Ellaslist Guide To Winter In Sydney With Kids 2018

GUIDE TO WIN TER 2018 ED. 1

Welcome to ellaslist’s indispensable guide to an epic winter in Sydney.

Letter From The Editor Dear Readers, Winter gets a bad rap but those three chilly months shouldn’t send us into a panic. Sydney comes alive during Winter with festivals, outdoor ice-skating rinks and snowy wonderlands! It’s hard to know where to start, so we’ve made it easy for you with this digital guide to all things Winter in Sydney. It’s packed with handpicked inspiration that will keep you going until Spring. Find a cosy farmstay with fire place or take the kids to see snow for the first time. Go fruit picking, see a show or if it’s all too much, take the family on a holiday to escape the cold. You’ll find it all – and more – within these pages.

Alex Harmon, Acting Editor

The ellaslist Guide To Winter 2018

What’s Inside?

4 Hunter Valley Gardens 5 Best of the Blue Mountains 6 Best Ice Skating 7 Best Winter Fruit Picking 8 Best Indoor Play Centres 9 Best Hot Chocolates 10 Where to Escape The Cold 11 Natural Hot Springs 12 Winter in the Trees 13 First Snow Trip 14 Cosy Winter Pubs 15 Best Kids Shows 16 Off Piste Snow Experience 17 Winter at the Entertainment Quarter 18 Best Winter Events 19 Farmstays with Fireplaces 20 Sutherland Leisure Centre 21 Cooks River Fun Run

Keep the whole family entertained with an escape to the Hunter Valley!

Snow Time in the Garden

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Icy Activities In this winter wonderland you can glide across the giant ice skating rink, swoosh down the mega ice toboggan & build a snowman in the Snow Play Zone!

New 9D Snow adventure A new addition to Snow Time, this immersive virtual reality experience will take you on a fun and frosty snow adventure. It’s so cool!

Fun Rides A new addition to Snow Time, this immersive virtual reality experience will take you on a fun and frosty snow adventure. It’s so cool!

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Offering fun for all ages, Hunter Valley Gardens is the place to be for school holiday activities. Learn more and purchase your tickets today.

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It just wouldn’t be winter without a trip to the Blue Mountains. With festive cheer, fireplaces galore and lots of natural wonder.

Fairmont Resort Watch the morning sun blanket the Jamison Valley from your breakfast table before a day filled with adventures for the whole family.

Best Of The Blue Mountains

Trees Adventure An eco-friendly treetop adventure complete with obstacles and flying foxes through beautiful Blue Gum canopies as high as 25m in the sky.

Mayfield Gardens Amazing! This stunning, sprawling space (with its very own maze) is one of the world’s largest privately owned cool climate gardens.

Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mt Tomah This breathtaking garden is located in a World Heritage Area. Explore it for free!

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Whether you’re graceful on the ice or still need a penguin, winter is simply the best time to go ice-skating with the kids.

It’s Ice Magic

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Liverpool Catholic Club Ice-skating is serious biz here so if you’re the next Tonya Harding, show them what you’ve got! If not, you can still have lots of fun gliding.

Canterbury Ice Skating This not for profit facility offers birthday parties, figure skating, public skating and disco nights.

Serving the inner west since 1971.

Bondi Winter Magic This popular ice rink by the beach also has an arts festival, entertainment and the Bondi Eye, giving visitors a birds’ eye view of Bondi Beach.

Parramatta Winterlight Get your skates on and glide into a magical winter wonderland. It’s the largest open-air rink in Sydney and also has a dedicated kid’s rink.

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Teach the kids about nature as you pick your own fruit this winter.

Watkins Family Farm After you’ve picked mandarins you can feed sheep or goats, check out the chickens, and breathe in the fresh mountain valley air.

Ripe For The Picking

Ford’s Farm At just a 90-minute drive north-west of Sydney, you can pick-your-own at this citrus farm which specialises in mandarins.

Canoelands Orchard Just a one-hour drive north-west of Sydney, they are currently offering pick-your-own tomatoes, set to run until early July.

Bilpin Fruit Bowl Get in quick to pick your own strawberries and make some strawberry jam to take home and enjoy.

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For those rainy winter days when the kids are experiencing cabin fever!

Indoor Play Centres

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Archie Brothers Electric Circus The funhouse in Alexandria that has it all. From games and bowling to laser tag and dodgem cars.

