Holiday on wheels

Since the first childhood trips with my parents cramped up in the back of our trusty ford with a mind of its own, no air conditioning and a radiator inclined towards overheating, I have been deeply in love with the road. For me it always had a whiff of mystery and the promise of an adventure. I thoroughly explored its mysteries during high school and college, taking every chance to go on the road and it usually delivered on the unspoken promises in one way or another. So I decided to try convincing my wife with all of those romantic, misty-eyed ramblings that the time had come for us to take a family road trip. Brian is 6, Alisha is 8, they are old enough and I estimated the time had come for us to bond on that level, too.

Laura was interested, but not as nearly impressed with my idea as I was. We decided on going to Sydney for a couple of days. We planned it as a sort of a city road trip, so to speak. It was convenient as the flight from Adelaide takes only about hour and a half and it was up to me to organize the whole thing, so I have set upon consuming the summed up internet wisdom on planning such a family holiday in order not to overlook anything. Here is the result.

The City

For an Ozzie, Sydney has great cultural value as the site of the first colony in Australia. We have rented a ford estate in accordance with tradition, armed with GPS we backed up with printed maps and adequate mobile apps and embarked on a mission of seeing everything that can be seen in a couple of days. While we wanted to stay in tune with the road-adventurer mood, you simply have to be prepared for every eventuality with kids on board. That is the only way to prevent them from getting anxious. Of course, keeping them interested at all times goes without saying, so our first destination was the famous Taronga Zoo. When going on a long drive, it is a good idea to give the kids something to talk about before setting off, and the zoo, with its splendor of colors and impressions was the perfect starting point.

Image credit: dailytelegraph.com.au

The Sites

Since Sydney is quite large, we had to plan the stops, as it would be ridiculous just to improvise with the kids on board. Sydney observatory in The Rocks was perfect for our next destination, offering a calmer environment and a tour to a completely different world than the zoo, which was very enjoyable after the sensory overload with the animals. Breathtaking views across Sydney Harbor were just a bonus.

The Rocks also proved as a wonderful backdrop for an evening drive to Zia Pina pizzeria in an old part of town. We were all thrilled to see the beds, exhausted and

happy, as a true traveler should be.

The second day also began with a kid-friendly destination in the form of the Luna Park on Milsons Point. This was a no-brainer, too - the kids were more than willing to see and try everything there was to try and we were more than happy to oblige them.

Like the first day, we took a slow drive to a place with a more discreet atmosphere, this time in the form of Australian Museum. The “m” word usually doesn’t sit well with kids, but they were so tired after the Luna Park and lunch we could’ve taken them to the library and they wouldn’t mind, and our mentioning the dinosaurs didn’t hurt, either.

Image credit: weheartsydney.com

We decided to improvise for the rest of the day, driving around and enjoying an occasional pit-stop here and there for everybody’s convenience. At that point we wanted to relax, but also to keep moving rather than to just sit somewhere and rest. Our first family road-trip-like vacation proved to be a great success, which encouraged Laura and me to plan a more daring one for the next holiday with strong support from the kids, who want to take part in the planning. We could be in for more of an adventure than we intended.

Author: Bob Gorman