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| Sydney Harbour Bridge |
It's time for a vacation! Our destination for this holiday is Sydney.
Given it was cool climate, we thought Sydney will be perfect to get away from the heat in Singapore for a week. Moreover with haze season looming, the clear blue Sydney Sky will be a breath of fresh air for us. We were at Sydney for 6 days 5 nights. It may be a week long, but it was action packed all the way!
Over the next few weeks, we will be adding reviews on selected attractions on our week long vacation. For now we will give you an overview of what Sydney has to offer for families with younger kids.
Getting There
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| Sunrise on board |
From Singapore there are at least 4 airlines flying into Sydney. For direct flight we recommend the following airlines
For the record, since we are heading into Australia, we decided to use their national airlines, Qantas for this trip. The flight is approximately 7 hours and 30 mins long. Luckily the flight was at 10pm in the evening, which means it is sleeping time for us. The journey was a breeze as we slept through the bulk of the trip.
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| On board |
Play
Updated 2018
Sydney may be a city, but behind the urban facade, it does have a variety of options for kids. Here is a tip, to visit the attractions, go online and book the tickets. The savings could be as much as 20% or more in selected attractions.
Book Combo tickets for 2 , 3 or 4 attractions from Klook here
Our first stop is Darling Harbour where the trio of attractions, Wild Life Sydney Zoo, Sydney Aquarium , Mdm Tussauds awaits.
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| Wild Life Sydney Zoo |
Darling harbour is Sydney's favourite destination for leisure and entertainment. Here you could find rows of restaurants, shopping and attractions. Using the combo tickets we have, the entrance to the trio of attractions are taken care of.
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| Sydney Aquarium |
A Zoo within a city?
Amidst the high rise skyscrapers, the wild life of Australia roams in this urban oasis. Met the 5 metres tall Rex, Kolas and Kangaroos. Australia wild life is just a stone throw away from the hustle and bustle of city life. We are glad that they are kept indoors else they might just end up in our beds at our apartments located a few blocks away!
This is a great place to introduce the natives of Australia to young ones like us.
Our Wild Life Review is here!
This is Australia biggest and best museum. It is home to rays, sharks and dugong of all shapes and sizes. Kids would love to explore the 14 different zones on site. Do not be fooled by the smallish exterior. For within holds a magical place where people from 1 to 70 would love to explore.
We love the clear viewing waters and there is an interactive play station for children near the Dugong enclosure.
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| Mdm Tussauds |
Fancy meeting the founder of Australia, the Queen of England, President Obama and the Aussie PM all in the same place? Now you can along with a host of stars such as Michael Jackson, Nicole Kidman, Lady Gaga and even Ironman.
We love to rub shoulders with the celebrities and loyalties. Given our age , I guess this would be the best way to
introduce them to the Wackies from Singapore.
The Darling Harbour Fireworks is on every Saturday ( For full schedule , refer
here) Kids of all ages would be delighted with this colourful display over Darling Harbour.
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| The Sydney Eye Tower |
Our next recommendation would be the Sydney Eye Tower which is part of the
combo tickets. Here you would see Sydney from an unobstructed 360 degree view. You might get lucky and even catch a rainbow or two. Let the kids be wow by the sights. We were!
Read about
our little tour at Sydney Eye.
What is a holiday for kids without amusement or theme parks?
Step into Sydney's old style Luna Park for a day of fun.You would not go wrong with Ferries wheel and Carousel for the younger ones to Flying Saucers and Devil's drop for the older kids.
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We were literally jumping for joy when we found out that this was part of our itinerary in Sydney
See what the Wackies are up to at the Park
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| Taronga Zoo Sydney |
We are going to the zoo zoo zoo, what about you you you?
Taronga Zoo officially opens in Oct 7th 1916. This makes it almost 100 years old! As old as the zoo may be, it is well kept and upgraded. There is even a cable car ride site. Nested within this hilly compound, you can find Wild Life originated from Australia as well as global representatives. With a backdrop of Sydney skyline, the view from the Zoo is simply beautiful.
The 12 minutes cruise from Sydney Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo is also an awesome experience. A visit to the zoo is not just an ordinary day out to a typical zoo for the kids!
We love the Taronga Zoo!
Book your Taronga Zoo Trip here
- Featherdale Wildlife Park
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| Featherdale Wildlife Park |
Our encounters with Australia wild life continues with Featherdale Wildlife Park.We finally got a chance to get up close and personal with a Koala ( Finally Didi got his Kodak moment with his favourite Koala). This park is excellent for kids as there are several interactions and close encounters with the wildlife from Australia. You get to feed kangaroos, walk past an open mini farm with goats, cows and pigs.
