In an attempt to find a more ‘stimulating’ addition to my 4 year old daughter’s usual cartoons viewed on her iPad, I discovered ‘Wildlife warriors’ on iTunes, a program documenting the daily happenings at Australia Zoo. As a family, we all ended up enjoying the series and this prompted me to revisit my plans from years before that had never come to fruition, to take Miss 4 to Australia Zoo.
With the help of my friend Vanessa Forte, fellow NSM and travel agent from Travel Counsellors, we put together a 4-day trip which comprised return flights to Sunshine Coast Airport (Maroochydore), and three nights accommodation at the nearby Novotel Twin Waters Resort. Funnily enough, we had stayed at this resort years ago (before kids!) and not enjoyed it… probably because there were so many kids and everything was so family-focused. Now, this is exactly what I loved about the hotel. How life changes!
Novotel Twin Waters Resort
We stayed in a one-bedroom apartment, which had a kitchenette but only a microwave so I wouldn’t call it fully self-contained. However, with a deli café takeaway, restaurant and bar/bistro on site, there were plenty of dining options. Our accommodation was modern, clean, and comprised a king bed in one room plus a portacot set up for our 7 month old, and a fold out sofa bed in the adjoining lounge room.
The resort is set around a large lagoon and offers many free activities such as sailing, stand up paddle boarding, canoeing, kayaking and a large floating trampoline! The pool is huge, and has a large shallow area perfect for toddlers. Other activities included a circus school and bike hire, sandcastle building competitions and treasure hunts for the kids, or for the adults Segway tours, golf and archery. The only negative about the physical environment of the resort in our opinion was the lack of ramps around the main resort building, restaurants and pool area – heaps of stairs, so not very pram friendly!
The Novotel pool
On Day 2, we spent the morning at the resort and DD managed to win the sandcastle building competition (of course with no help from Mum and Dad, hmmmm) and drove into nearby Mooloolaba for lunch. At a friend’s recommendation, we purchased seafood from the fish markets on the wharf where the fishing trawlers come in. Opposite the market was a park and playground which was the perfect spot to eat our fresh fish and prawns and was an easy spot to wait for our order as they even had buzzers to let us know when our food was ready! We then drove the 45 minutes north to Noosa Heads for a stroll along the beach and a sticky beak at the new hotels along Hastings Street before heading back to Twin Waters via the coastal road, a scenic drive that took us through Coolum and Peregian Beach.
That night hubby and I had booked a babysitter so we could have dinner out together. The kids club at the resort ‘Kids Cove’ organized this for us and our sitter arrived at 8pm so we could put the kids to bed ourselves first. Although we were only going to the resort restaurant (and of course the bar afterwards for a drink!), the minimum charge was for three hours ($90), but it was worth it to have dinner out on our own and get to finish a sentence! Kids Cove offers great activities during school holidays, but as were there during school term the service appeared to be more like a crèche although babies could go too if accompanied by a babysitter.
We visited Australia Zoo on our third day and we set off for the approximately half hour trip at 8.30am to get there at opening time. Being a Tuesday and not school holidays, there were no queues to get in and Vanessa had pre-booked our tickets so we were able to virtually walk straight in. We boarded a shuttle that took us to the furthermost area of the 100 acre site , the ‘Africa’ action which was a lot like Dubbo Zoo with free ranging giraffe, zebra and rhino. From here we spent the rest of the day on foot, exploring the many areas of the zoo, ‘South East Asia’ which had a fantastic tiger show, ‘Roo Heaven’ where you can pat and feed the kangaroos , ‘Koala Walkthrough’ where you can pat a koala, and of course the world famous ‘Crocoseum’, a 5000-seat auditorium which you may have seen during coverage of Steve Irwins’ Memorial Service which was held here. The biggest show of the day ‘The Wildlife Warriors’ was held at midday and was definitely a highlight for us.
The Crocoseum
What impressed us about this place was the way the natural environment had been preserved, it wasn’t a concrete jungle and aside from the walking paths there were many shaded, grassy areas and well kept and tended gardens everywhere. The animals enclosures were also as close to their natural habitats as possible with no sign of cages or concrete here either.
We enjoyed lunch in the huge food court and were pleasantly surprised with the range, quality and freshness of the food. Along with the rest of the zoo, this area was 100% clean and tidy too.
After lunch, it was time to visit the kids zoo where you can buy bags of food to feed the sheep goats and pigs. In the afternoon we saw the Tiger Show. Afterwards, I enquired about having our family photo taken with a tiger, but after discovering it was $400 I politely (but quickly!) declined. Although expernsive, it was good to know that themoney does go to Tiger Conservation programs run by the zoo in South East Asia. We opted instead to have our photo taken holding a koala, which was just $25! Another highlight of the day for me, beautiful experience!
Get a photo taken with a cuddly koala!
At one stage, Miss 4 seemed to be getting more enjoyment from the bush turkeys and bearded dragon lizards that frequently crossed our path and I feared we may be losing her and have to call it a day when around the corner came the camels! So off we went to have a camel ride, which also cost extra but came with a souvenir photo.
Again, there were no queues for this, but I think the tranquility we experienced could be forgotten in school holidays when I think the zoo would have a different vibe altogether. The day we were there we did not even have any large school or tour groups so enjoyed having the place almost to ourselves.
After the obligatory exit through the souvenir shop we headed back to the resort. Needless to say, we opted for the in-room dining menu that night and a very early night! The following morning we had time for a ride around the lagoon on the bikes followed by a sail and a swim before heading back to the airport and returning our hire car (from Avis Sunshine Coast Airport). We had decided to return home on Jetstar, as it left approximately 3 hours later than the one Virgin flight per day and gave us time to enjoy the resort facilities a little longer and was worth the nominal late check out fee.
Overall we packed a lot into four days away but still came back feeling relaxed, and so pleased we had finally visited the iconic Australia Zoo. I would highly recommend this as a great family getaway!
Turramurra mum, Kate Duncan, enjoyed three nights on the Sunshine Coast with her husband, 4-year-old daughter and 8-month old son in February 2014. If you’d like to share your recent travels with North Shore Mums, we’d love to publish it! Get in contact here.
