Tiger Moth World Adventure Park, Torquay

There are two types of people in this world. Those that go for joy flights in  tiny planes  and then jump out of those perfectly good planes once up in the sky; and those that keep their feet firmly on the ground and play mini-golf. 

This place caters for both. Phew!

 

Mini golf is our go-to activity on roadtrips and weekends away. There’s one in just about every big regional town, with most of them having some kind of local theme. 

This adventure park had not just mini-golf, but canoes and paddle boats, volcanoes and pirate caves.  

There was a bit of construction going on, but we managed to avoid the area where the heavy vehicles were working.

We spent a couple of hours mucking around in the park, putting and paddling, before heading over to the Tiger Moth World buildings. 

 

Part museum, part active airport, the office buildings were decorated with aviation memorabilia and the hangar housed a lovely old Tiger Moth as well as another small aircraft. 

 

We’d seen the plane take off with about 10 passengers and watched as it climbed high in the blue sky. Then, little coloured dots appeared.

A green one. 

A yellow one. 

A blue one. 

A red one. 

 

Some kind of Wiggles advertising?

 

No, the people on the plane had jumped out of the plane and were drifting across the wispy clouds like leaves on a breeze. 

 

Their coloured parachutes turned this way and that, as the air currents and gravity pulled them slowly down to their destination. One by one, they landed in front of us, huge smiles on their faces and excited chatter filling the air.

 

 

Once the jumpers had cleared out and the plane was tucked up in the hangar, another punter turned up and it was the Tiger Moth’s turn to do its thing. 

Up they went, twisting and turning, loop the looping, put-put-putting  back down onto the landing strip.

 

Looking like something out of an old wartime movie, the pilot and his back seat passenger hopped out of the plane, grinning from ear to ear. 

We had just as much fun at the adventure park, right?

https://tigermothworld.com.au

Tasmania Travels - Hobart, Cascade Female Factory, MONA

We had a list of things to do in Hobart that was a mile long. Having our own car with us made the roadtrip so much easier. We were able to bring all our creature comforts from home, like extra items to keep the kids busy, plenty of clothes to suit the changeable weather, our own pillows  and our beloved coffee machine. 

Fuelled by a good breakfast in our apartment and a couple of espressos, we set off for our busy day exploring.

The Cascade Female Factory was our first stop. We explored the former convict facility, where more than 5000 women and children were imprisoned in the 1800s. Girls as young as 11 were sent here from England. As a mum of a girl the same age, I can’t begin to imagine how traumatic that must have been for those poor kids and young women. 

The self guided tour took us around what remains of the original site. From walled exercise yards to open spaces where buildings once stood, iron sculptures added to the vision in my mind of what it used to look like. 

My kids were fascinated by 3 nuns who were also wandering around with us.  I’m not sure they had seen nuns up close and had only heard stories of my Catholic school upbringing to make a connection with. Luckily, these sisters were lovely to chat to and seemed much nicer than the ruler wielding tyrants I recall. 

The kids completed an activity book and collected a stamp for their history lesson of the day. 

Next up, MONA. As much as it would have been fun to ride on the sheep seat ferry, we had a car, so we drove there.

The carpark had some wacky parking going on…

...and the parking attendants weren’t really doing a great job. It’s so hard to find good help these days.

Inside, we spent a couple of hours wandering around. Some works were a little …um…adult themed “cover your eyes, kidlets”, but we managed to manoeuvre around and see as much as we could of the kid friendly art. Every now and then we would take turns to sneak off, one at a time, to see the rest of the works.

 

Putter’s Adventure  Golf was next on the agenda, with two sets of 18 holes at Moonah’s Mini Golf course. Indoor and outdoor courses, with waterfalls, waterwheels and a lovely garden setting.

A random couple gave the kids a deck of cards and an emoji toy they had won in the arcade games, but didn’t
want. Kids were suitable thrilled with their gifts. We played with that deck of cards many times during our holiday. Thanks!

Having worked up an appetite, we went looking for dinner, which turned out to be a delicious seafood chowder at Constitution Dock.  

A day well spent in Hobart town.

P.S we saved a few $ by using the Entertainment Book at Female Factory and Putter's.
P.P.S. I may have spent said savings on a glass of Sauvignon Blanc to go with my chowder. 😆

Tasmania Travels - Devonport to Stanley

I'd planned this trip meticulously, with spreadsheets, notes, timetables down to the minute, so we could see everything we wanted and also have a little downtime for kicking the footy in the park or lazing on a beach somewhere. I had it sorted.
By the time we had finished breakfast and were finally in the car for our first outing, we had uttered the words that became our holiday motto "we're behind schedule".
But we were on "Tassie Time" now, so off we went to see how our day panned out.

At Stanley, we caught the chairlift up to the top of The Nut then walked the 2km circuit around the summit, admiring the views, wildflowers, birds and a couple of wallabies before descending the very steep walk down to the carpark.