Sky Zone In Alexandria and Miranda, take your kids for a bounce when they really need to burn off energy. You might even want to give it a go.

Ultimate Sydney We just love the interconnected trampolines, zip lines, foam pit, climbing wall, and of course the giant play centre. Located in Northmead.

Monkey Mania Located all over Sydney they offer a jumping castle, dedicated toddlers area, foam ball area, climbing structures, slides and go-karts. Go bananas!

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Drinking hot chocolates with the kids is peak winter! Here’s where to go for the best.

Liquid Gold The Copper Mill This hipster haven in Alexandria has been serving up their Coconut Hot Choc for years and each winter, they get even better.

RivaReno Gelato Down at Barangaroo, this Italian cafe knows how to make a serious hot choccy!

Made with single origin 64% cocoa from Madagascar.

The Bathers’ Pavilion By the water in Balmoral you can get a real hot chocolate made with Callebaut dark chocolate melted over cream.

Earth to Table This organic vegan cafe in Bondi Junction do a delicious Chocolate Matte Latte made from matte, raw cacao and almond milk.

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The cold weather has really set in which can only mean one thing: it’s time to start planning your winter escape.

Escape The Cold

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Uluru The big red sacred rock should be on every family’s bucket list. And the weather there up in the NT is good year round!

Fiji It’s only a four flight to paradise. Fiji is the perfect family getaway and the weather is amazing all year round.

Darwin The final frontier on top of the NT, you’ll feel like you’re on a tropical holiday when you visit, and winter is the best time to go.

New Caledonia The increasingly popular alternative to Bali and Fiji for Aussie families and only 2.5 hours to French paradise, ooh la la!

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Don’t miss out on a swim this winter, choose a hot thermal spring for a dip.

Yarrangobilly Caves Thermal Pool Found in Kosciuszko National Park, the thermal pool is fed by a natural spring, and is 27 degrees all year.

Natural Hot Tubs

Blue Mountains Sparadise The Japanese Garden and Bathhouse’s outdoor hot spring is fed from the natural underground spring.

Moree Artesian Spa Baths A bit of a drive but worth it for a soothing, mineralrich spring and even a heated children’s Hidroplay area.

Burren Junction Bore Baths Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, head to these Bore Baths for a quiet, rural hot springs experience.

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Winter is a great time to experience a treetop high ropes course in the great outdoors.

Open All Weathers Rain doesn’t stop the fun, Trees Adventure is an outdoor all-weather activity. So seize the day!

Winter In The Trees

Work Up A Sweat Trees Adventure’s challenging course warms you up as you swing, leap, climb and fly through the forest.

Extraordinary Views See Taronga Zoo’s amazing wildlife and harbour views from the treetop high ropes adventure, WildRopes.

Toddlers Welcome Kids as young as 3 can swing through the Wild Ropes course, scale heights and dash through tree houses.

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While you might not be ready to turn the kids into professional skiers, there’s nothing like the wonder of that first frolic in the snow.

First Snow Experience Hunter Valley Gardens Experience an icy wonderland over 3 weeks, where families can iceskate, slide down the mega ice toboggan and build a snowman or two.

Corin Forest The perfect firstsnow experience and just 45 minutes from Canberra.

Grab a snow sled and slide down a beautiful “snowy” mountain with the kids.

Selwyn Snowfields Family is their speciality at Mount Selwyn. They offer gentle slopes for beginners and is affordable with excellent, friendly service.

Thredbo Thredboland is for kids aged 3–6 years and not only teaches your kids how to ski, but will get them involved in some super fun activities.

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Make like a European and take your kids to the pub for a family meal. These are your best options.

Cosy Winter Pubs Embers At Fairmont Worth the drive to sit by the iconic stone fireplace and have a drink overlooking the Blue Mountains.

Coogee Pavilion

Belrose Hotel

Salisbury Hotel The inner-west pub with the famous big red truck! A local favourite with plenty of family meal deals and even a nanny to look after the kids some nights.

No, not the balcony, this pub gets warm and cosy inside during winter! Plus 49% off all drinks during June.

The Belrose boasts the largest indoor ‘soft-play’ playground of any Hotel in Australia.

Plus great kids meals and cosy vibes

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Winter is the best time to get some culture into your kids, here are the best shows in town.

