Visit Australia’s only combined zoo and aquarium and get up close to Aussie icons and endangered species at Canberra National Zoo & Aquarium.
Canberra National Zoo & Aquarium is spread over 47 picturesque acres. The animals have large enclosures and keepers who are dedicated to their care and enrichment. Animals living at the Canberra National Zoo & Aquarium have either been rescued and unable to be returned back to the wild or were bred as part of a regional breeding program.
The National Zoo & Aquarium contributes heavily in a large number of breeding programs designed to help save a number of animals from extinction. They also raise money through their National Zoo & Aquarium Conservation Trust (NZACT) to donate to a number of local and overseas conservation initiatives and charities.
NZACT (the National Zoo & Aquarium Conservation Team) is a volunteer organisation that works with the National Zoo & Aquarium to save some of the worlds most endangered species from extinction through breeding programs and educating zoo visitors as well as fundraising and donating to a number of local and overseas organisations, including Free the Bears, The Snow Leopard Trust, the RSPCA, 21st Century Tiger and Traffic.
The National Zoo & Aquarium is larger than it looks, so set aside the better part of a day to explore it all.
Be sure to check out daily keeper activities to learn more about the animals as they receive a feed or enrichment. On weekends and during school holidays, additional keeper talks are added to the schedule. Visitors also have the chance to meet or feed some of our the animals.
We did a tour of the National Zoo & Aquarium and really enjoyed learning from one of the experts about the animals who lived there.
Our keeper called every animal by name, down to the geese, and described their personality and individual circumstances such as how they came to be living there, as well as giving us further information about the species in the wild. It’s clear that these animals are very loved and cared for by their keepers.
The National Zoo & Aquarium has a large, excellent playground that will occupy kids for hours, so be sure to visit at the end of the day when you’ve seen everything else that you’ve got on your agenda.
Canberra National Zoo & Aquarium Scrivener Dam, Yarralumla, Canberra, ACT 2611 Hours: Daily, Open 9:30am–5:00pm every day of the year, except Christmas Day. https://nationalzoo.com.au
Stroll through the serene Lennox Gardens on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra. Lennox Gardens is the perfect spot for a relaxing family picnic or bbq with plenty of green space, shady trees, and the landscaped Beijing Garden and Canberra Nara Peace Park to explore.
Tucked away in a quiet spot on the foreshore, Lennox Gardens are a little gem of a spot. With a stunning backdrop including Black Mountain, the Brindabella Ranges and the city centre, Lennox Gardens are also where hot air balloons launch, so if you’re up early you might see them taking off and flying over the lake.
Lennox Gardens is home to two landscaped gifts from Japan and China; each celebrating the sister city links between Canberra, Beijing and Japan’s ancient capital, Nara.
The Beijing Garden is designed in the imperial Chinese garden style of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). It features a traditional Chinese welcome gate, Chinese stone sculptures and a Chinese pavilion.
Canberra Nara Peace Park features a small Japanese themed garden, traditional wooden gate and gazebo, and cherry blossom trees.
Tips for Visiting Oakvale Wildlife Park, Port Stephens
Meet native Australian and exotic animals at Oakvale Wildlife Park. Hand-feed roaming animals and enjoy the water park or a bbq lunch.
Oakvale Wildlife Park is 100% Australian owned and operated, and has remained a family business since opening in 1979 as a farm by the Samson family.
Set across 25 acres of bushland, Oakvale Wildlife Park strives to help teach visitors about native wildlife and how we can protect it. Over time, the family acquired various Australian wildlife species and decided to dedicate the park to wildlife conservation.
Oakvale has established multiple endangered species breeding programs where they release threatened and endangered species back into the wild for future generations to enjoy.
The park is quite large and entails a fair bit of walking to get around to see all of the animals and exhibits. The animals living at Oakvale Wildlife Park range from Australian native, domestic farm and exotic animals such as koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, goats, sheep, rabbits, alligators and ostriches.
Oakvale has put a lot of thought into the activities available for guests, ensuring that a visit is a whole-day activity. There are free roaming animals to be hand fed, keeper talks, feeding shows, two fenced, shaded playgrounds, free BBQ facilities as well as an onsite cafe, plus the excellent Splash Bay Water Park which is open year-round.
