Hello Hello!
It’s time for me to come out of hibernation and finally share another blog post! I always say I want to blog more and then well… other things take precedence…Life with kids (and especially a toddler who just wants to climb everything!) gets kinda crazy sometimes! Enough with the excuses though!
We had a really lovely family holiday down south in Margaret River for the long weekend a few weeks ago and I wanted to share some of the photos and things we got up to.
I hope it can be helpful if you’re looking for things to do in Margaret river with kids! It was pretty cold and rainy most of the time we were there, so this will give you some ideas for rainy day activities if you’re heading down in winter too!
1) A stop at the Busselton Jetty for a ride on the train and ice cream!
Okay so this time we didn’t actually end up stopping because the kiddies were miraculously both still asleep and we decided to just keep on driving, but we were planning to stop here for a little break.
Apparently taking the train out to the end of a jetty is a really fun activity for kids so I wanted to mention it and it’s definitely something on our list for next time.
2) Breakfast at The Margaret River Bakery.
It wouldn’t be a trip to Margaret River if we didn’t stop in at The Bakery (we usually try to fit in two stops!)
The food is delicious and the cute and quirky decor is always just so fun. I’d recommend going early if you can, as it does get very busy!
Currently they open Monday - Saturday 7am - 2pm and Sundays 8am -2pm but you can check their website here.
You can’t really go wrong with anything you order but I highly recommend the Kermit Green Smoothie and this delicious toastie I had with sauerkraut (I’m not sure of the name sorry but it was delicious!)
Ruby was very happy with the chocolate cupcake she was lucky enough to have (for breakfast!) and Matteo very much enjoyed eating most of Tom’s sausage roll!
3) Get lost in a Giant Hedge Maze at Amaze’n Margaret River
This maze is seriously cool and I would recommend it even for those who don’t have kids! It would actually just be a really fun date activity or thing to do with a group of friends because this maze was seriously like something out of Harry Potter! It’s very conveniently located about a 10 minute drive south of the Margaret River town too so makes for a great stop after the bakery!
If you have run away toddlers I would be a bit cautious as it could be easy for them to get lost (being a maze obviously) but our little ones had such a fun time and it was so cute every time we came to a dead end as Matteo would say “uh ohhh”.
It’s a really big maze and did take us about 1.5-2 hours to get all the way through so I recommend bringing snacks and water as it can take a while to find your way out!
They also have mini golf here which would be fun for older kids and the gardens are just stunning.
We would have loved to hang out and explore this place for much longer if we’d had time. If you brought along a picnic it would make for a great full day activity. We will definitely be heading back here again next time we visit Margaret River. Save this one for a nice day though - we luckily chose this activity for the first day because the rest of the holiday was very wet!
4) An early dinner at Swing’s & Roundabouts
After our maze adventure we headed back to the town for an early dinner at Swing’s & Roundabouts. It was actually more of an afternoon tea as the booking was actually at 3:30pm haha but we just called it “dinner”.
We met up with my parents and sister and it was actually a really good time to eat (with kiddies anyway) because it wasn’t too busy and the food came out really quickly. We had a table right in front of the fire too which was lovely and cozy.
I find eating out with little kids can be pretty stressful so it’s not something we do very often but we had a lovely meal and the kids enjoyed the food (despite a little drama and needing to change Matteo into Ruby’s spare clothes - I will spare you the details of that!)
5) Snuggling up by the fire (attempting some “quiet time” activities!
Snuggling up by a cozy fire is always one of my favourite things to do if you can find somewhere to stay with a fireplace!
Although there wasn’t any relaxed reading time on this trip (holidays definitely aren’t what they used to be now we have little ones!) being able to get cozy by the fire, listen to the rain and attempt to do some quiet activities with the kids (like playing with play dough, sticker books, reading etc) really helped to get into more of a holiday mood!
The photo directly below with Ruby playing with playdough is from last year and I can’t believe how much she’s grown since then!
6) Breakfast at White Elephant Cafe and a walk along the beach
Tom and I were lucky enough to get a peaceful breakfast/brunch to ourselves the next morning while my parents watched the kids for us. We went to White Elephant Cafe which is right on the beach and although it was pretty wild and rainy outside, inside we were nice and cozy.
I think they’ve renovated recently (it was definitely different to how I remember it being!) and it would be pretty kid friendly if you’re looking for somewhere to go as a family. I’d recommend booking if there are a few of you though because it was packed when we arrived and we were lucky to get a table!
