How travelling with kids made me see Sydney differently

At McCarrs Creek Reserve, there is a surprising request. “Can we stay and play for a bit, Dad?”

To me, this waterside park on the edge of Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park was a pretty but unenthralling place to pull over and cook lunch on the public barbecue. For the kids, it’s another example of what Sydney is spectacularly good at – attractive open spaces with just enough wild about them to seem exciting. In this case, they run through the trees, playing some unfathomable game with sticks they gather along the way.

West Head Beach… Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park is overlooked by most Sydneysiders.Credit: Destination NSW

I lived in Sydney for five years and have visited scores of times since, yet I had never previously heard of McCarrs Creek Reserve. Or, indeed, spent more than a cursory hour or two inside Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park.

The theory behind this trip, with family in tow, was to see the city differently. But looking at things a nine-year-old and six-year-old might like happily coincided with exploring parts of the city I had never previously paid much attention to.

Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park is shamefully overlooked by most Sydneysiders. It’s a rumpled, thickly forested slice of wilderness, surrounded by craggy, splintered waterways. Waterfalls, Aboriginal rock art and beaches you can’t drive to are part of the mix, but the walking trails hit that sweet spot of feeling like a proper adventure without being too isolated.

Bobbin Head picnic ground, Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park. Credit: Destination NSW

It is also not the only national park in Sydney. Sydney Harbour National Park also offers several spots where kids can scamper along paths while parents enjoy the views.

On the south side of the harbour, that means taking the ferry to Watsons Bay and heading around the coastline rather than gorging fish and chips. But at North Head, it’s much quieter and, arguably, even more spectacular.

The views, both of the harbour and north along the clifftops, are top drawer. They’re enough to fall hopelessly in love with the city again. For the kids, the chance of a wildlife sighting is the ideal spur. We’re slightly too late, alas, to see humpback whales migrating along the coast – although this is an impeccable location in season. Showing up early in the morning, however, means the scuttling bandicoots are active.

Walking trails with epic views at Sydney Harbour National Park.Credit: Destination NSW

It feels like the first encounter with these long-nosed little darlings should be in a bush reserve somewhere way out in the country. But the green hideaways dotted around Sydney make wildlife encounters surprisingly easy.

Perhaps the most famous of these little colonies is in Hyde Park, where brashly unshy possums hang out. We hang around, waiting for them to emerge, after a trip to the Australian Museum. This Sydney cultural staple has undergone an understandably significant revamp since I last visited 22 years ago.

The major hit at the Australian Museum is Burra, a sprawling play space based around a giant model of an eel. It comes with all manner of hidey-holes to explore, colourful projections on the floor, cartoons and an interactive wall teaching the traditional dances of Pacific Islanders. The girls basically play for two hours, being conned into learning about Sydney’s nature and Aboriginal heritage along the way.

Importantly, from a tight-fisted parent’s perspective, the Australian Museum is free to enter. And this becomes a running theme across the visit. Tackle Sydney from a kid’s perspective and you really don’t have to spend that much money.

Harbour beach Camp Cove’s placid waters.Credit: Destination NSW

The classic free attractions in Sydney, of course, are the beaches. Again, having the kids along is a chance to check out a few that had previously been off my radar. On the walk to South Head from Watsons Bay, Camp Cove fulfils the role of harbour beach with placid waters. But the girls want waves to jump in.

This leads to an exploration of the northern beaches, and discovery of giant beachside pools. At Collaroy and Curl Curl, there’s a handy cycle that whiles the day away. First battling the surf, then making fantastically elaborate castles in the sand, then swimming in the ocean pool. For the kids, this is unstinting joy. For me, it’s a welcome reassessment of just how costly Sydney would be.

Kid-friendly Collaroy Rockpool.Credit: Destination NSW

There’s also a reassessment of what Sydney is. My Sydney was always city bars, inner west BYO Thai joints and buses to Bondi or Coogee. Expanding the horizons to the national parks and northern beaches makes for a totally different experience. The city feels easier-going, natural and practically set up for children. A break in the big city becomes a genuine holiday.

The details

Fly
Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetstar operate flights to Sydney from most major cities. See virginaustralia.com, qantas.com.au, jetstar.com

Stay
The Quest Manly offers serviced apartments opposite the Manly ferry wharf for from $439 a night, rooms only. See questapartments.com.au

Do
Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park, see nationalparks.nsw.gov.au

Sydney Harbour National Park, see nationalparks.nsw.gov.au

Australian Museum, see australian.museum

More

See sydney.com

The writer was a guest of Tourism Australia.