Baby Eagle Ray at Oceanworld Manly

Oceanworld Manly is home to some incredible mothers and their offspring, including Betsy and Ruth, the female Southern Eagle Rays who will celebrate their first ever Mother’s Day this weekend!

Betsy and Ruth gave birth to 12 Eagle Ray Pups in January this year and will “fly” through their special day.

“Betsy and Ruth are fascinating creatures so we wish them both, and our other Oceanworld mums a very Happy Mother’s Day,” said Rob Townsend, life sciences manager at Oceanworld Manly.

Incredibly, the Southern Eagle Rays are single mums who stored sperm inside their reproductive tract for two years, before conditions for producing offspring were optimal and the 12 pups were born at the beginning of the year.

In addition to the gorgeous Southern Eagle Rays, there are several other aqua mums who will be on display, including two mother and child Grey Nurse Shark teams – Pallas and her son Murdoch, who was born in February 2007; and Artemis and her daughter Maia, who turns 10 later this year.

Epaulette Shark, Port Jackson Shark and Bamboo Shark mothers and children (and even their eggs!) will also be at Oceanworld Manly swimming throughout the aquarium, Tropical Reef Exhibit and Touch Pool.

Southern Eagle Rays at Oceanworld Manly

Oceanworld Manly invites you to come and see its resident mums and children, and learn about the amazing underwater world this Mother’s Day weekend. In fact, during Saturday and Sunday, any child aged 15 or under who brings their mum to Oceanworld Manly will receive free entry! Note free entry offer is valid for one child per mother only.

How are you celebrating Mother’s day? Start planning your visit to Oceanworld today!

www.oceanworld.com.au

Alvin Quah: 2010 Masterchef Competitor

Prepare your taste buds, because from Saturday 11 June to Monday 13 June 2011, as part of the Hunter Valley Wine and Food Month, Hunter Valley Gardens will host the 2nd Annual FlavourFest, with more celebrities, more fun activities and even more international delicacies than last year.

Kyle McKendry, General Manager of Hunter Valley Gardens says, “We’re really excited about this year’s event. We can guarantee that if you enjoyed last year’s festivities, you’ll love this year’s feast for all the senses!”

Alvin Quah: 2010 Masterchef Competitor- Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th 10.30am – 3.30pm
In 2010 Alvin featured on Series 2 of Masterchef and departed after making a more than credible bid for the title, but not before capturing the attention of audiences across Australia. Alvin will inspire all at FlavourFest by demonstrating a variety of unique Malaysian and Western inspired recipes.

Callum Hann: 2010 Masterchef Competitor

Callum Hann: 2010 Masterchef Competitor- Sunday 12th and Monday 13th 10.30am – 3.30pm

Youngest contestant and runner up of Series 2 of Masterchef, Callum Hann, put aside his engineering degree to compete in the show. His ability to learn, flair for sweets and his boyish charm made him a favourite in the 2010 competition. Callum will prepare a range of dishes for guests to sample, sharing some of the culinary tips the Masterchef judges passed on to him.

TV favourite Janelle Bloom will delight audiences with her culinary performance when she hosts the main stage on Saturday 11th June. Ready Steady Cook Presenter Peter Everett, will entertain guests on Sunday 12th and Monday 13th June, playing host at the main stage.

Pete Everett

FLAVOURFEST FEAST – Saturday 11TH June: 6.30pm – $120 per head
New to this year’s celebrations is the FLAVOURFEST FEAST, hosted at Tempus Two Winery Barrel room. Hunter Valley Gardens’ executive chef Nick Vivian will dish up a 4 course ‘Feast’, using local and exhibitors produce with Hunter Valley wines to match.This will certainly be a night to remember.

Another favourite at this year’s Flavourfest is Eat Street, an entire street filled with delectable food and drinks to please everyone’s tastes. On Eat Street is the all new Celeb Café, where visitors can sample some of their favourite celeb chef’s dishes. There will also be a marketplace offering delicious goodies to taste, smell and purchase.

What’s on Offer for Kids at Flavourfest:

Face Painting at Flavourfest

Don’t worry kids, it won’t all be for the big people…we have a special Kidspace and stage just for you, located around the corner from the Elephant Gate!! Exert your energy on the jumping castle, get your face painted, laugh at the clown and join in the music and dancing fun with our live kids shows.

Kids Show with Miss Fruitcake
Kids can enjoy a musical clown show on our Kidspace stage featuring Miss Fruitcake. Miss Fruitcake is a professional Children’s performer and comes with more than a medium amount of razzle dazzle!! Kids will love singing and dancing along to her shows at 11.00am, 12.30pm and 2.00pm each day of the Festival.