Featherdale Wildlife Park is an attraction that is located 45 minutes from Sydney. It is best to visit this en-route to Blue Mountains.
Book Featherdale Wildlife Park here
Explore
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| Australian Museum |
There are numerous museums that kids could learn and explore in Sydney. There are the Sydney Powerhouse, Australian National Maritime Museum, Museum of Sydney and many more. We decided to head down to
Australian Museum as it is located within walking distance from the city Centre.Here you will be transported to the era of dinosaurs amongst many other exhibits. There is a Kidspace play area for children age 5 and below as well.
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| Archibald Fountain |
If there is some time to spare on your trip to Sydney, why not drop by
Hype Park for a walk. Here you can find monuments such as the Captain Cook Statue, ANZAC War memorial, the Obelisk and the beautiful
Archibald Fountain.
We even spotted a rainbow at the fountain. This was our 3rd rainbow within a week. Perhaps we can rename Sydney as Rainbow City.
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| St Mary's Cathedral |
This Catholic Cathedral was only recently completed in the 1960s , about 100 years after its foundation stone was laid. It is an impressive church, awarded the status of minor basilica by the Vatican. The longest church in whole of Australia, it is located right next to Hype Park. Photography is not allowed within church premises, but we can tell you it is an awe inspiring sight. It is indeed a humbling visit for us who have yet seen a church this size.
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| Three Sisters @ Blue Mountain |
A trip to Sydney would not be complete without a day trip out to the Blue Mountains that is straddles on the boarders of Sydney. Blue Mountains is located about 50 km from the city and it is an hour plus ride to there.
The Blue Mountains and the 3 sisters provide the perfect backdrop for our entourage during this trip.
On the way, if you are on a chartered tour or self-drive, you can opt to visit Waterfalls at BM or be awed by the 90 degree cliffs of Flat Rock. Most tour groups also do covers the Featherdale Wild Life Park. We think it is worth to take a day out from the hustle and bustle of City living for a day of fresh crisp mountain air at the Blue Mountains.
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| Flat Rock |
Shopping
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| QVB |
It is a well-known fact that Singaporeans love shopping. That is engraved in our blood as well. Take a trip to QVB for a shopping spree.
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| Cat in the Hat |
For kids, we recommend
HobbyCo, located at QVB for an extensive range of toys from Thomas the train to Lego. We saw a couple of great deals on Thomas wooden tracks sets on sale as well.
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| Hobbyco |
The City Centre is another great shopping site as well. There you will find familiar brand names and Australia department stores such as Coles and Myer that Mommy and Daddy will love. Apparently there are sales going on for the month of June and the discounts are more generous compared to Singapore. For the record, Mommy and Daddy managed to do some shopping and snagged some jeans, shirts and shoes while lugging 2 kids along.
Hardcore shopping...
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| Original Man of Steel Costume |
As for us, we were just happy to have come across the costume worn by Superman in the Man of Steel. Awesome!
Eat
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| Fish market |
Sydney is a foodie haven; there is no lack of food options available. We recommend the
Sydney Fish Market for the fresh seafood offerings. Our staple food for the week includes fish and chips, burgers, tim sum, Chicken rice and Japanese food.Totally delicious!
Here is a glimpse into
our venture to Sydney Fish Market.
Travel
You don't need a car to travel within Sydney. The public transport is excellent from the moment we step off at the airport. Large maxi taxi are available for larger groups. (we took the maxi taxi for a party of 6). It is not necessary to prebook as you only need to inform the queue marshal of your request in the queue.The 30 minutes ride to the City cost approximately AUD 50 to AUD60 on a traffic free day.
Within the city, there are options such as Ferries, monorail and light rails to get around. Taxi rides can be a little expensive so we suggest taking the public transport. Rental of cars within the city can be expensive given the high charges and limited parking slots.
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| Starship Sydney |
We took the Sydney ferries, Captain Cook Cruises, monorail and Light rails during our stay. If you have time, you may also like to explore the futuristic
Starship Sydney that we chanced upon for a private charter. However we recommend you take a
MyMulti day passes for unlimited travel on public transport . The Sydney monorail will cease operations by July 2013. It will be sad to see it go as it was very convenient to travel in it.
For those travelling on Sunday, there is a
family funday Sunday tickets at $2.50 per person. This ticket is for families travelling with kids and allows you to take a host of unlimited transport from ferries, trains and buses.This is a great saver options as normal one way tickets on ferries and trains cost $5 upwards. It is not surprising to see many families with kids enjoying their day out in Sydney on Sunday.
