Air Travel To South Aus with kids...

[Martyvan]

Im off on a trip from Brisbane to SA on Friday with my wife, and my almost 2 year old. Thank god, we are flying, i couldnt handle 3 days in a car driving down with them... they go nuts just driving to the gold coast.

Im after some tips on travelling with kids on planes and staying in weird places.

• How does one amuse a 2 year old on a plane?
• Moving from hotel to hotel, how do you maintain some level of routine with the kids? And stop them falling out of bed....
• Does anyone in Adelaide/Victor Harbour know of any GREAT kids parks or attractions?

Now we know about some things, the steam train at victor and some place down there that that has penguins... But what else is there to do??

Any assistance would be great...

Im just hoping that someone will see this post before we leave

Cheers
Martin

[pertuan]

Originally Posted by Martyvan

• How does one amuse a 2 year old on a plane?
  

Mini board game and a book that they like. I believe thats how my brother handled his little one in a 7 hour flight. If they like the Wiggles or something, and you have a small DVD player, thats gold.

[BLDNUT01]

We went to this HUGE playground in St Kilda (around the back of Outer Harbor) with my lot they loved it had this long flying fox and big slides just bring drinks there is no water fountians

[kempster1]

Here is what not to do!!
Recently did a trip from Cairns to Melbourne
A lady in front of us let this small child run all over the plane during the the 4 hours, he did what he wanted and mum just said "come and sit down please, do not do that"
When he just did what he wanted and when he had to put a seat belt on for landing he sceemed the house down because he was made to sit in his seat.
Mum Had no entertainment items for him

Buy the throw away board games, buy the colouring books, buy the small toys and also get some chewing type lollies to help them with their ears.

I am not sure if you can still get the tour of the cockpit, that was a good thing to keep my kids busy

[Cruise]

Originally Posted by BLDNUT01

We went to this HUGE playground in St Kilda (around the back of Outer Harbor) with my lot they loved it had this long flying fox and big slides just bring drinks there is no water fountians

The flying fox used to twice the size when i was young but they had to make it shorter due to young kids gaining to much speed down it and literally flying off at the end and of course, parents suing the council. The park is great for kids though and free to.

[kempster1]

Originally Posted by BLDNUT01

We went to this HUGE playground in St Kilda (around the back of Outer Harbor) with my lot they loved it had this long flying fox and big slides just bring drinks there is no water fountians

Looks a bit like the play ground that is up the riverland...
I think that has been scaled back a bit over the years for similaur reasons. :(

[prydey]

regarding st kilda - the child is 2 years old. prabably not quite old enough.

3 days by road from bris to adel?? thats taking it very easy. normally 1.5 to 2 days. somewhere round parkes is where we usually stay but thats all beside the point as you are flying.

we just did the trip (opposite) in feb/mar but ours is 6 yrs old now. if you are flying virgin, they now have screens on the back of each headrest which will cost you $6. just swipe credit card to use.
take books, pencils, or whatever you need to keep them occupied. if you can get them to sleep, even better. don't forget some chewy lollies like minties or something for the ears on landing.

if you are staying toward the south there is a big wooden playground at old noarlunga. i live in woodcroft and there are a couple of duckponds handy where i take my daughter with a loaf of bread. there is a playground at victor that has a old non working train in it. there is a steam train as well down that way somewhere. goolwa i think. never been on it. always mean to. you can walk over to granite island where there are penguins. you can also get carted over in a carraige pulled by clydesdales.

have fun anyway

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by kempster1

Looks a bit like the play ground that is up the riverland...
I think that has been scaled back a bit over the years for similaur reasons. :(

Monash Playground.

As for plane travel, wear them out before hand, or my brother used an iPod Video on his 2 year old son when they went from Adelaide to the Gold Coast. Kept him busy most of the flight.

[GXL078]

GLENELG is nice. There are lots of kids stuff to do there or take the 1920s tram to the city.
Victor Harbour has a horse drawn tram that goes accross a causeway to Granite Island, which is where the penguin are.
There is always the Birdwood Motor Museum (for you), it's HUGE and heaps of bikes if you like bikes.
Check out the view from Mt Lofty or vist the town of Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills that was founded by German settlers.
Go to historic Semaphore beach and watch the kite surfers
Take a ride on the worlds (??) longest guided busway out to Tea Tree Plaza (Westfield's shopping centre)
Hang onto your stroller tight.
Adelaide is one of my favourite places in Australia. And everything is much cheaper than Sydney prices.
Watching a One Day Match at the Adelaide oval on Australia day is a great thing to do. You can get a reserved seat for less than the cost of general entry at the SCG (and you can actually BUY tickets)
I should get a job writing travel guides, LOL

[SPK-250]

The BEACHHOUSE at Glenelg is cool. I'm 27 and nearly wet my pants when we go there.
Down Victor is the urrumbirra wildlife park, greenhills adventure park, granite island which has penguins out at night and you can virtually touch them.
Cleland wildlife park, the gorge wildlife park, the big rocking horse.
Southcoast autofest is on sunday 5 mins from Victor.
Monash is cool, its about 3 hours away in the riverland.