Pick up a schedule when you enter the park in the morning to ensure you don’t miss any of the activities.
FEEDING STADIUM
Daily at 11.00am & 2.00pm. Bottle feed baby farm animals and an opportunity to milk a cow.
TRACTOR-TRAILER RIDE
Departing at 11.15am & 2.15pm daily – free.
SHOW TIMES Due to the health and safety of our guests, staff and animals and adhering to strict guidelines we will not be holding keeper talks during the NSW School Holidays.
ENCOUNTERS
There is the chance to engage in more intimate and personal animal experiences by purchasing individual Wildlife Animal Encounters.
There is plenty of free parking available, and the park has pathways to provide easy access for prams, wheelchairs, mobility scooters and walkers. The Tractor Trailer Rides provide great assistance for less mobile guests. Disabled toilets and showers are located on-site and there is a JennSwing in the playground (a full support swing seat for children with physical disabilities or special needs).
The Oakvale Cafe is located inside the main entrance and serves a selection of freshly made sandwiches and wraps, burgers and wedges, plus other hot and cold options from 10.30am – 3.00pm.
Oakvale Wildlife Park is Ecotourism certified and ZAA members.
Berry Reserve at Narrabeen Lake is the perfect family outing, featuring a brand new playground, basketball court, lagoon bike track and a fab cafe that has its own vintage tram.
Berry Reserve is a public open space along the Narrabeen Lagoon foreshore. The lakeside area is perfect for picnics, with plenty of shady trees.
Ducks are in abundance (please don’t feed them).
There is a multi-use track that runs around the lagoon, through Berry Reserve. The track at Berry Reserve is an entry point to the 8.4km Narrabeen Lagoon Trail that can be walked, biked or scooted. 1.2km along the track, you’ll come to to Bilarong Reserve, which has an excellent playground with play equipment and mythical beast sculptures.
The new playground at Berry Reserve is excellent. It’s completely fenced and offers equipment for kids of all ages, with several accessible features.
The castle in the middle is a lovely addition, with access from the top to the slide.
Dotted around the playground are some fantastic pretend play elements such as shops and a tram stop.
The in-ground trampolines are also fun.
There are several Australian animal statues also sprinkled around the playground.
There is also a basketball court and fitness equipment.
Enter the car park from Pittwater Road. There is 3-hour parking Monday-Friday and 2-hour Saturdays plus some all day commuter parking.
Next to the playground is the Tramshed Cafe, which has a fantastic vintage 1930s tram out the front.
Putt your way through two 18-hole themed mini golf courses at Dural Putt Putt. The perfect activity for the whole family to enjoy.
Dural Putt Putt has two themed 18-hole mini golf courses to complete, Camelot & Space Trek. Each course winds its way through picturesque landscaped gardens and are equally challenging.
Choose to play one or both courses. The Camelot course has really fun statues built into the course including a medieval castle, Rapunzel, the Sword in the Stone and the Lochness Monster.
The Space trek course features robots, rockets and some friendly aliens.
The course involves stepping through each each “hole” which has small steps and at times no space for a stroller or wheelchair to pass.
At the completion of the course, grab a snack from the cafe and relax in the fully shaded and paved seating area. No outside food is allowed.
If you go on a hot day, make sure you have hat, sunscreen and plenty of water.
There is a large car park at the entrance.
Afterwards, I recommend visiting nearby Glenorie Bakery for lunch.
Dural Putt Putt Corner of Cranstons & Old Northern Roads (Entrance via Cranstons Road) Middle Dural NSW 2158 Phone: 02 9651 1334 Hours: Daily, 9am-6pm during school holidays. All other times, Fri-Sun 9am-6pm. duralputtputt.com.au
Enjoy a Lord Howe Island holiday, at a natural paradise that can be reached in less than a two-hour flight from Sydney or Brisbane. The world’s southernmost coral reef is a spectacular destination that, once you’ve seen it in person, you’ll long to return to over and over again.
The World Heritage-listed island is often voted as one of the world’s top island destinations for a very good reason – its spectacular scenery, abundant wildlife and limit on visitors makes this breathtakingly beautiful spot feel remote and untouched.
Ned’s Beach
Lord Howe Island is just 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) long and 2.8 kilometres (1.7 miles) at its widest. With only 400 visitors allowed at any time, and just 300 permanent residents, the island never feels busy, even when it’s reached its maximum visitor capacity.