Being right on the beach it’s obviously a nice place for kids to play and a lovely spot to just go for a walk (if it hadn’t been such a rainy day!)
7) A quick stop at The Margaret River Chocolate Factory
After our lovely peaceful breakfast we headed back to pick up the kiddies and take them out for another fun adventure. Matteo ended up falling asleep in the car so just Ruby and I went into the Margaret River Chocolate Factory.
This place is always a hit - who doesn’t love free chocolate tastings?
Ruby was very please (but also rather confused at first “why don’t we have to pay for it mummy?”) and she also found some chocolate with her name on it which was really cute “does that say Ruby?!!”
We didn’t stay long this time (seeing as Tom was just hanging out in the car with Matteo!) but this place is a great spot for kids. They have a nice garden area out the back where toddlers can play and run around without you having to worry too much and yummy food for lunch.
Definitely a spot to put on the list!
8) Wow Illusions Margaret River
Just down the road from the Choclate Factory is a place called Wow Illusions. It’s a fairly new attraction and all indoors so a really fun place to go on a rainy day in Margaret River!
They had some pretty cool illusions that are fun for the adults as well as the kiddies. I didn’t get photos of everything but they had a mirror room and a “Gravity Defying Room” which was pretty trippy as well as the ones pictured below and a few more interesting things!
9) Lunch at Olio Bello
We then headed off for a family lunch at Olio Bello for my mum’s birthday celebration. It was super rainy and wet by this point (and navigating restaurants with toddlers is just tricky!) so I didn’t end up getting any photos, but its a lovely spot and on sunny days they have a beautiful grassy outdoor area where kids can run around and play.
They usually have lots of really great pasta options but there’s a new chef and menu so there weren’t quite as many to choose from this time. I was originally a little disappointed but I ended up ordering a “deconstructed lasagna” dish that was really tasty and I would recommend. (Although I do hope they will consider bringing back some of the old pasta options!)
10) Go for a walk in the bush :)
Does anyone have that playschool song in their head when you read that?
“Walking in the bush, walking in the bush, there is nothing quite like it, walking in the bush!”
Obviously it will depend where you stay but when it comes to things to do with kids in Margaret River, just getting outside is one of the best and easiest things.
We love going for bush walks and just exploring.
Some of these photos below are actually from our trip down south last year, but I wanted to include them as I thought these ones of Ruby with her Nonno are so cute. It’s crazy how fast time flies - Matteo was just a few months old then and could hardly even roll over, and now he’s a toddler, running around everywhere!!
11) Visit Sunflowers Animal Farm
We didn’t have time this trip but we went last year and Ruby absolutely loved it.
I just checked their website and it seems they have relocated closer to Busselton so a bit more of a drive but somewhere I’d definitely recommend as its a really nice activity to do with the kids!
You can buy a bucket of food to feed the animals and when we were there we even had the opportunity to feed some baby kangaroos bottles of milk!
Ruby was 2.5 years here and she loved feeding the goats (although not the “bossy goat” who kept stealing from the others. She was a bit hesitant with the horses though and wasn’t keen on the pigs because they were “too smelly!” haha :)
Looking back at these photos now makes me realise that she’s really not a toddler like this anymore but a little girl! Time really does fly!
Finally I just wanted to share a few more photos that didn’t really fit in with any of the other activity suggestions but are some of my favourites.
These were from the first morning. Ruby and I woke up early before everyone else and went outside (with our beanies and warm coats because it was freeezing) and watched the sun come up together while drinking our tea and warm milk.
Tom and Matteo joined us not long after and it was just such a beautiful morning and a really special memory :)
(Not pictured - Matteo spilling milk all over his jacket just seconds after I took these photos! haha)
Thanks for reading! I hope it was helpful and has given you some ideas for things to do with kiddies on your Margaret River/down south holiday!
Sometimes holidays with kids just feel like a lot of effort but I keep reminding myself that we’re making lots of lovely memories and there are always so many sweet, beautiful moments so it’s worth it!
If you have any other suggestions for things to do I’d love if you could leave a comment below and let me know! As always you can find me on Insta @laurennatalia.co if you feel like coming to say hi! :) (or if you’d like to check out my photography account I’m @laurennataliaphoto)
Lots of Love
Lauren
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