Kids in the Kitchen
The ‘Kids in the kitchen’ will be found in the Kidspace area. Hey kids you can get your hands dirty (wearing gloves of course), decorating yummy cookies. A small additional fee will apply, and you’ll get to take your yummy culinary creations home to share with the whole family.

Entry to the Gardens is $23.50 per adult, $20 for Seniors, children aged 4 – 15 are $15 and older, with children 3 years and under admitted free. For further information please call 02 4998 4000 or visit www.hvg.com.au.

Swissôtel Sydney - great for kids

If there is one thing we love to do with the Great Aussie Road Tests, it’s to show you the best products and businesses who cater for families.  Recently, we were lucky enough to stay with the Swissôtel Sydney, a five star hotel located right in the heart of the city, walking distance to Darling Harbour, shopping, attractions and the monorail.
 
We travelled to Sydney for business however in our line of work our children are part of our business.  It was important to have them with us, yet entertained when we needed.  It was for this reason we chose the Swissôtel Sydney.

We booked a Family Package that included two rooms, a one bedroom area with meeting space for the adults and the interconnecting room which was set up as a kids paradise!   Swissôtel do a fantastic job with the kids room. Bright blue doona covers and adorable brightly coloured toys in the bedroom, to the bright coloured bath mats, toys and stepping stools in the bathroom.  They loved the bubble bath the most! 

The bubble bath was a huge hit!

Being a five star hotel I was a little worried about the “family” treatment, even though they have these wonderful kids rooms I was still sceptical about how we would be welcomed.  I needn’t have, as from the second we pulled up outside the front of the hotel the service was impeccable.  As we were sorting out the items to take out of the vehicle to check in, a concierge approached offering assistance, they helped us unpack our luggage and our kids!  They answered potential issues or questions before we even thought about them.  Our 4WD was too high for the regular parking area so they offered to park it in the loading dock. This was suggested before we found out the hard way!

The check in was painless, even with our three very excited (and over energetic) children.  The concierge stayed with us through check in and brought our luggage to our room, unpacking it around the madness that unfolded when the girls discovered their amazing room!  He was lovely, he laughed at their glee and energy, making jokes to make us feel more comfortable at their behaviour.

Everything we had ordered was in our room including a cot for our 1 year old, extra coffee for our meetings and we were able to visit reception to get some DVD’s to entertain the girls.

Great family rooms

Breakfast was something we were all looking forward to and it certainly did not disappoint!  It included a wonderful buffet of hot food, cereals, fruits, pastries and juices.  Again, the staff were wonderful with our young children in this restaurant environment and as I arrived, I was pleased to see a wonderful mix of families and business people enjoying their breakfast without a hint of distaste for young children.  I enjoyed seeing the staff interacting with all the children, smiling as they walked past, assisting them and adoring the little ones in high chairs (there were quite a few). 

I think Jasmine, our 7 year old, managed to complete about 5 courses for breakfast and would have gone back for more had I not stopped her!
 
During our entire stay, whenever we walked past a staff member they smiled at us, the girls were often handed complimentary little chocolates (to their delight), and not once did I feel out of place in this top class hotel.

You might feel that as we were reviewing the Hotel that obviously they would be showing their best to us.  The service we received was genuine. It was clear the staff knew how to interact with families, as well as any business person.  I observed many other staff interacting with guests and the result was always as natural and intuitive as we received.  A perfect example of this was while sitting at breakfast I observed a guest checking out.  The Concierge arrived behind the guest at the reception desk with the guests luggage and two boys riding the luggage trolley.  This guest was not having to worry about where the children were while he was checking out, he wasn’t having to struggle with luggage and children and his boys had the brightest smiles on their faces as they enjoyed the ride.

The Swissôtel Sydney is not only a fantastic family friendly hotel, it is located perfectly for families also with so many activities on offer from the attractions on Darling Harbour to the hustle and bustle of the Sydney City Shopping Malls underneath the hotel. We took the kids to the Aquarium followed by a monorail ride back to the hotel and a walk through the shops. They loved every second and snapped lots of photos.

The prices for this amazing experience was also surprising, with many family options available that include the delicious breakfast. 

I must admit, our favourite experience was the divine Pad Thai we ordered for room service with the chocolate covered strawberries to finish it off.  We made sure we had that after the children had gone to sleep so we could savour the peace, and the strawberries all to ourselves!

