{"id":1157,"date":"2018-07-06T11:54:55","date_gmt":"2018-07-06T11:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/?p=1157"},"modified":"2018-07-06T11:54:55","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T11:54:55","slug":"fun-family-friendly-activities-in-port-stephens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/fun-family-friendly-activities-in-port-stephens\/","title":{"rendered":"FUN FAMILY FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES IN PORT STEPHENS"},"content":{"rendered":"

School holidays are here, which means so too are long days of keeping the kids entertained. If you don\u2019t already have a getaway planned, consider taking the short drive out of Sydney to Port Stephens \u2013 it\u2019s only two and a half hours, and is well worth the drive. Here you\u2019ll find a plethora of family friendly activities to keep both you and the kids entertained.<\/p>\n

But first off, you\u2019ll need somewhere to stay.\u00a0Shoal Bay Country Club<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>couldn\u2019t be better suited. The Country Club has recently undergone a huge $6 million revamp, so the iconic venue is a gorgeous place to spend a few days, as well as having a wealth of kids activities available every\u00a0Sunday<\/span>\u00a0from\u00a012-2pm.<\/span>\u00a0for the upcoming winter school holidays: think\u00a0kids concerts, magic shows, kids trivia, games and crafts days,\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0kids karaoke,\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0a range of fun activities every\u00a0Sunday<\/span>\u00a0from\u00a012-2pm<\/span><\/strong>. SBCC\u2019s restaurants also make sure to provide child options on their menus, so those of us who suffer the curse of a family of picky eaters can rest easy.<\/p>\n

\"Shoal<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re there, Port Stephens is an amazing place to explore. SBCC is beachfront, but the choices are endless. There are plenty of kid-friendly beaches in the area, including the aptly named Little Beach, which is great for young kids and has a wharf and playground nearby.<\/p>\n

But if the kids need more stimulation than a wintery beach, look to\u00a0Oakvale Wildlife Park<\/strong>, which is home to native, domestic farm and exotic animals: koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, alligators, and ring-tailed lemurs are amongst the many that live there. The animals roam freely around the park and interaction is encouraged, so kids love it. It\u2019s also home to a water activity area if the winter chill isn\u2019t too much!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re after a more natural experience of the local flora and fauna, try\u00a0Tiligerry Habitat<\/strong>, where 9 hectares of wildlife reserve await you.\u00a0 As well as guided walks and talks, the volunteers at the reserve run a BBQ every second\u00a0Sunday<\/span>\u00a0of the month \u2013 a great way to meet like-minded people (and get some socialisation in for the kids!).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth remembering it\u2019s the perfect time to go\u00a0whale watching<\/strong>, which is a spectacle kids are always enthralled by, and something they\u2019ll remember for years to come. From May to early September, you\u2019ll be able to see literally hundreds of them from various vantage points \u2013 local favourites include from the Tomaree National Park and Fingal Bay. You can also get up close and personal with a whale watching tour, which depart several times a day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

School holidays are here, which means so too are long days of keeping the kids entertained. If you don\u2019t already have a getaway planned, consider taking the short drive out of Sydney to Port Stephens \u2013 it\u2019s only two and a half hours, and is well worth the drive. Here you\u2019ll find a plethora of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stuff-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1160,"href":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions\/1160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dadsstuff.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}