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Family Fun
EXPERIENCES
Family Fun
The Great Sunshine Way is a wonderful playground with fun and excitement for both young and old. Get even greater value on your family holiday with these free or low-cost experiences.
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Brisbane | Gold Coast | Sunshine Coast | Fraser Coast | Worth a Splurge
Great Saver: Borumba Deer Park
Visit this 6 ha family-owned pet-friendly camp and caravan park with kilometres of river frontage and proximity to Borumba Dam. Enjoy activities such as fishing, hiking and feeding deer.
Where: Imbil, 165km northwest of Brisbane
Cost: A$9 (adult), A$5 (child) for unpowered camp sites, A$65 for cabins.
Great Saver: City Cat cruise
Explore Brisbane on this local river taxi service - a speedy and fun way of commuting. Cruise the city’s scenic waterways and enjoy some of its best views, while paying nothing more than local bus fares.
Where: City Cat terminals are located at various points along the Brisbane River, including South Bank and North Quay in the heart of the city.
Cost: From A$2.30 (single-trip ticket) or from A$4.60 (daily ticket). You can even use the tickets for local buses and trains.
Great Saver: South Bank Parklands
Have hours of fun at this recreation precinct in the heart of Brisbane city. Build sandcastles on its man-made beach and take a dip in the lagoon, with skyscrapers as a backdrop. Enjoy a picnic in the lush parklands and explore the weekend craft markets.
Where: By the Brisbane River, in the heart of Brisbane city
Cost: Free
Great Saver: Queensland Museum
Families will have lots of fun at this museum, which features dinosaurs, dragons, sharks, bugs and other creepy crawlies. It also has Aboriginal artefacts and prehistoric items.
Where: South Bank, in the heart of Brisbane city
Cost: General admission is free (except to some special exhibitions)
Great Saver: Children’s Art Centre
The art gallery's exhibitions and programs for children are nationally renowned. The Children's Art Centre offers interactive activities, exhibitions, artist-run workshops and performances for children of all ages.
Where: Gallery of Modern Art & Queensland Art Gallery, Stanley Place, South Bank
Cost: Free
Great Saver: Lyell Deer Farm
Visit this lovely 40-acre farm, which breeds 4 species of deer. Set amid mountains and bushland, it offers visitors the chance to hand feed the deer, learn how they are farmed and buy deer leather products at factory prices.
Where: Foggs Road / Lyell Court, Mount Samson (35 minutes drive from Brisbane city)
Cost: A$5 (adult), A$3.50 (child)
Great Saver: Walk-About Creek Freshwater Study Centre
This is a great venue for kids to discover the wonders of Australia’s unique freshwater wildlife including fish, lizards, turtles, and platypus. There are also nocturnal wildlife, wallabies and many other animals including the star attraction Sonja the hairy nosed wombat.
Where: 60 Mt Nebo Road, Brisbane Forest Park (25 minutes drive from Brisbane city)
Cost: A$5.30 (adult), A$2.60 (child), A$13.20 (Family - 2 adults & 2 children)
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Great Saver: Mount Tamborine
Explore this world of lush rainforests, cosy cottages, antique shops and craft villages. It also includes walking tracks through nine national parks. Try to spot the resident wildlife, such as lorikeets and scrub turkeys.
Where: Mount Tamborine, 40-minute drive from Surfers Paradise
Cost: Free
Great Saver: Sunday in the Park
Enjoy this weekly program of free outdoor performances by local musicians. Held in parks across the Gold Coast, they offer the perfect setting for a family picnic.
Where: Various locations on the Gold Coast
Cost: Free
Great Saver: Playgrounds
The Gold Coast boasts an excellent network of playgrounds, offering plenty of fun and adventure for kids. One of the most popular is Pratten Park, which features a pedal powered monorail, pirate ship, slides and sand pit. Laguna Park is another top pick, with its huge adventure playground, heaps of slides, rockers and more.
Where: Pratten Park is located on Old Burleigh Road at Broadbeach; Laguna Park is at Laguna Avenue at Palm Beach
Cost: Free
http://thegoldcoastdirectory.com/Gold_Coast_Playgrounds.html
Great Saver: Discovery Forest
This delightful children’s playground is located at Binna Burra Mountain Lodge. It features a cubby house, three-dimensional maze, swings, caves and a ‘scratch and smell’ forest.
Where: Binna Burra Road, Beechmont (45-minute drive from Surfers Paradise)
Cost: Free activity for Binna Burra guests as well as day-trippers
www.binnaburralodge.com.au
Great Saver: Faerie Park
This fairy garden-themed park, with lovely mountain views and shady fig trees, will enchant your tiny tots. It has a toadstool magic circle, troll bridge, goblin’s cave, playground and wishing well.
