from the south coast: the 1950s cottage
While away we stayed in a gorgeous newly-renovated 1950s cottage in Kiama – complete with a beautiful frangipani tree and an abundant vegie garden (broccoli, limes, kumquats and parsley). I like to play “if this was my house I would…” and so I revelled in the galley kitchen, open-plan living and corner sash windows that received the most glorious morning light. We barbecued our breakfast and spent lazy mornings watching the Olympics before we headed out.
Daniel and I joked about the fact that our family holidays could also be referred to as…”a tour of the region’s playgrounds.” Most days we would head to a new park to trial the swings and watch a very fearless Poet throw herself down the slide (that girl, she is going to do amazing things to my nerves). Our favourites included the new and rather amazing playground at Coronation Park (ocean-side) on Manning Street in Kiama and the web-like Spiderman-worthy park in Gerringong.
We’ve been fortunate to go on a couple of holidays this year for work/play and there’s few things that make travelling with children that bit easier. Whenever we book accommodation I make sure there’s a washing machine (less clothes to pack, a smaller washing pile on return home) and a bath (for instant calm and to induce sleep). I always pack lunch boxes full of food for the trip including sandwiches, rice crackers and fruit (the remnants of seaweed crackers are littered over the back seat of my car – hmmmm) but I’m still keen to discover other travelling snacks – any suggestions?
For Che I pack a bag of books, paper, crayons and some balloons (instant entertainment that, hopefully, lasts for days) and Poet is usually happy with the tupperware containers and just-gathered rocks and shells from the beach. Tell me, what are your must-have items for family holidays?
Poet wears black linen overalls c/o eco bohemia
Oh i love how children press their foreheads up to a window to see that much more closely what is outside, totally sweet, love Posie
Home made popcorn x
of course! x
wow, your much more organised then us.. i take minimal snacks and then think about whats the best place to stop and eat.
Your holiday sounds divine! I'm definitely no where near as organized as you are and I don't even have children!
Travelling snacks…..we love these butter and coconut balls (just blogged about them here – http://thelittlegnomeshome.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/coconut-butter-balls.html) and coconut flakes are a great snack.
Must have items are balls of wool so the big girls can finger knit. For my little one, she is happy with some block crayons and (like Poet) gathering a bit of this and a bit of that from whereever we may go.
Our girls loved the Gerringong playground also! I found a little local handcrafts shop at the church to explore while they played (with Dad)
beautiful images. x
My children love veggie sticks and cheese sticks. We love to travel and every other summer we make the trip cross-country to visit family in Colorado (1500 miles!). The snacks hold up really well. Thanks for sharing tales of your trip with us.
haha the playground tour- we became so competent at finding playgrounds in new towns on the campervan tour, I think we developed some kind of sixth-playground-gps-sense. I'm afraid the campervan spoiled us for snack ideas, being able to stop and whip up grilled cheese and hot milo whenever we felt like it! That house looks gorgeous, love a fibro shack with frangipani tree on holidays 🙂 sarah
My in laws live in Kiama and we look forward to heading up there very soon. We've waited patiently (and impatiently) at that park many times before. Actually, out wedding photos were taken just across the road on the harbour.
The local op shops are usually quite good (though not with the country prices I'm used to).
Love the look of that holiday house. I often play "if this were my house.." too and hubby likes to add his two cents in also.
Love Berry's sourdough too 🙂
Ohmygosh, Everly does the same thing as Poet — just *throws* herself down the slide with great gusto – no fear at all! I am a cautious person by nature (I never, ever, went on the rides at the Royal Show), so my nerves are a little frayed… I'm really aching for a family holiday. It is on the to-do list! x
Baby C loves dried apricots…Woolies carries some organic ones that don't contain sulphates.
And he loves balloons too…they entertain him for ages…especially if I put a little water or rice in them before I blow them up!
We've dragged poor little Ivy back and forth between Australia and NZ since she was a baby. One of our last trips involved 21 straight hrs in the car/plane/car. I always pack a special backpack with a little kids magazine (they have lots of cool little things to do, even for 2/3yr olds), a new colouring book, a little toy and a couple of new books. She never ever has 'packet food', so I always buy some little 'packet' things- muesli bars, sultanas, a lolly. She sees it all get packed and isn't allowed to have it until we start the journey.. it's so exciting for a little one and never fails to be a success!!
I haven't been blog reading for ages and was pretty excited to see that little Poet wore her romper for her first birthday party! How special! Hope you all had a great day. Bianca x
the romper was perfect for party celebrations Bianca. Thank you! x
these posts and photos are simply stunning!
i love saving up and getting to catch up on many posts at once! its like a feast!!!!
Yes we take lunch boxes full of food on car trips. Raisins, rice cakes (mess), mini bread sticks, sandwiches, cherries etc.
Also Charlie really loves to play battleships in the car. We printed out sheets and use a pencil to mark the ships. Also lego goes everywhere with us. We will a large Ikea tub and make room in the footwell below their feet. The boys just sit there and make machines.
x
LOVE Gerringong, Gerroa and Berry! Did you visit the Werri Beach Fish Cafe…YUM!! Snacks for the trips? Maybe some homemade mini muffins and pikelets xx
we went to the blue swimmer at Gerroa …. oh. so. good! x
I am counting the days til we head north on our family holiday to Byron bay this September…whatever the season I always travel with at least 2 sarongs because they are so versatile, they work as sun protection, wind protection, instant curtain, impromptu picnic mat, facewasher, very handy. I stock up on snacks at the health food shop – when flying anywhere a honey lollipop is good to suck when landing. I pack a few small plastic containers with a mix of small toys and rotate them, and if we are staying somewhere for an extended time I take a few favorite toys and then take the boys to a local op shop for some new finds. Talking books are good for long car rides. x
my scarves are used in a similar way to your sarongs. Honey lollipops? I'll keep a look out x
When we travelled more we always always always took a little ziplock bag full of wholemeal loop cereal (Cheerios?) and a string and the kids would make a necklace and proceed to eat it for the rest of the trip.
Now, sketchbooks and textas. I resisted technology but eventually the penny dropped that a little ipad goes a long way on holidays to giving me a rest too!
What a beautiful holiday home you stayed in. Whenever we go away I usually get the girls a new colouring book or activity book, a diary to write what they've done each day, a few books and their choice of a couple of their favourite toys. As for snacks while we are driving, maybe some dried fruit, nuts and seeds, water crackers and whatever homemade snacks I have left in the pantry. I do agree that staying somewhere with a washing machine is a big must. We found when we travelled around Tassie that any of the places we stayed didn't have a washing machine which meant for lots of washing when we finally found one. x
We usually just take books, the "it" toy of the moment, the portable dvd player, (we camp) fruit, sandwiches, crackers with cheese & heaps of water.
& just buy the food we need on the day we need it.
Oh, we are a bit boring. a bag of apples for the trip. my girls missed their coloring in on our last holiday. next time I must pack pencils, lots of paper & our own pillows. Do you sleep well in a new environment? Just Curious. We took a Winter holiday recently. Like you, I prefer low season. I was wide-eyed for 5 nights. audreylittle@blogspot.com
Oh the South Coast….my favorite 🙂
Looks like you had a wonderful time. I followed the link to the 50's house to flick through the couple of images of the town i grew up in. This post bought back many memories and wanting to plan a trip back down that way again would be so nice.
Kiama's choice of beautiful beaches is superb…but the rock pool!!!! I LOVE…spent many hours in this pool. ahhhhhhh! now to get back to reality.
car trip snacks…rice cakes, apples, currants, and lots of water bottles with tight fitting easy closing lids!
X
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