Kids With Culture Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night The popular novel comes to life for the first time in Australia. Kids will love the Sherlock Holmes-esque journey on stage.

Sydney Film Festival The festival has a vibrant selection of family-friendly films including animations to inspiring stories of youth around the world.

Disney On Ice The ice-skating spectacle showcases timeless Disney tales including Snow White, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, Frozen and more.

Sydney Youth Orchestra The Meet the Orchestra concerts are a wonderful way to introduce orchestral music to families and young children.

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Exciting events and exhibitions, plus a host of retail, food and entertainment outlets. A day out at EQ is an experience for the whole family.

Winter fun at the Entertainment Quarter

Entertain Me Get creative at Plaster Funtime.

Play tenpin bowling, laser tag or test problem solving skills in the Escape Room at Strike Bowling. Or catch a movie at Hoyts.

Feed Me Free meals for kids on Sundays at Fratelli’s, burgers and milkshakes from Backyard Burger Kitchen or delicious Indian at Masala Kitchen.

Try Me Black Star Pastry sell delicacies and delicious coffee.

Muffin Break’s muffins are out of this world and Dolcetta offer fantastic sweets and treats.

Pick Me The Market EQ offers organic produce, fresh flowers, hot food, crafts and jewellery.

Come to shop, stay for the atmosphere.

On Wednesday and Saturday 8am-2pm.

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From ice skating to snowman building, Sydney will once again sparkle at these wonderful winter events.

Hunter Valley Snow Time in the Garden Fun and frosty activities for kids of all ages! ice skating, a toboggans, a giant slide, ferris wheel and more!

Out and about in winter

Parramatta Winterlight 17 days of fun!, The largest openair rink in Sydney, dedicated kid’s rink, ice slide, ferris wheel, rides, and live music.

Tree Adventures Stay warm by swinging from the trees! This treetop obstacle course with flying foxes through Blue Gum canopies is fun for the whole family.

Liverpool Catholic Club The Playgroup Program (ages 2-6yrs) provides a safe environment for your tot to develop their skating skills.

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A cosy fire is the icing on the cake at a winter family farm stay‌

Farmstays With Fireplaces Bilpin Country Lodge This farm stay in the Blue Mountains region makes for a cosy getaway and in the cold months they have a beautiful log fire in the lounge room.

Peacehaven Farmstay Their Tranquility Cottage has a log fire and a spa bath with candles, aromatic oil bubble bath and bath salts.

Mowbray Park Farmstay Not only do they have fireplaces they also have outdoor fire pits for making damper and toasting marshmallows.

Kids love this place!

Morvern Valley Country Cottages In Bundanoon you get the whole luxurious cottage to yourself. With open log fire and all wood provided so you can relax and stay warm.

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Don’t hang up the bathing suit just yet, Sutherland Leisure Centre is the place to go for winter pool fun.

Winter Warming Swims The 25 metre indoor heated pool reaches temperatures of 38°C so you and the family can keep swimming in winter.

Sutherland Leisure Centre

Spa And Steam Room Get a sweat going in the steam room or relax in the spa, these adultsonly facilities are available all through winter.

Gyms With Creche Keep up your winter fitness regime at the gym and group fitness classes.

There’s an excellent childminding service, so there’s no excuse not to!

Fun For All Kids With a dedicated toddler pool and family recreation area including bubble jets and water play, kids of all ages will have a blast!

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FIND OUT MORE ► STRATHFIELD

SPR NG FESTIVAL FATHER'S DAY WEEKEND FAMILY FUN!

SATURDAY 1 SEPTEMBER

10AM TO 5PM - STRATHFIELD PARK

Headline entertainment, carnival rides, kids activities and more!

STRATH FIELD COUNCIL

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THANK YOU

Millions of parents visit ellaslist to discover new and exciting things to do with their kids both in their local community and in our wonderful city.

We’re proud and humbled that so many new family experiences start with a simple visit to our website. We’d like to sincerely thank all our loyal readers for continuing to support ellaslist and a huge thanks to all our venue partners, sponsors, ellaslist explorers and the many local activities providers that do such a wonderful job in our communities helping us to entertain, educate and create fun experiences with our kids. We wish you a wonderful Winter and look forward to continue to bring you more inspiration.

Love, the team at ellaslist xxx

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