Page 63 - Holidays with Kids - Volume 62 (January 2020)

Was that an eye roll? Ok, I did say “Canberra” and
“cool” in the same sentence! But kids, there's no
smelly coach on this trip, no lukewarm bain-marie
dinners, no endless questionnaires and no
sleepless nights on a wafer of fabric that teachers
call a mattress.
A family holiday in Canberra is a totally different
experience and, to start ours off, I’m going to get
the kids wobbly – and wet!
A new kind of cool
Get your Ninja Warrior on at Canberra Aqua Park
– floating around until the end of March 2020 – to
race through a brand-new inflatable obstacle
course on the Black Mountain Peninsula waterfront
of Lake Burley Griffin.
I’m still locking the car and ninja daughter Evie
has already slithered through the first tunnel and
ninja son Cameron is over the first wobbly
bridge. As I swipe my camera app, the two of
them slay the slippery slide, swinging bridges and
bounce across an air pillow to the finish line
before I can holler “it’s not a race!” They win. Like
it was ever in question.
Secret wizard’s business
Quizzic Alley is the most magical shop in Australia:
it’s Harry Potter heaven and like Platform 9¾ itself,
it's almost as tricky to find among the car yards and
warehouses of Fyshwick. But wave your wand and
mutter something that starts with “expecto” and
this fanciful shop appears.
Floor to ceiling, there is more official merchandise
than you can wave your wands at, but Quizzic Alley
is an experience as much as a store. Pile into a
replica of the Weasley’s flying Ford Anglia, sip on a
creamy butterscotchy QBrew (a delicious take on
Butterbeer), pop on the sorting hat and talk all
things magical and muggley with owner ‘Nearly
Legless Mick’. It’s the perfect nickname and you’ll
find out why when you meet him.
Snow in summer
What could be stranger than skiing or
snowboarding in Canberra on a 30-degree
summer day? Vertikal Indoor Snow Sports is an
alpine-style chalet in Fyshwick where old racing
skis have been repurposed as a ceiling fan that
spins overhead, old chairlifts dangle and rough-
sawn Oregon timbers clad a bar serving hot
chocolate, mulled wine and schnapps from nearby
Wildbrumby Distillery.
There’s a mini eye roll when my two black-run
skiers hear they’re 'training' here, but soon enough