 Questacon - the National Science and Technology Centre, is the perfect place to start your holiday with kids in Canberra. Interactive exhibits invite visitors to touch, see and learn about the role of science in everyday life - and there's tonnes of fun thrown in too! Where else in the world can you experience an earthquake, get close to a lightning bolt or freefall six metres down a vertical slide? At Questacon, you can do all this and see vibrant ever-changing exhibits.
Don't miss the newest exhibition Mini Q - fun for 0 to 6 year olds, opening in December 2004. This ongoing interactive exhibition has a sensory cave, things to feel, bubble tubes and stepping stones that light up when little feet step on them. March 2005 is sure to be exciting at Questacon with the new exhibition Strike a Chord, a celebration of music where everyone gets the chance to be a conductor.
A visit to the National Zoo and Aquarium is also a must for any family visiting Canberra. Located just five minutes from the city centre, it is one of Australia's largest private zoos and is the only place you can see exotic and native animals along with sharks and fish, and Australia's only tigons - a cross between a tiger and a lion. The whole family can book a memorable ZooVenture Tour, a range of unique up-close encounters with the animals. A special tour for under ten year olds means that young children spend some time with the adults, then meet some of the zoo's 'cuddlier' animals while mum and dad hand-feed tigers, lions and bears. At the National Zoo and Aquarium, the animals are housed in large open environments, with viewing generally across moats or low level fences so that even pint-sized visitors can get a good view.
 For more fun, head over to the National Museum of Australia on Acton Peninsula. The fun starts at K-Space, a hands-on interactive exhibit allowing children to design what life will be like in a futuristic Australia. Another highlight is Our Place, a discovery display with four different cubbies for kids to play in. The Story Place is another popular attraction for kids. Set inside a Boab Tree, the kids can enjoy the story telling, puppets, videos and events related to the museum's exhibitions. The museum also has an exciting line-up of activities and events especially designed for children throughout school holidays. There's more fun to be had just out of town at Gold Creek Village. A twenty minute drive from the city centre, it is full of family-friendly attractions, craft shops and eateries.
If your family has always wanted to see a sabre-toothed tiger, woolly mammoth or velociraptor, be sure to make your first stop at Gold Creek the National Dinosaur Museum. The museum has Australia's largest permanent collection of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. With over twenty five complete skeletons and fleshed-out models, and hundreds of individual items, it is more than worth a visit. In the last year alone, there have been two new murals finished, one of them nearly 50 feet long and depicting life-size prehistoric mammals. 2005 sees the hundredth anniversary of Tyrannosaurus Rex and the museum will be running special programmes and talks to celebrate.
A short stroll from the National Dinosaur Museum takes you to The Bird Walk - a walk-in aviary where feeding the birds is always lots of fun. This large, planted aviary allows birds to fly free. The Bird Walk houses over five hundred brightly-coloured birds - around three hundred and fifty finches and two hundred parrots. The birds breed in the aviary and some of the young parrots are hand-reared and will sit on your hand while feeding. The Bird Walk is open everyday unless very hot or very wet.
 Return to the city and head for Old Parliament House where politics and history are not just for the adults. Home of the Federal Parliament from 1927 to 1988, this gorgeous heritage building offers exhibitions, tours and events that bring our history to life, as well as fun-filled activities for kids.
Kids can follow clues around the House to find the answers to some of the secrets of the building on the Super Sleuth Clue Hunt; dress up as the Duke and Duchess of York as they were when they opened the building in 1927; see the peep hole into the Prime Minister's office and experience the sound and light show Order! Order! in the House of Representatives Chamber. At Old Parliament House, there are always extra special activities for kids during school holidays.
For families who are interested in movies, television, CDs and radio, ScreenSound Australia, the National Screen and Sound Archive, is a cool place to visit. Housed in a beautiful art-deco building, which is one of the oldest in Canberra, it is full of atmosphere and is said to be haunted. Free exhibitions include Sights and Sounds of a Nation which looks at more than one hundred years of Australian screen and sound with hundreds of movie, television, music and radio items. Interactive touch
screens allow you to choose what you want to see or listen to, and there are more than two hundred photographs, historic items and fun activities for kids such as making their own sound-effects.
Your family will love to explore Canberra on a ride around the lake, or even to ride between attractions. With Row 'n' Ride, Canberra's newest bike hire operator, you'll be provided with helmets, locks, and a copy of the Canberra Cycleways map along with helpful information on where to ride. For smaller children, child bikes are available as well as children trailers so toddlers can be towed behind mum and dad. There's even a free pickup and delivery service to a location of your choice.
For the more adventurous, enjoy the thrills and spills of summer rafting with R.E.A.L Fun. For families and children aged ten years and up, summer rafting on the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers is fun for everyone. Family packages including rafting, lunch, morning and afternoon tea and transport from Canberra are a great-value day out. Family rafting operates in the Snowy Mountains during December and January, and from Canberra from December to March.
Bet you didn't realise that Canberra offers so much for the kids! As a bonus, many of the attractions have relatively low entry fees and some are even free, making Canberra an affordable holiday destination for families. |
