Sydney, Australia

We decided to go to Australia because we wanted the first out of the country experience with our kids to be an English speaking country. With Taillon’s severe food allergies, we wanted to be able to communicate to the restaurants and hotel exactly what he was allergic to easily, and allow us to eat out there. Qantas was doing some really amazing deals when we were looking for our spring break destination, so we figured Australia was the right choice. I wanted a direct flight with no stops, so it all worked out and we booked it. The flight there went great. I was so worried about the kids not sleeping but I think being that it was an overnight flight made it easy for them. They were tired and had already eaten before we got on to the plane so that helped too. They watched movies on the inflight entertainment and played the games on it too. Occasionally they asked for there iPads but mainly they loved the inflight movies and games. I always pack a couple of new toys or books from the target dollar section to give them and we always bring a ton of snacks. Since Taillon has severe food allergies he doesn’t eat anything that the plane serves. So on short flights I pack some snacks. For this flight we fed him dinner before we got on and then brought all his food and snacks with us. I packed his school lunch box with some jello, pickles, fruit and a lunchable(not the most healthy thing but it works for us). I also had brought personal size cereal for breakfast on the plane. You just peel back the plastic top and I got milk from the flight attendants. It was a super easy breakfast for the kids on the plane. I preordered our meals ahead of time but I was glad that I brought most of the stuff for us because the plane food was pretty horrible.

Our hotel , The Sydney Harbor Marriott had to be the best location ever. It was literally a half a block from the wharf. It was basically a five minute walk to get there. Your best bet is to get a ferry pass to be able to hop on and off. Taronga Zoo, Manly beach, and Luna park among other places require a ferry ride. It was walking distance from so many great spots. The breakfast buffet at the Marriott was AMAZING!!!!!! So yummy and the had tons of great choices for the kids. It also had a ton of gluten free options for me...which was great!

Taronga Zoo was great, the kids loved the gondola ride going up into the park. We also loved how you got to see so many different animals that you normally don’t see in our zoo’s. We loved the kangaroos and Kuala but the platypus was really neat to see also. Toranga Zoo was definitely a full day experience and its a ferry ride from Sydney so the kids loved that.

The trip to Manly beach for us was not really a beach day. The weather was overcast and very cool. Let’s just say the weather on our trip wasn’t the best, but they were having surfing finals at Manly Beach and that was very fun to watch. It was a very cute little beach town.

We loved the day we did Sydney Wildlife.It was way more smaller than the Toranga Zoo so you were much more up close and personal with the Kuala and kangaroos. The kids loved this. We did the Kuala experience and got to pet and take a photo with the Kuala. That was great! Not to far away from the wildlife was an aviator museum. We really enjoyed that. The submarine was the best! We did the Sydney Tower Eye, great views from up there, then walked around the mall.

One day we did the Sealife Aquarium. We try to do the aquarium where ever we visit because the kids love it. Such a fun day and the kids loved the Penguin ride exhibit. It was soooo cold! The kids thought the “yellow” snow was hilarious!

Like I said our weather was prettty crappy some days so we had a really fun pirate cruise booked on St. Patrick’s Day but it was cancelled do to the torrential rain. The kids were super bummed, we had pirate costumes and all. We were literally dressed in them getting ready to leave and they called and canceled so we let them pick what they wanted to do that day. They picked arcade games, laser tag and Hard Rock Cafe.

On the day that turned out to be really good weather we headed to Bondi Beach and The Bondi Iceberg Club. This was my favorite day by far. The weather was beautiful and hot! The beach was fun but it’s was a bit windy and the waves we too strong for the kids. So we headed to the Bondi Iceberg Club for the kids to swim in the pool and to get the iconic Instagram Splash pic! Lol.

The last two days the kids wanted to go to the playground that they loved. We spent all day there and they made tons of friends. The people were so kind and we had such a great time. They had a cute little row of Restaurants and shops so we ate lunch and got coffee and hot chocolate. It’s funny, If you ask what their favorite part of Australia was, they say the playground! Lol. It really was a beautiful and nice area for the kids to play. Overall the trip was great. The kids did amazing on the very long flights and our location of hotel was perfect! We would love to go back and see more than just Sydney. My husband stayed and did a scuba diving trip on a boat for 3 days and he said that was awesome, the kids had to get back to school so we couldn't stay. We really enjoyed our first international trip with the kids! Definitely recommend Sydney!