I’m finally putting down words about our trip to Canberra. But as I was writing this post I realised there is just too much information for one post so I’ll break it down into parts. With term 2 school holidays coming up and work being busy in the lead up, we decided to get out of Sydney for a few days and try to have a break. I always say it’s never a holiday with young kids but a change of scenery can do wonders for the soul!

The boys were dying to see snow and living in Sydney that’s very unlikely to happen. So after a quick search we decided to head to Canberra – so much to do for the kids plus a place called Corin Forest, about 45 minutes out of Canberra, which provided a snow play area. It does snow during winter when it’s pretty cold but they also produce man-made snow so you’re guaranteed some snow to play with.

The morning of our little road trip we packed the car efficiently and quickly and left home about 9am. Our aim was to get to Bowral and have brunch – or an early lunch in other words. About 45 minutes into the trip our eldest decided to have a snooze but the youngest starting whining about being hungry. I could’ve given him snacks but then he wouldn’t have been hungry when we hit the café. We played a few games of I Spy and eventually I got tired of ‘I’m hungry. Are we nearly there?’ that I handed over the phone with Paw Patrol episodes for him to watch. If you thought I was going to say I handed over the snacks, you’re wrong. I can be very stubborn when I want to!

We hit Bowral about 1030am and went looking for The Redtree Café, 52 Station St. It was recommended by BabyMac on her list of eateries in the area so we thought we’d try it out. The café has an industrial feel about it due to the design. While we were there a couple of groups of teenagers came in as well as some other adults. The café is nice and is easy to find, and the food menu is great for older kids and adults.

We were the only ones there with young kids and were seated quickly at a table big enough for the four of us. I didn’t feel the menu was great for kids but they did have croissants, muffins and toast. Menu items are on the higher price end but it all sounded delicious. Hubby went for scrambled eggs on toast; I went for smashed avocado with Persian fetta and poached egg on sourdough; our eldest went for a ham and cheese toastie; and Mr Hungry went for a croissant with jam – only the plain croissants hadn’t arrived that morning so he couldn’t have that. It would’ve been nice to have been informed of that when we were given the menus, however World War III didn’t erupt as he was happy with toast and jam.

Our drinks arrived quickly and the boys were super happy with their hot chocolate and two marshmallows. I wasn’t super happy that they were given it in glasses as I’m just not comfortable with young kids drinking hot drinks (or any drink for that matter) from a glass. Food arrived soon after and it looked yum! The servings are big which may be why the price of food is on the higher end. The toast and jam was on sourdough bread and I often find that type of bread can be hard to eat for little mouths when toasted. Once I’d cut off the hard crust he was happy to try put the jam on himself.

Once we’d finished we hopped back into the car and drove the short distance to Goulburn. We wanted to see ‘Rambo’ – the Big Merino. There are a lot of ‘Big’ things in Australia and there are some people who actually go around Australia ticking them all off their list! Goulburn was known for its wool industry and Rambo was built in 1985 as a tribute to this. He stands at about 50ft tall so you can’t really miss him as you drive into Goulburn. It was blowing a gale and raining as we got out of the car so we donned our wellies and headed over.

We only found out that morning that you could climb up inside him and look out over Goulburn through his eyes. There’s no cost to do this but you do have to walk through a souvenir shop to get to the steps. We were the only ones there that morning so we took our time going up; stopped at the wishing well; and looked at all the information and history on the wool industry. The view over Goulburn would be lovely if the sun was shining but we got rain and mud! Either way it was something fun to do and the boys thought it hilarious they could look out Rambo’s eyes. With this ticked off our list we got back in the car and headed to the National Dinosaur Museum. Details to come in part 2.