Exploring Sydney with kids reveals a different side of the city. Find hidden national parks, free entry at the Australian Museum, and beachside ocean pools.
Discovering new perspectives with kids
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 is a pretty but unenthralling place to pull over and cook up 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.
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.
Sydney’s overlooked national parks
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.
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 on fish and chips. But at North Head, it’s much quieter and, arguably, even more spectacular.
The views, both of the harbour and back north along the clifftops, are top drawer. They’re enough to fall hopelessly in love with the city again. For the kids, though, the chance of a wildlife sighting is the ideal spur. We’re slightly too late, alas, to see the humpback whales migrating along the coast – although this is an impeccable location in season. Showing up early in the morning, however, does mean the scuttling bandicoots are active.
Five great things to do while you’re in Sydney
- Take a small group tour to the Blue Mountains – with a Parramatta River cruise thrown in.
- See the landmarks and secret beaches – on a Sydney Harbour cruise.
- Discover Sydney’s most historic neighbourhood – on a Rocks walking tour.
- Go on a whale-watching cruise – and admire migrating humpbacks.
- Learn to surf at Bondi Beach – with beginner surfing lessons.
Wildlife encounters across the city
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 revamped Australian Museum
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 now 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.
Family fun at Sydney’s beaches
The classic free attractions in Sydney, of course, are the beaches. Again, though, having the kids along is a chance to check out a few that had previously been off my radar. On the way 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 the 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 reassessment of just how costly Sydney would be.
A city reimagined
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.
More Sydney travel
Other Sydney travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- How to get into the Sydney Opera House without buying tickets.
- A first-timer’s guide to visiting Luna Park in Sydney.
- A practical guide to visiting the Australian National Maritime Museum.
- Planning a visit to Lane Cove National Park.
- Everything visitors to the Museum of Sydney need to know.