A walk around the marina, watching a fishing boat unload its haul and seeing the beautiful, bright vessels moored nearby.

A stroll along the historic town streets, collecting our first Tiger Track stamp and first Scallop Pie of the trip. YUM! 
A penguin rookery with a viewing platform and an old cemetery had us exploring further than my itinerary had anticipated. 
The weather turned cold and rainy as we headed to Table Cape. The lighthouse was just closing due to low visibility, so we got a stamp, took some photos of the surrounding tulip farms and poppy fields and headed off to find fossils.

It was a short drive to Fossil Bluff. The meet and greet person looked like he knew a thing or two about fossils. 

We rugged up with our winter jackets and hiking shoes and spent an hour or so checking out the rugged cliffs, rock pools and pebble covered beach.

One of the many perks of taking our car was that we could pack extra clothing, balls for the kids to play with, a big plastic tub of food and snacks and a large container of water to refill our bottles with. And our own pillows - because in our family, we don't leave home without them. 

Speaking of cars, we ventured indoors at the Wynyard Visitor Centre and checked out the veteran car collection on display, which included vintage motorcycles and bicycles for the two-wheel fans.

The rain had stopped, so we drove to the local platypus playground, Fernglade Reserve. The overcast day made the water seem darker, the reflections more vivid and the lush green rainforest even greener, if that's possible.



The 1km return walk along the Emu River was so peaceful and relaxing, I think the platypus must have all been having a siesta. We did see the cutest baby pademelon cross our path, so that made up for the lack of platypus...platypuses ...platypi  ummm, you know what I mean.

Back on the highway, past the town of Penguin, in search of actual penguins smaller than this guy.

Our wildlife quest continued a little further down the road at Lillico Beach. A Park Ranger and a couple of volunteers met us there at the penguin viewing area just on sunset. We were worried an approaching storm was going to spoil our plans, but we watched as it rolled over Devonport in the distance, leaving us to watch the little penguins come ashore and find their nests in the dunes below where we stood.

Too dark to take photos, too wet and cold to hang around for long, but definitely worth the (free) visit to see these little guys, without hundreds of others for company and without a hefty price tag.

Seafood chowder and local lobster for dinner completed our day. Bellies full and bodies tired, we headed back to our accommodation to rest up before we headed south.

What: Devonport to Stanley

Where: Northwest Tasmania

Why: chairlifts, penguins, seafood

When: Daily 

How much: varies 

Luna Park, St Kilda

One of Melbourne's most prominent landmarks, Luna Park gives a cheesy grin to all who pass by its famous entrance on St Kilda's Esplanade.
Last week, we packed the kids in the car and met up with another family of five for a late arvo session of adrenaline pumping fun.
We arrived at 4pm on a warm Summer's day and the queue was about 15 deep at that time. We bought a Family Pass (25% off with the Entertainment Book), fastened our wristbands and set off to navigate the park's rides and games.

Scary rides aren't high on my bucket list, but I carefully considered each ride by its terror qualities and made it my mission to at least try a few on the lower end of the scale.

Bypassing the Twin Dragon, I figured the House of Horrors and Ghost Train were more my speed, although the train took some corners like it was being chased by something terrifying. 
I was too scared to look behind 💀
Fresh sea air filled our lungs and screams filled our ears. Everywhere you looked, there were people being plummeted, catapulted, spun and turned upside down. Sometimes all at once. And they looked like they were enjoying it.

I recall going to Luna Park with my school, way back when. I decided the Big Dipper was too scary for me then, and opted for the tame sounding Scenic Railway, for a lovely, slow, sedate, scenic ride around the perimeter of the park.
I was wrong. So very, very wrong. 

Anyway, many years later, I hadn't forgotten a second of that ride. So, while the rest of our group chugged up the hills and zoomed into the tunnel at breakneck speed, I stayed with my feet firmly planted on the ground. Well, someone had to mind our belongings...

The Silly Serpent mini roller coaster was heaps of fun. A few twists and loops on a smooth track made it seems pretty fast.  Sitting on the left, I had no control of my body sliding across the shiny seat and almost ended up in the lap of my friend sitting next to me, every time we made that sharp right bend.

As the sun sank lower, the crowds thinned just a little. We hopped on the Sky Rider Ferris wheel for some magical views over Port Phillip Bay. The neon lights of the rides lit up the park, adding to the fun atmosphere.

The Scenic Railway carriages were lit with neon blue...


...and the Dodgem Cars took on a whole other level of fun in the dark. 

We ended our visit with a ride on the century-old carousel, it felt like the beautiful horses were doing a slow canter around the park.

We exited out the big mouth after a whopping 7 hours visit, exhausted but very, very happy with our adventure. 

What: Luna Park

Where: 18 Lower Esplanade, St Kilda

Why: theme park

When: Daily 11am-11pm during Summer 

How much: varies (Entertainment Book 25% discount )