We have found a rare gem in the heart of the city, the Swissôtel Sydney is truly a hotel that exceeds expectations.  They are a hotel that do more than advertise to families, but follow through on their promise with exceptional service and staff, and an overall exceptional experience.  I cannot wait to return.

The Facts

Location 68 Market Street – in the heart of the city, short walking distance to Darling Harbour and only a block away from the monorail station.  Shopping heaven is right at your door with an abundance of stores from Myer to the Lolly Shop!  The State Theatre is across the road for some entertainment and there are plenty of restaurants and take aways within very close proximity.  To make finding your way home easy when you go for a walk – always look for Centrepoint Tower, the hotel is right next door and that made it always easy to find!

Price 

The Kids Room Package – A classic style hotel room will fit two adults and two children with the kids side of the room set up with all the trimmings, toys, furniture and a DVD player.  This package includes the delicious full buffet breakfast for all of you.  This costs from $269 per night.

Kids Room Special – You might like to have a separate room from the children, in this case, choose the interconnecting room which will be completely set up as a kids haven (that’s what we did).  This package includes two interconnecting rooms and full buffet breakfast for two adults and two children from $439.

Don’t forget about the parking too, $25 per 24 hours or valet parking is also available for $55.

What you don’t know  The Swissôtel Sydney donates $20 to the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation for every night booked in a Kids Room.

Facilities 

Unfortunately time didn’t permit us to make use of the facilities in the hotel however they looked AMAZING!!  There is a fantastic outdoor heated pool, fitness studio, sauna and steam rooms or you might like to take advantage of the Amrita Spa and Wellness treatments!

Restaurant 

JPB Restaurant is located in the lobby with a fantastic menu available.  There is also Crossroads Bar that serves drinks and a very impressive High Tea. I was also constantly tempted by the advertising of their chocolate fondue!  24 hour room service is available to the rooms which is great when you just want to relax.  There is plenty of choice, only problem is they all offer fantastic service and delicious meals so it’s a very hard choice!

The above post is courtesy of the Great Aussie Road Trip. The aim of the Great Aussie Road Trip is to inspire families to experience Australia.  Their hope is by following their journey, and those of their Guest Family Bloggers, you will be inspired to embark on a journey of your own. It doesn’t need to be 4 months or even 4 weeks, just see a part of Australia you have never been to before.  You will not regret it.

Feeding Wallabies at Featherdale

Featherdale Wildlife Park is a great, low-key Australian animal park located in Sydney’s west. It’s surprising to find out that many Sydneysiders don’t even know about it while others haven’t been since their school days.

Best accessible by car, Featherdale provides an enjoyable day out for the entire family and overseas visitors.  It’s also reasonably priced especially if you’re lucky enough have a Shop-A-Docket’s 2-for-1 voucher.  Kids under 3 get in for free.

The park has plenty to see and do and there are nice picnic areas so if you want to take advantage of all activities, plan a whole day there.  If you can’t get there at the opening time and you’re driving, don’t bother going into Featherdale’s small carpark, but find street parking nearby.  The park is well sign posted from Sydney and the Blue Mountains.

There are lot of animals to check out and the collection of Australian birds is extensive.  Kids will enjoy feeding wallabies and kangaroos and patting koalas.  The park serves as a great introduction for toddlers to our native animals.

Other animals can be enjoyed from the safety of a barrier or glass – you’ll find emus, pelicans, wombats, echidnas, turtles, a crocodile, and various reptiles just to name a few.  There are also albino kangaroos which I didn’t even know existed!  Watching a turtle swim underwater is particularly fascinating – its body glides around gracefully as the mesmerised crowd stands without moving a muscle.

Great collection of Australia Birds

When hunger strikes, head to the onsite café or even better, grab a picnic table and enjoy your own packed goodies.  It’s a good to grab a table early or if your group is small, share one with other guests.  Barbecues are also available.

At the back of the park there’s the Farmyard section, another interactive section of the park.  Children’s shrieks of laughter can be heard from far as they chase geese and chickens around!

Try and come at feeding time as you can help feed the pigs or give a bottle to the cute lambs.  Be wary of the hungry goat though which may sniff around your pram for food!  Also, be prepared to spend some time here as it’s hard to encourage the kids to move on.

If you manage to move on, ensure you visit the entire park.  It’s definitely worth it and the kids will talk about it for months.

See their website for further information – www.featherdale.com.au

The above post is courtesy of Magda Biniaszewski, a freelance writer based in Sydney. She enjoys weekends away, with or without toddlers in tow.

Other posts you might enjoy reading:

Kids and Campervan Hire – Port Stephens Review

Family Holidays to London – review

Gold Coast theme parks with a toddler – Review