When we visited Lord Howe Island last December it felt to us like the land that time forgot. With the main mode of transport push bikes, the pace on the island is slow, and shoes are optional. There is no mobile phone service on the island, which can feel panic-inducing to imagine, but in reality is a welcome relief from the constant pressure to be available at all times.
To truly unplug and unwind from the fast paced world in which we usually live in Sydney, a week on Lord Howe Island was, for us, just what the doctor ordered.
What makes Lord Howe Island so special
Lord Howe Island was formed after a volcanic eruption seven million years ago. The island became a haven for plants and seabirds, with an abundance of rare flora and fauna including 64 unique species of flowering plants and more than 130 bird species, like the endangered flightless woodhen.
This unique island is made up of 75% protected park preserve, and surrounded by a marine park, making it a pristine paradise that has remained untouched thanks to a century of world-class conservation efforts.
In 1982, The Lord Howe Island Group was UNESCO World Heritage-listed, including the main island, offshore islets and Balls Pyramid, totalling about 1,455 hectares of land. A further 145,000 hectares of marine environment are included in the World Heritage Area.
Arriving on Lord Howe Island is a bit of a “Jurassic Park” moment. The tiny island rises up out of nowhere, in the middle of the ocean, its landscape of mountains, valleys and cliffs largely undisturbed by mankind. Approximately 75% of the islands natural vegetarian remains untouched, similarly is beaches and coral reefs.
Lord Howe Island is tremendously important for its unique flora and fauna. There are over 70 endemic vascular plant species found on the island (plants that transport water), and 241 species of indigenous plants of which 113 or 47 per cent are found no where else in the world.
The island is also a haven for birds, with 207 different bird species recorded as visiting, 32 of which breed on the island, including the endangered Woodhen. The Lord Howe Island Woodhen wanders around the island, unperturbed by people passing it on bikes, the result of a highly successful captive-breeding and rodent eradication programme.
Lord Howe Island is reputed to have more seabird species breeding in higher numbers than anywhere else in Australia, making it a prime spot for twitchers to visit. Bird lovers can be seen lying low in the grass for hours at a time, in search of the perfect bird photograph.
Insects are also in abundance on Lord Howe Island, with more than 1,600 terrestrial insect species having been recorded, approximately 60% of which can be found nowhere else. We were drawn to Lord Howe Island after reading about the Lord Howe Island Phasmid, the world’s largest stick insect. Thought to be extinct, the LHI Phasmid was rediscovered in recent years on Balls Pyramid, a 550 metre high volcanic stack rising from the sea, 23 km from the island.
The life under the sea surrounding Lorde Howe Island is no less spectacular, with over 500 species of fish and 90 different coral species in the marine park off the island’s shores.
Getting to Lord Howe Island
Lord Howe Island lies approximately 600 km northeast of Sydney and southeast of Brisbane, Australia, at the same latitude as Port Macquarie, NSW. It is part of the state of New South Wales.
The only way to reach Lord Howe Island, other than sailing your own yacht, is by air. QantasLink offers year-round scheduled services, with flights departing from Sydney most days (twice a day in peak season during the week, three times a day on weekends). Direct flights are also available on weekends from Brisbane. Flight time is under two hours.
Eastern Air Services also offer a regular flight schedule with three flights per week from Port Macquarie and a new flight schedule from Newcastle Airport. Eastern Air Services will soon be offering direct flights rom the Gold Coast to Lord Howe Island.
Your accommodation will pick you up from the airport and drop you back again for your return flight home.
Baggage Allowance
This is a big deal and should really be in the biggest text available because it’s in such fine print on the flight booking pages. Each passenger travelling to Lord Howe Island is permitted 14kg per person of checked baggage and 7kg of carry-on baggage.
This is not negotiable! There are strict weight restrictions placed on aircrafts travelling to the Island. While extra luggage may be purchased, there is no guarantee it will make it to the island with your flight. It’s very common for luggage to be offloaded and sent on another flight. In fact, on both of our flights to and from the island, our luggage did not arrive with us. On the flight to the island, our luggage arrived on the afternoon flight thankfully, so we received it later in the day.
On our flight home, however, our luggage was offloaded and was not sent home to us for three days. I highly recommend packing essentials in carry on – like swimmers, sunscreen and hats.
