parents. I dread the day I am travelling alone with 2 kids trying to do this!!

CAR HIRE
We had quite a lot of people to see and things to do whilst in town so hiring a car was the best option for us. It meant we didn't have to fly with car seats and gave us flexibility to come and go as we needed to which is essential when juggling the unpredictability of a baby's sleep pattern.

ACCOMODATION
We rented a 2 bedroom townhouse in Leichhardt as I like self contained places when travelling with kids and the location was close to 80% of the things we were doing over the weekend. Unfortunately the it didn't turn out to be a child-friendly as I would have liked due to:
- A big staircase - normally this wouldnt be a problem but this time they were steep, slippery and wooden and there was no rail for Hannah to hold onto (smooth walls instead). We blocked off the stairs with furniture during the night to minimise the risk of an accident at 3am
- Hannah's bedroom had a big "cut out" section near in the wall next to staircase which meant any lights on would shine into her room, and noise could not be shut out (or in!!) very well making it hard for her to go to sleep or not be woken by the baby (or wake the baby!)
- Flight path ... I had forgotten about this ...
EATING OUT
We had some lovely opportunities to eat out as part of our time with friends ...

TANK Deli Cafe - I was thrilled to have the chance to have a light lunch at TANK Deli Cafe on our way to a 1st Birthday Party in the local area. Don and Beatrice provide a wonderful child-friendly experience and are a favourite cafe in the Mums on the Go directory. The coffee was great, Hannah's babycino with stars on top was a hit and she devoured her vegemite toast. My BLT was melt in your mouth stuff and Geoff enjoyed his yummy TANK gourmet sandwich. The enclosed play area was a good distraction for Hannah while we waited for lunch to arrive.

Celinis - We had a big group catch-up with friends to allow us to see as many people as possible without zipping around town like headless chooks. I struggled to find a child-friendly cafe, that would accept a large group booking and was open on the Sunday I needed. When in doubt I turn to our wonderful facebook community where someone suggested the back room at Celinis. We had 9 adults and 11 children under the age of 5 and this turned out to be the perfect space for us. Tucked out the back it didn't matter how much noise the kids made, there was a open area with a rug that the kids could play on, and the staff were very helpful.

Italian Forum - we took friends out for a celebratory dinner. I forgot to note the name of the restaurant we ate at but they had a highchair, a good kids menu and helpful staff. The quality of the kids meal is reflected in the amount of adult conversation I was actually able to participate in!!

All in all a great weekend away and a good test run our winter break in June where we are heading to north QLD for a week.

Linda x

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