Where: Inwood Circuit, Merrimac, about 15 minutes from Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast
Cost: Free
Great Saver: Multi-Park Pass
Have fun at the famous theme parks on the Gold Coast and enjoy discounts when you purchase a multi-park pass to Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World and Wet‘n’Wild Water World.
Where: Movie World and Wet’n’Wild are located at Pacific Motorway, Oxenford (20 minutes drive north of Surfers Paradise); Sea World is located at Sea World Drive, Main Beach (5 minutes drive from Surfers Paradise)
Cost: Enjoy savings of up to A$27 when you purchase an Escape Pass at A$105 per adult (single-day entry to 2 parks of your choice over 3 days)
(Normal admission to Movie World and Sea World is A$66 per adult; Wet’n’Wild admission is A$45 per adult)
Great Saver: Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
With more than 1,400 Australian animals in natural bushland and rainforest settings, this lovely wildlife park offers a rare opportunity to get closer to the native wildlife. You can hand feed lorikeets and kangaroos, learn more about wombats and koalas, and even catch an Aboriginal show, featuring dances, stories and the distinctive rhythms of the didgeridoo.
Where: 28 Tomewin Street, Currumbin (20 minutes from Surfers Paradise)
Cost: A$32 (adult), A$21 (child)
www.currumbin-sanctuary.org.au
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Sunshine Coast
Great Saver: Ginger Factory
Visit the world's largest ginger factory. Take a historic cane train ride through subtropical rainforest, or enjoy an animated boat ride as you follow the Gingerbread Man on his adventures around the world.
Where: 50 Pioneer Road, Yandina
Cost: Free entry. Tickets for the activities or tours start from A$5.50
www.buderimginger.com/gingerfactory
Great Saver: Strawberry Fields
Pick your own strawberries at this local farm, which is open 7 days a week during strawberry season from June to November each year. It also has a shop that sells delicious strawberry ice creams and other refreshments.
Where: 133 Laxton Road, Palmview
Cost: Free entry
Great Saver: Eumundi Markets
Visit one of Australia’s biggest markets, with over 500 stalls selling everything from organic carrots and handmade chocolates to toys and local crafts. There are also face painters, musicians and street artists to keep you entertained.
Where: Memorial Drive, Eumundi (every Wednesday and Saturday)
Cost: Free
Great Saver: Fishing in Noosa River
Get some bait and tackle and throw a line in the Noosa River or off the beach to catch some of Australia's freshest and tastiest seafood. No fishing permits are required.
Where: Noosa
Cost: Some holiday apartments offer free use of fishing rods, or you can hire a rod for about A$5.
Great Saver: Peregian Originals
Every third Sunday of the month, head down to Peregian Beach for this live music concert that features only original music, written by the performers. It is a fun, laidback and ideal setting for a family picnic.
Where: 10 minutes drive south of Noosa’s Hastings Street
Cost: Free
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Fraser Coast
Great Saver: Maryborough
Visit the lovely town of Maryborough, filled with colonial architecture, majestic public buildings and beautiful gardens. Check out the weekly Heritage Markets, which bring a cast of actors in historical dress to the streets, as well as vendors of art, craft and other local produce.
Where: Every Thursday, Adelaide and Ellena streets, Maryborough
Cost: Free
Great Saver: Wathumba Creek
Wathumba Creek, on the World Heritage-listed Fraser Island, is a great spot to catch mudcrabs, pump for yabbies, or enjoy fishing. The most abundant species are whiting, bream and flathead.
Where: Western end of Fraser Island
Cost: Free (just bring along your own fishing gear or bait net)
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Glow Worm Tour
Take an enchanting guided night tour of Springbrook national park and learn more about the nocturnal wildlife in the lush forest amid waterfalls and creeks. You’ll also discover Australia’s largest colony of glow worms - a truly magical experience.
Where: Springbrook National Park, less than 1 hour drive from Surfers Paradise
Cost: A$80 (adult), A$40 (child)
Camel Riding on the Beach
Enjoy a delightful beach and bush camel safari. Ride along miles of pristine beach and bushland on beautiful Noosa’s North Shore.
Where: Beach Road, North Shore, Tewantin
Cost: A$40 (adult), A$30 (child) for 1-hour beach & bush safari
Australia Zoo
Visit the multi award-winning Australia Zoo, home of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. Get up close to hundreds of native and exotic animals including kangaroos, wombats, snakes, dingoes, tigers and more.
Where: Steve Irwin Way, Beerwah, Sunshine Coast (1 hour north of Brisbane)
Cost: A$52 (adult), A$31 (child)
www.australiazoo.com.au
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