Accommodation
Another tip that needs to be in the biggest text available. Do not book flights until you have booked your accommodation, and absolutely do not fly there without a confirmed accommodation booking.
The tourist bed limit on Lord Howe is capped at 400, and in high season completely books out. I would highly recommend booking as far in advance as possible to get suitable accommodation.
Where to stay on your Lord Howe Island Holiday
The majority of accommodation on Lord Howe Island is villa-like cabins with kitchenettes or kitchens. Which you chose depends on your needs. If you have small kids or are not a keen walker or cyclist, then I suggest staying near the main settlement for easy of getting around.
In the image below, the airport is the yellow star and the accommodation is marked with blue dots.
We stayed in Ebbtide Apartments, comprising of five self-catered villas with an excellent kitchen. We loved Ebbtide and the lovely grassy area surrounding the villas, however it is also at the very top of a steep hill, which should be taken into consideration if biking or walking is difficult for you or your party.
There was no TV in our room so if you desperately need to watch some shows, download them to your phone/iPad or computer beforehand. Most accommodations will have a bookshelf like ours did. I had the most amazing reading week and read about five books.
For an all-inclusive stay, check out Pinetrees, or Arajilla Retreat. For the most luxe, all -inclusive stay, have a look at Capella Lodge.
My recommendation for ease of accessing the island facilities such as the best cafe and coffee shop (The Anchorage), getting groceries and biking around the flat paths, would be to stay near the Anchorage.
Since the majority of accommodation on LHI is self-catering, the groceries deserve their own section. Since the island is part of NSW, you can bring whatever food you like as long as it fits in your luggage allowance. If you have particular dietary requirements, then I highly recommend you doing this.
$43 worth of groceries.
There are a few options for groceries on Lord Howe Island – all of them are expensive. Thompson’s is the cheapest but has the smallest selection. The Anchorage has the best fruit and daily fresh bread. Joy’s has the largest range but is the most expensive.
Thompson’s
There are no plastic bags on Lord Howe Island so bring your own reusable shopping bag, or purchase one of the screen printed reusable canvas bags – they make for great island souvenirs too.
Thompson’s
Regarding milk – most of the island uses and sells long-life milk. If you want fresh milk, you will find it at Joys.
Thompson’sJoy’sAnchorage
Getting around Lord Howe Island
The primary mode of transportation is bicycle. Upon arriving on the island, head straight to Wilson’s Bike Hire (it’s near the main settlement) and hire a bike for your entire stay. There are children’s bikes available as well as bike seats and wagons. Bikes cost us $60 per week per bike.
There are a small amount of cars available for hire if mobility is a challenge for you – call in advance to book.
Guests at Capella Lodge, which is the furthest accommodation from the settlement, can hire a golf cart buggy to drive around the island.
Planning your time on Lord Howe Island
After collecting your bike, head to the Lord Howe Island Museum and Visitors Centre. This is where you can collect detailed weather forecasts, restaurant guide with locations and days/ hours of service, and daily activity guides, as well as lots of info about the island such as maps with walking tracks.
The Lord Howe Island Museum opened in 2002 and has a range of innovative displays on the island’s World Heritage environment, community and history, going back to 1788 when the Island was discovered by HMS Supply of the First Fleet. Covering 166 years of continuous settlement since 1834, the Museum is a great first spot to visit to learn about and appreciate the island’s uniqueness.
At the Lord Howe Island Museum and Visitors Centre you can also find internet access and the Coral Cafe, plus the Tropicbird Museum Shop, which has the best selection of unique Lord Howe souvenirs and gifts.
Dining out
There are a few restaurants and cafes on Lord Howe Island and in peak season all book out. After picking up your bike and dropping by the Museum and Visitor’s Centre for dining information and a map, the nest thing you should do is plan any eating out you plan to do for the week. Each restaurant and cafe only opens certain days and hours so it requires some planning.
Take a look on the guide and call each restaurant using the landline at your accommodation to book your spot. Your accommodation will transport you where necessary to evening dining reservations, with the restaurant providing return transport.
Our favourite place to dine was the Anchorage, for both lunch and also dinner. It had the most delicious egg dishes, freshly baked muffins and cut fruit, and we ended up eating there daily for one meal, while making the other meals in our apartment.