If you need any help or directions i can give you my number as we are heading down there on sunday for the day.

[Tote]

We've got one 4 year old daughter and one thats almost two. On long trips I usually take my laptop with a set of headphones and let them watch the wiggles or similar. You can get portable DVD players for a couple of hundred dollars now and you should be able to use one on the plane after takeoff.
Our girls have been traveling long distances since birth so they're pretty good.


Most motels will supply a cot if you ask but failing that extra pillows are usually free and make good buffers to stop bubs rolling out of beds, find a bed in a corner and barricade them in, you can also use rolled up towels as buffers. We've got a travel cot that we take for the little one if we're driving but it does take up a lot of space and she hates it because it's a bit like a cage.

Try and get them to bed at their usual bedtime as that helps with the routine thing, try and make it a big adventure and they'll adapt pretty readily. It's amazing what kids will cope with, we dragged ours around Victoria in a rented caravan for a couple of weeks the Christmas before last and they did just fine.

Hope this helps,
Regards,
Tote

[GT]

Originally Posted by Martyvan

Im off on a trip from Brisbane to SA on Friday with my wife, and my almost 2 year old. Thank god, we are flying, i couldnt handle 3 days in a car driving down with them... they go nuts just driving to the gold coast.

Im after some tips on travelling with kids on planes and staying in weird places.

• How does one amuse a 2 year old on a plane?
• Moving from hotel to hotel, how do you maintain some level of routine with the kids? And stop them falling out of bed....
• Does anyone in Adelaide/Victor Harbour know of any GREAT kids parks or attractions?

Now we know about some things, the steam train at victor and some place down there that that has penguins... But what else is there to do??

Any assistance would be great...

Im just hoping that someone will see this post before we leave

Cheers
Martin

Ask XRCHIC!!! She is one of the most intelligent, sensible women/mothers I know - no joke, I'm dead serious! Great lady with a lot of common sense.

Regards
Gaela

[XRchic]

Ive travelled fairly extensively on planes and trains with all three of my kids who are now 13, 9 and 1. I did an 11 hour flight to Honolulu with the older two when they were about 3 and 6. They had already flown a lot prior to that so were used to it. I just took Gameboys (better for older kids)... a two year old will very likely just sleep. And when they are awake, looking out the window is good enough, so make sure you have a window seat...

Little kids usually get colouring in books and pencils etc courtesy of the airline anyway. Just take a few little toys and books. You wont need much more for a short flight. Music is always a good idea.

As for Adelaide/SA...The St Kilda playground is good, but definitely for older kids. The riverland is good for families, like taking nice walks along the river etc with the kids... picnics etc. Glenelg is fun...

Two is still a baby really so there is not much aside from a day at the beach that is kid friendly for that age...

Driving through the hills is nice too!!! Hahndorf and the scenic drive through Woodside, etc... But Im biased, thats where I live.. LOL.

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by xcgxl

take the 1920s tram to the city.

They've been replaced, finally. I believe that they still run on the weekends though. Work is currently underway to extend the tram line from the terminus in Victoria Square down King William Street, and then down North Terrace past parliament house and on down to the University of SA. They should have put it through to North Adelaide like the original plans called for. You can easily walk from Vic Square to North Tce. :

The old Red Rattlers


The New Trams

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by XRchic

Driving through the hills is nice too!!! Hahndorf and the scenic drive through Woodside, etc... But Im biased, thats where I live.. LOL.

I'll see your Adelaide Hills and raise you. The Barossa Valley!

Perhaps spend a morning/lunch in the Barossa, and then drive through the Adelaide hills, spending a night or two in one of the many B&B's or other accommodations dotted throughout.

[XRchic]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

I'll see your Adelaide Hills and raise you. The Barossa Valley!

Perhaps spend a morning/lunch in the Barossa, and then drive through the Adelaide hills, spending a night or two in one of the many B&B's or other accommodations dotted throughout.

Ohhh yes, the Barossa! I reckon that and the hills sort of blend in through the back way - great drive! Go through Verdun, Oakbank etc and head up through Birdwood and to Nuriootpa and through there. Love that drive!

