A weekend away in Canberra 

We went on a weekend away in Canberra this Summer and the whole family loved it. Even “doubting-Thomas” dad loved it. Although I’m not sure he’ll be prepared to admit to it, especially to his work colleagues. Canberra is a great place to visit with preschool and young school going kids, it has plenty to do without being overwhelming and it helps that it is actually really pretty.

We drove through from Sydney on the Friday afternoon (awful traffic) and stayed through to Sunday mid-morning. In hindsight we should have left lunch time on Friday to avoid the Sydney congestion. Next time!

This post just touches on the highlights of our weekend away in Canberra. In the upcoming weeks I will share more details on each of the places we visited. If you’re wondering about whether to visit or not and you’re still undecided – feel free to drop me a note on the AllThingsMomSydney Facebook Page and I’ll be sure to respond.

We are not affiliated with any of the places mentioned in this post. This is a pure account of our personal experiences.

 

 

Weekend away in Canberra: the highlights 

Where we stayed 

After tons of research and comparing the options we went with East hotel. We got a great rate off the hotel website itself, better than we could have got elsewhere.

East Hotel describes itself as a “a contemporary, cool and vibrant apartment hotel”. As we are not contemporary I cannot attest to this and I’m not sure I am cool or vibrant but we loved East Hotel and would definitely stay there again.

With two young kids and two adults we stayed in a 1 bedroom apartment. This had plenty of space for us, we got our own bedroom and the kids shared the sleeper-couch. The only downside was there was no bath for the kids.

Location wise it is close to Questacon, Parliament, the National Gallery and mini golf but pretty far from the War Memorial and Cockington Green.

On site they have stunning eateries so you can go out to the trendy spots or order up. The food is so good but I’ll get to that later.

 

What we did: Day 1 

 

With a kitchen in our hotel room and the kids me desperate to get to Questacon we didn’t get a chance to go out for breakfast. I had prepacked some fruits and yoghurt for us for breakfast which we had before we left the hotel.

Questacon 

The highlight of a weekend away in Canberra has to be Questacon which is the most awesome museum I have ever been to. The name museum gives it a bad rap because it’s like the Willy Wonka chocolate factory of museums. It is all about the life and living of science. Now I am not a fan of science. I would go so far as to say I loathed science at school. Loathed it. Yet, I loved Questacon.

Essentially Questacon is a museum made up of 5 levels where you play. Learning is all subconscious. There are robots and air basketball, water play extending meters high, an earth quake simulator and tinkering workshop.

For more on Questacon check out our upcoming post because this short excerpt does not do it justice.

Questacon has to be the best place in the whole of ACT

 

Jungle Golf – Mini Golf (Putt Putt) in the Dark

To be honest, I didn’t expect to be doing Mini Golf on our weekend away in Canberra but such is life with kids. We tried to do the War Memorial and Mt Pleasant but it was pouring with rain and the kids were exhausted from spending most of the day at Questacon. We needed something to do that would keep them interested until dinner and bedtime.

 

Thus I googled and came across Jungle Golf. It’s in the same centre as the go-kart racing but that was better suited to older kids. Jungle Golf is even suited to small kids as our 2 year old had her own club that was the perfect height for her. She just wasn’t very good at it.

 

The course isn’t very big and housed in a small space in the Go Karting centre but it does fit 18 holes.

 

This Mini Golf is a whole lot better when you’re inside and the lights go off. There are murals on the wall and on each hole that light up. The balls are lumo too so they glow in the dark too. I can imagine enjoying it without the kids on a rainy afternoon in Canberra.

Dinner from Agostinis 

 

We returned to Kingston and had dinner from Agostinis the restaurant at East Hotel. Oh my gosh, the food was so good. I even ate half the kids food. We ate from Agostinis on both nights that we were in Canberra. Their food is matched by an excellent wine list and a very knowledgeable sommelier.

 

Even if we hadn’t stayed at East Hotel, I think we would have eaten here anyway. But we do love good Italian food.

 

What we did: Day 2

 

Breakfast at Muse 

 

If you’ve read some of my posts, you’ll know that I am a sucker for books. Muse combines books, wine and great food. It’s another of the eateries at East Hotel and it’s awesome.

 

The National Dinosaur Museum 

 

I am very sorry to say that the National Dinosaur Museum was not as good as I expected. While it houses largest permanent display of prehistoric specimens they seem a little tired, the highlight was the interesting things in the gift shop. There is so much potential but it just hasn’t been maintained like proper museum should have. If you go to the National Dinosaur Museum expecting something similar to the Australian Museum you will be disappointed.

 

 I feel awful saying this but paying $40 for one child and two adults (under 4s are free) I just didn’t feel as though it was worth the admission. If it had been free, like it is some weekends or half the price maybe I would have felt differently.

 

The National Dinosaur Museum and Cockington Green are in the same “Village”. 

 

Cockington Green 

There is no way we could have left Canberra without seeing Cockington Green. I had heard so much about it, we had to see it! Cockington Green is a world of miniature buildings. There are tiny little buildings, people, water features, palaces and heritage homes from around the world. One of our favourites was the little cricket match which had been set up.

You can spend ages walking around and looking at each of the buildings and the beautiful gardens. The buildings are so intricately made. And once you’ve walked around you can go on the miniature train.

I’m really glad we’ve been to see it but I don’t think we’ll be seeing in again on our next trip, maybe when the kids are older. I will, however, be publishing a post about Cockington Green in the next few weeks as it is such an iconic Canberra experience and it’s something you have to see to believe.

 

These were our experiences on this trip but it won’t be our last. I have to see the War Memorial and take the kids to experience it and get that typical photo from Mt Pleasant. Who knows maybe we’ll even try Parliament House next time.

 

If you’ve visited Canberra with your family and found a great spot whether it be an attraction or somewhere great to eat with kids, please do let us know!