AnchorageAnchorage
Dining out on Lorde Howe Island is also expensive, but the location of waterfront dining cant be beat!
Lord Howe Island has activities to suit everyone, from those wanting a relaxing holiday doing nothing to divers and snorkelers, twitchers and hikers. The flight out to the island is one of the most entertaining people watching experiences as the small group will have, like on our flight, luxe travellers, people in mountain trekking boots, families with small children and everyone in between. Lord Howe Island does the impossible – pleases every age and interest group imaginable.
A holiday on Lord Howe Island can include guided tours, fishing, snorkelling, diving, bird watching, water sports, land sports and hiking. You can find a full list of activities available on Lord Howe Island here.
Unmissable highlights
Snorkelling and swimming in the lagoon
You can hire flippers and snorkels for the week at several of the dive shops on the beachfront by the lagoon. We hired ours for $10/day or $30 per week. Child-size snorkels and flippers are available, as are child-size wetsuits.
The lagoon is an easy place for snorkelling, even for kids. There is also an anchored pontoon that is great for kids to climb up onto and then jump off into the ocean.
Kayaking
There are several spots that can be kayaked to, so make a day of it and pack a picnic lunch if you’d like to do some exploring.
We kayaked to Blackburn Island and back, but a popular spot to kayak to is North Head where there is excellent snorkelling. North Head is difficult to reach by foot so kayaking there is a good option. If you kayak to Blackburn Island I suggest taking reef shoes with you as it’s extremely rocky on the shore.
Hire a kayak for $20 per hour, $15 for subsequent hours. We fit two adults and one child in our kayak.
Hand-feeding wild fish on Ned’s Beach
One of the most popular things to do on the island. the wild fish at Ned’s Beach are extremely friendly and will eat fish food from your hand. Food is available from a shack just off the beach, There is an honesty box to put $1 or $2 coins in. Ned’s Beach is also great for swimming and snorkelling.
Hiking one of many walking tracks
Pick up a map from the Visitor’s Centre. There are a surprising number of stunning walks around the island of varying lengths and difficulty levels.
Walks we did:
Malabar to Dawsons Point Ridge: (1.5km) Class 4 and Max Nicholls Memorial Track to North Bay: (1.5km) Class 3 walks combined, which was quite the challenge but gave us spectacular views.
Clear Place: (1.2km return) Class 2 – this one went through the rainforest and included jungle swings.
Little Island Track: (1.4km) Class 2 – this one is flat and easy and wraps around the coastline under Mt Gower. Spectacular.
Bbq on the beach
There are free BBQs set up on the beachfront all over the island. Just BYO food and equipment. The BBQs are very popular at lunchtime and sunset so plan ahead.
Coffee and muffin from the Anchorage
This was our daily routine. The coffee and fresh muffins were amazing.
Anchorage
Sunset on the lagoon
A must-do at least once during your stay on the island.
Watching sea turtles at Old Settlement Beach
We were lucky enough to see sea turtles at Old Settlement Beach. This is their local hangout and can be seen here frequently.
Bird watching
Birds are everywhere! During our December stay we were lucky enough to see terns and their teenage offspring in their thousands at Ned’s Beach. Just amazing. Watching the birds, fearless of humans, nesting with their young was probably the number one highlight of our Lord Howe Island holiday.
When to visit Lord Howe Island
Lord Howe Island’s climate is mild, year-round. Maximum temperatures on the island hover around 25° celsius throughout summer, dipping to an average of 19° c in winter, while daily minimums range from 20°c in summer falling to around 12-14°c in winter. Basically you can plan your Lord Howe Island holiday for any time of year and it will be amazing.
The water even in summer can be cold, however wetsuits are available for hire, including children’s sizes.
Accessibility
Lord Howe Island is old school, and this includes accessibility for disabilities and strollers from what I noticed. If mobility is a challenge or you are visiting with a wheelchair, I suggest calling LHI directly to discuss options.
Playground
There is one playground on the island for kids located behind the lagoon.
What to pack for your Lord Howe Island Holiday
From the Lord Howe Island website:
Dress is casual, smart casual for evenings. Swimming costume, hat and sun protection. Shoes for bush and reef walking, flip flops. Day pack for walks and beach trips. A raincoat and windcheater are recommended owing to occasional showers and squalls that can occur at any time of the year. (It rained most days when we visited in December) Pack required medication in your carry-on baggage for travel on Qantas Link.