Stay
We recommend apartments if you are staying for a week or longer. The good thing about apartments are that they are more spacious and comes with a kitchen. We stayed at the 2 bedroom Meriton World Tower. It is highly recommended as the location is fantastic. It is within reach of light rails and walking distance to Darling Harbour, Hype Park and Chinatown.
Read our
review on Meriton World Tower here
Book your stay at Mertion World Tower here
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| Meriton Room |
As for the cost, it is relatively comparable to a one bedroom hotel. Do book early for a better deal!
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| Harbour Bridge and Opera House |
We had a blast in Sydney. The fun does not end here. Follow us for the next few weeks as we give you the lowdown of memorable places we have explored.
Till then...
G'Day Mate!
Hi there, Shimin here.
ReplyDeleteGlad you all had a blast!
was wondering, your boys don't nap anymore ya?
cos i was wondering how to plan a trip for my kids who still do, and refuse to sit in a stroller
Hi Shimin. My younger boy still naps and we did take a stroller along. My boys r actually fighting over the stroller when they get tired of walking. I do suggest to bring the stroller along as it kept us hands free for most of this trip. Initially they want us to carry them, but we reason with them that we could not walk far if we did. Along the way , I would bring them to kids place, so they would stay alert for most trip. Thankfully they did not nap much for e trip, but if they are both tired, we will head back to the hotel. As it is winter, night falls at 5pm, so our activities are plan around 10am to5 pm for this trip. We made them sleep more during the night so they will be fresh for a new day adventure. Hope this helps :)
DeleteAustralia is in my list! But I can't imagine sitting in a plane for almost 8 hrs with my baby (as she will definitely make some scenes up in the air)! Maybe I have to raincheck Australia for now. Haha.. Great post! I love the pictures.
ReplyDeleteI think if she is 2 and above, it will be more enjoyable. It's a night flight there, so not so back. It is the return journey ( afternoon ) that the kids will get restless. My elder one ask me have we reach Singapore for every hour on the flight back! Lol.
DeleteWe think Australia is a fantastic destination for families, given its climate, attractions and accessibility there. Go for it when you can :)
Hi Daddy M,
ReplyDeleteWe're planning to visit Australia in Sept. My husband prefers to go by group tour, but I like free and easy. Is it easy to move around in Sydney by ourselves? Do you rent a car, take a taxi or bus?
I had actually gone through the itinerary for some tour groups. The main difference is that they spend bald the time travelling to Jervis Bay, Grand pacific , etc and only 2 nights in Sydney. We decide to do F&E , because we want to take it easy and see more of Sydney. From experience, tour groups usually have a lot of travelling time and does not allow you to spend quality time in the destination. Unless you want to explore , we think Sydney is easy enough to navigate. Our main mode of transport within Sydney is ferries and light rails. We recommend you to stay near darling harbour ( we stayed at Meriton World tower) as attractions are located nearby ( u can walk ) . For blue mountains, we took Activity Tour as our guide. Bookmark this page as we will be bring you reviews of what we did over the next few weeks.
DeleteHave fun in Sydney! It's a beautiful place.
hi! wondering how much did you spend as a family? I'm going with 4 adults and 1 child for 6 days thanks :)
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the exact figures but it was about 10k for 4 A 2 C for 1 week. Much cheaper compared to tour group if you go on your own
DeleteHi. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI'm planning to go with family to Syd, and as schedule is quite tight, we only have time for 1 zoo. We have 2 toddlers (age 2 and 3) coming with us, which zoo would you recommend out of the 3? (Taroonga, Featherdale, Wild Life Sydney)
Thanks :)
We have been to all three for our trip.
DeleteThe most interesting one will be Taroonga, but there is alot of walking.
Featherdale is a longer trip out of Sydney and we did on en route to Blue Mountain. It is much smaller and you get closer to the animals.
For tots, I would go for Taroonga zoo if walking is not an issue. The Cruise ride there is an attraction by itself. Featherdale is a close second.
http://www.thewackyduo.com/2013/08/blue-mountain-activity-tour-review.html
http://www.thewackyduo.com/2013/07/go-wild-taronga-zoo-sydney.html
A belated note of thanks for the information on your blog because I had a blast in Sydney last year (Dec 2014). The monorail has been replaced by the more efficient and more comfortable Light Rail, do try it on your next visit to Sydney. And, if your children are older, you must do the bridge climb. I guarantee it will be the greatest memory of your holiday.
ReplyDeleteFrom where the very last picture in this blog is taken?
ReplyDeleteHi, I cant recall the exact location as we were brought there via a tour. It is after the harbour bridge in a small park near the coast. Search Blue Points Rd on Google Map. It should be around that location
Delete