One of our favourite places to take the kids is the Darwin Botanic Gardens. Weekend family time we find it is always good to get out and explore somewhere with the kids and let them burn some energy. We are truly lucky in Darwin with the various locations and loads of events to fill our calendars – many of them being free of charge too – which is always helpful with a large family.
Today we have guest blogger Jodie AKA Territory Mama sharing with us her favourite experiences of travelling to various places around the Northern Territory. Jodie is mama to one little girl who is about to turn 1 and her little family loves exploring.
It’s no secret that we love travelling and camping in the NT. Here’s a little run down on some of our favourite spots to visit with kids as well as some of our essentials that make life easier and enjoyable for everyone, when travelling around the NT.
It’s hard not to love Kakadu! There’s something for everyone, but our favourites are the waterfalls! We love camping and camping with a view just adds to the magic. Gunlom has one of the best views in the park, whether you are at the top overlooking the escarpment or from your camp site watching the water fall. There’s a great grassed area for kids to play in and for most of the season you can also swim in the bottom pool.
If planning to complete the hike to the top of the falls with young children, I would highly recommend a good quality carrier. We love ours and now don’t leave home with out it!
The Katherine area has a lot to offer for travelling families. Kids love the gorge cruise. It’s quite accessible for kids and even has an option for a quick dip.
Edith Falls has a great camp site with plenty of green grass and a great spot for a swim at the bottom or top of the falls. Katherine Outback Adventures also offer a kid friendly show with a glimpse into the life of living on a working station.
We love to take a good quality play mat with us for Bub to have a roll around on while on our travels. One with waterproof or even semi-waterproof material is ideal for camping. We also like to use one with a little padding for those harder rockier camp sites.
Our latest adventures took us to Keep River National Park, towards the W.A. border. This little known Park was a delightful surprise. When we visited unfortunately there was not a lot of water left but there was still a great lagoon for bird watching and some easier quite spectacular walks that are also manageable for little legs.
One of our favourite travel accessories is our compact high chair. Great for keeping the little ones ‘contained’ with some snacks or toys, while setting up or packing up camp.
We hope you have enjoyed this blog! Please leave aus a comment if you found something helpful or a new place to explore! We look for forward to seeing you in the Top End!
For more NT adventures please follow Territory Mama and her travels on Instagram Facebook and find her website blog here
Mince. It has to be one of the most budget friendly meats on the market. The premium or homemade mince offers a healthy version for families. Mince 3 ways was a concept I developed when looking at ways to use up leftovers and still have a variety of meals during our week.
As a busy mum, I am always on the lookout for ways to make my life easier and simpler. I was talking to a friend the other day who also has a large family and I asked her what sort of meals she does during the week. She replied she often does a big batch of one meal so it can feed the family for two nights. It got me thinking about this and how I could also implement this without it being the “same meal”. I am also conscious of the amount we spend on our weekly food shop so I am always on the hunt for healthy, easy and nutritious meals for my family that won’t break the bank.
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Today we have a guest blogger – Alice Harold who is a new mum, a new breast feeder and a new business owner! She is a beautiful local Darwin Mumprenuer, a small business owner and is passionate about her business and her products. Alice is the proud owner of the Milk Mumma which creates scrubs and lotions which are handmade with love and your breast milk!
I am particularly passionate about the wonderful breast milk and have breast fed all four of my babies including my twin babies. It can be the most challenging and rewarding time to know your body can heal and nurture your little baby so when Alice decided to join our directory, I was super excited to have her on board and to try out her scrubs and lotions first hand! (My thoughts on those wonderful products will be shared on another blog!). Today she shares with us her story of her birth of her beautiful baby girl and how her new baby then created her new business. Read on for Alice’s story:
As a parent School Holidays can bring with it a mix bag of emotions. From enjoyment, relief, stress and mayhem (depending on the day or hour really!) It can be a welcomed break to the routine. The early rises, having to be at school on time, lunch box packing and the busy weeks just flying by. The school holidays can welcome a more “relaxed” start to the day but also can be challenging to keep the kids entertained. The upcoming Darwin October school holidays are only a one week break (2nd October to 8th October) so they are pretty manageable. Although it is always handy to know what is happening and where to go. Darwin Family Life has rounded up our Top 5 FREE October school holidays activities for you to check out with your kids.
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This week on the blog we have Kylie Sharp from My Childcare Directory summarising the Child care changes occurring in 2018. Kylie is a wife and a mum to two gorgeous little boys who love cars, trains, dinosaurs and getting messy! Since having children she has been a working mum as well as a stay at home mum. In these times Kylie used multiple childcare settings. Kylie has dealt with the children’s tantrums and the guilt that they cause when you leave them! Kylie also has Bachelor of Teaching (Birth to 5 years) so understands how childcare services work.
The Childcare Directory was created to help parents like yourselves navigate all the options available. Kylie will investigate your options and provide reviews from current and past families that have used the services to help you with your decision. You can also follow Kylie on Facebook or visit her website here
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As a busy mum, I am always on the lookout for ways to make my life easier and simpler. One of the constant needs in running a household is fuel in the car. But Darwin now has drive through fuel convenience in several locations. Darwin Family Life has done the research and found the locations for you!
I dread seeing that little fuel light come on and having a car full of kids, can you relate? You are then faced with the dilemma of dragging all the kids into and out of the car …..which can be a lot of effort and all those damn tempting chocolate bars right at the cashier. All the kids then want to grab one and say “can we have one Mummy”. Or you leave the kids in the car, lock it and run in to pay like a madwoman because you have left your kids in the car for one minute. Which of course is not really a great option.
Luckily there is now another option!!
Today is Father’s Day. A day to say a special thank you to the Father’s, step fathers, grandfathers and other men who play an important role in our lives or our children’s lives.
Whether you made breakfast in bed, dined out for brunch, lunch or dinner. Spend some special time together as a family to celebrate and enjoy.
Darwin’s picture perfect views of our foreshore are truly spectacular and what better way to enjoy them, than at a Family friendly cafe. Darwin Family Life headed out for brunch on the weekend. As a parent, I am sure you can relate to picking your venues carefully when you decide to venture out with your little munchkins. There is nothing worse than going to a cafe or restaurant that is not very welcoming to families. Well rest assured the Foreshore Cafe next to Nightcliff swimming pool is a perfect place for the family to head to for a bite to eat, coffee or a refreshing cold drink. Continue Reading →
Sausages. Kids seem to love them, but as a Mum there are only so many sausages I can handle in a week. So I am always on the look out for new recipes and here is Darwin Family Life’s newest sausage risotto favourites.
I don’t know about your household, but sometimes we can get in a dinner time rut. You want to try out a new recipe but you may have fussy little ones who a) exclaims “YUK” as soon as a new plate of food is in front of them b) does not want to touch it or c) they push it around their plate and barely want to eat it. Or it could be a combination of all of the above!
In our household we have four little munchkins so this recipe got the tick of approval from all of them (six year old, two four year olds and the one year old). It is full of yummy veggies and got snags so that has got to be a winner with kids right! Our sausage risotto is a proven winning dinner.Continue Reading →