I would add to this: swimsuit, hat, sunglasses and sunscreen in your carryon luggage. Sunscreen is available to purchase on the island for a reasonable cost if you run out.
Medical facilities are limited so bring everything you might need.
Long-sleeve rashies/swimsuits and light cotton coverups – the UV index is high in summer.
Communications / internet access
Your mobile phone will not work on the island. I suggest giving the phone number and email address of your accommodation to family members to reach in case of emergency. Public phones are available and the Visitor Centre is open Monday to Friday 9am to 3pm and on Sunday 10am-1pm – internet is available here for visitors and locals.
Wifi is also available from the Anchorage restaurant. Be warned however that the internet available is limited and you won’t be able to do much more than download emails. No video streaming services, so download TV shows or moves before you leave home.
Medical facilities
A small hospital and dispensary is situated on Lagoon Road. Consulting and dispensary hours at this four-bed hospital are 9.00am to 12.30pm Monday to Friday. The doctor and nursing staff are on 24-hour call in case of emergencies.
Time
Australian Eastern Summertime during daylight saving. Winter is 30 minutes ahead of Australian Eastern Standard Time.
Banks, Credit Cards and Money
The currency is Australian Dollars. The Westpac agency operates through the Post Office, open hours are Mon-Fri 10am-1pm and 2pm-4pm. Credit cards are accepted widely but not everywhere. There is an automatic banking teller available for use at all hours at the Lord Howe Island Bowling Club.
Electricity
240V AC 50 cycles, three-pin plug – the same as mainland Australia.
Indulge in a delicious high tea at the Four Seasons Sydney. Enjoy the perfect afternoon tea, offered at Mode Kitchen & Bar on the ground floor of the hotel.
This special high tea is offered on weekends only, from 2-5pm.
Choose from the traditional high tea for $69pp, or Champagne high tea for
$89pp.
The Four Seasons high tea includes a three tiered platter with the perfect bite-sized savoury and sweet delicacies, plus your choice of tea or coffee. Scones are served separately on cute little glass stands with covers.
The elegant Four Seasons is the perfect place to enjoy a high tea. Our experience at the Four Seasons was pretty close to perfection. Every bite of food was incredible, with the perfect size to enjoy each item without feeling overly full at the end. The staff were friendly and professional at the same time, and the atmosphere and decor tastefully refined.
A new addition to the Four Seasons, the high tea is being trialled and refined. There is currently no kids’ high tea, however kids can order the full high tea for 50% of the cost, or share their parents’.
Savoury
Eggs & smoked salmon sandwich
Leeks, gruyere & salt bush tart
Kingfish tartare, cucumber & burnt onion
Lemon & asparagus vol au vent (3g Siberian Caviar extra $10)
I ordered a vegetation high tea and received an egg sandwich and substitute tartare.
Sweets
Coconut and cherry choux
Mini red apple
Valrhona dark chocolate delice
Strawberry love
Scones, clotted cream & berry jam
Jing tea & Coffee
Jing Assam Breakfast
Jing Earl Grey
Jing Chai V2
Jing Whole Chamomile Flowers
Jing Peppermint Leaf
Jing Blackcurrant & Hibiscus
Jing Lemongrass & Ginger
Jing Flowering Osmanthus
Jing Flowering Jasmine
Bookings required.
Mode Kitchen & Bar Ground Floor, Four Seasons Hotel Sydney 199 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Phone: (02) 9250 3160 modekitchenandbar.com.au/high-tea
Brays Bay Reserve & Mcilwaine Park Playground are a fantastic green space for leisure activities located on the waterfront in Sydney’s inner-west.
Brays Bay Reserve was named for the Bray family, who were pioneer settlers with a land grant in 1794. Their home, named “Braygrove”, was built opposite the reserve, on the other side of Concord Road. Alfred Llewellyn Bray was the first Mayor of Concord (1883-1886) and Henry David Bray, Alfred’s younger brother, was the third Mayor of Concord (1890-1891).
Located on the banks of the Parramatta River, Brays Bay Reserve is a scenic spot, with stunning water views. It’s the perfect location for a family picnic, with plenty of wide, open space to run and play ball games.