My Dad works up there, he loves it!!!!

[XRchic]

Originally Posted by GTGTP

Ask XRCHIC!!! She is one of the most intelligent, sensible women/mothers I know - no joke, I'm dead serious! Great lady with a lot of common sense.

Regards
Gaela

WOW! Thank you Gaela, I did not see that post earlier! That is very sweet of you to say! I would say the exact same about you!

And did I mention that I love your car??!!!! :sm_drool:

[Martyvan]

Home Again,

I missed a couple of replies before I left, but we found plenty to do and to occupy ourselves and our boy....

On the way down on the plane, we sucessfully kept him entertained with Drawing, Cards, and feeding him...

The first 2 days we stayed in the city, and our apartment had gadgets everywhere, and this basically kept him occupied whilst in the apartment.
We did the National Rail museum in Port Adelaide, with its kids steam train rides..... and also let him explore the big "Choo Choo's" Time to go was hard, as he was saying "More Choooo Chooo's PLEEEEEEEASE DADDY" hahaha
We did the "Beach House" at Glenelg, while we didnt go on a Tram, as shown above, we did see them..

We then moved down to stay @ Port Elliot, and we found plenty to do down there, the Victor Harbor playground near the train station was fantastic... We did the Penguins, the REAL steam train, which we could hear from our cottage, and he promptly ran towards the car, and suggested we "Chase" the train down the road... The Caravan park we were at had plenty of kids entertainment, and even feeding the birds provided excellent fun, we also did the small open zoo... where my son, must have picked up on the "Roo" part of Kangaroo, and called them "moo Cows", he also proceeded to pick up "Roo Poo" and call it a ball, and throw it around...

We then did a wine tasting tour of the region, which involved driving out towards langhorne creek, and then back towards mclarenvale for the wedding.

Most Wineries, had some level of kids entertainment, which made tasting and purchasing pretty easy. I did learn though, the hire XR6's boot wasnt quite big enough for 3 adults and 1 childs luggage. But it did have free Sat nav, which made getting around quite easy, and fun

We were at Mclarenvale for my sisters wedding, and whilst it was supposed to be an outdoor wedding, it didnt quite eventuate that way given it was bucketing down.... good for the area though And my boy was most behaved at the wedding, and he himself had a bit of all the meals. And was easily occupied...

Thanks everyone for your hints, and tips... They were useful, and I certainly saw a lot more of that lovely region of the country.

One thing i did notice on sunday morning was a massive line of Falcons/GT's etc etc etc. Near McLaren Vale... Potentially for the Car Rally they had there.

Must go looking for a post to see if it had anything to do with a post on here....

Cheers
Marty

[XRchic]

Glad you had a good trip mate, sounds like you guys had a good time!

[4.9 EF Futura]

Jeez back in the day Ansett used to entertain the kiddies as part of the deal!

Sounds like a nice weekend in adelaide for a young couple. Shame about the rain at the wedding, but we were dying for water here

Havent been to victor for so long, prob time for a daytrip!

[old_phoon]

the XR's/F6's/GT's/GTP's & Model A's etc was a combined day out for the Model A, Gt & FPVXR clubs. Went from Adelaide through Clarendon, Mclaren Vale, Willunga and onto Mt Compass (on the way to Victor Harbour). It was great to see the A's out in weather that was not the best. Had a great bbq and various quizes/games at Mt Compass oval.

[ler]

There might be a water park at glenelg. Not sure if its finished being built yet. Also they sell CHOCOLATE soft serves at Glenelg something i havent seen for years in queensland.

[Riksta]

You say the wedding was at McLaren Vale - the reception wasn't at McLaren's On The Lake was it?

I used to do a lot of DJ'ing for the wedding receptions down there, lovely venue, and the food used to be pretty awesome too

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by lerner

There might be a water park at glenelg. Not sure if its finished being built yet.

http://www.thebeachouse.net.au/

Not exactly a water park, unless it was because of the rain we had.

[jonk]

"Victor Harbor playground near the train station was fantastic"

You don't know how many times as a kid I used to get cuts from playing on that static steam train there. Was born and raised at Victor Harbor. My old man still owns Victor Harbor Quarries. One day I'll move back down there again, but jeez it can be a real dull place at times... I'm too old now to play on that train lol.

[Martyvan]

Originally Posted by Riksta

You say the wedding was at McLaren Vale - the reception wasn't at McLaren's On The Lake was it?

No, wedding was at Woodstock....

It was certainly a nice place of the country to unwind... If i wasnt in the bad books with the mrs, it would have been REALLY relaxing hahaha