There are plenty of picnic tables and BBQs available for public use.
Next to Brays Bay Reserve is McIlwaine Park Playground. The playground has two seperate play areas, a fenced play area for younger kids and an unfenced area for older kids. Both play areas feature shade cloths.
There are public toilets available for use and a free car park.
Brays Bay Reserve joins the end of the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway, which is also worth a visit. Read more about the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway.
Brays Bay Reserve & Mcilwaine Park Playground 443 Concord Rd, Rhodes NSW canadabay.nsw.gov.au
A living memorial and commemoration site in Sydney’s inner-west, the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway honours Australians who fought for their country during World War II.
The walkway runs over 800m from Rhodes Station to Concord Hospital, along the mangrove-lined shores of Brays Bay on the Parramatta River.
According to the official Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway site, “A principal focus is on the sacrifices made during key Papua New Guinea battles which took place in 1942-43 along the Kokoda Track, at Milne Bay on the south-eastern tip of Papua, and at Buna, Gona, and Sanananda on the northern coastline.”
The official start of the walk is at the Memorial Rose Garden near Concord Hospital. The Rose Garden, features two semi-circular Memorial Walls, set amongst beautiful roses (visit in summer to see them in full bloom). On the walls are plaques dedicated to the memory of Australians who served in the war.
The Bruce Kingsbury VC Path links the Rose Garden to the rainforest-lined Walkway, where 22 audio-visual stations have been nestled into the bush alongside the path.
Each station describes a significant place or military engagement which took place along the Kokoda Track, at Milne Bay, and the northern coastal regions of Papua New Guinea. The lush vegetation lining the Walkway is reminiscent of the Kokoda Track.
The Killoola Street entrance brings you to Rhodes Park, where you’ll find the Kokoda Cafe, offering breakfast and lunch with traditional brekkie-style dishes and salads for those who are health conscious. There is outdoor seating available.
Restrooms are also available at this entrance, as well as the Five Senses Garden and play area for people of all ages, toddler to seniors.
Inside the Five Senses Garden is a selection of play and discovery equipment for children, as well as opportunities for people in the community, including those with disabilities, to get involved with the garden through workshops and classes. The garden was designed to function as “an inter-generational garden where children can play and older people can learn and feel less isolated.”
The Walkway ends at Brays Bay Reserve, which has a large grassed area, two playgrounds, one fenced for younger children and one unfenced for older kids, and picnic facilities.
The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway is wheelchair accessible, as are the toilets and cafe. Rhodes railway station is wheelchair accessible. When arriving at Rhodes Station, follow the signs to the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway.
Parking is available at Concord Hospital car park (parking fees apply), at the Killoola Street entrance to Rhodes Park (free parking) and at Brays Bay Reserve (free parking).
Glenorie Bakery: Pies and eclairs and freshly baked bread, oh my!
Get your pastry on at Glenorie Bakery, a destination for some of the best pies and bread in Sydney. The bakery features cafe dining, indoor and outdoor seating plus a playground.
Glenorie Bakery is a well-known pie destination, winning awards such as Bakery of the Year and inclusion of lists for Sydney’s best pies. And yes, Glenorie Bakery does amazing pies, and incredible bread, too. If you want to drop by and pick up a few pies or loaves of bread, it’s worth dropping by at any time.
The bakery also offers a cafe menu and onsite dining, with indoor and outdoor seating. Breakfast is served daily from 7:00am to 11:30am, with lunch taking over from 11:30am to 3:00pm.
Glenorie Bakery is open longer hours for takeaway coffee and food. As well as their coffee, pies and breads, the bakery has the most incredible assortment of sweet pastries, fruit tarts and eclairs, plus locally made produce such as jams, juice and honey. There are 14 types of eclairs on offer, including Nutella. They’re our fave!
All of the baked goods are made on-site by the Glenorie Bakery pastry chefs.
Glenorie Bakery is famous for their award-winning meat pie – however they also do great vegetarian/vegan pies.
If you have kids, choose a table outside near the play equipment.
The National Zoo & Aquarium is larger than it looks, so set aside the better part of a day to explore it all. 
Parking is available at Concord Hospital car park (parking fees apply), at the Killoola Street entrance to Rhodes Park (free parking) and at Brays Bay Reserve (free parking).
