Bendigo - November 2024

 

 Big 4 Bendigo Park Lane Holiday Park

761 McIvor Highway, Bendigo 

4th - 5th November 2024

Superior Family Cabin (sleeps 8)

$348.00, 1 night

2 adults & 3 Children 

We cancelled our original Melbourne Cup weekend trip to Cobram with the intent of saving money and getting some things done around the house but as the time got closer we couldn't help ourselves. I worked most of the weekend so we headed off for just 1 night (Monday) and splashed out on a very nice cabin instead of taking the caravan.

We stayed in a superior Family Cabin, these cabin are fairly new and very nice. It had 3 bedrooms the master had a king size bed and an ensuite, the 2nd bedroom had a queen size bed and the 3rd bedroom had 2 sets of bunks  

As well as its own deck area

The park had a huge indoor play centre, outdoor swimming pool and spa, basketball ring, out door playground and a jumping pillow 

We squeezed a lot into 2 days and had a really good time. On the drive there we went through Daylesford and passed Sailors Falls which we went to about a year ago and the loop walk track was closed. It is still closed but we walked it anyway..

There are alot of stairs to the bottom of the viewing area where the walk starts 

The walk its self is about 1.4km and takes about 40 mins. As it is a closed track (due to very minor bridge damage from floods) parts of it were overgrown but the track was still visible 

After our little unplanned stop we continued on to Bendigo and arrived just before 1pm for some lunch at the Beechworth Bakery

We decided to check out Lake Weeroona before heading to the Caravan Park. There is a walking track around the lake and a large playground, coffee van and plenty of BBQ and picnic sports 

The kids had a play at the playground

Then we went to visit the BENDIGO sign and got our tourist snaps

We arrived at the caravan park and had a look around, the kids quickly decided they wanted to play on the indoor play centre 

and afterward a swim in the pool, Nash was straight in, followed by Kayleigh and finally Mason braved the cold water as well

We had dinner in our cabin, Nash had a play on the outdoor play ground while the older kids were relaxing in the cabin and then went to after a huge day.

We had a late check out of 12 noon so we were able to play around the park some more, the kids wanted to go back to the indoor play centre, they made some friends and didn't want to leave, eventually they did and had a ride of the pedal carts and then we left to check out the $10 lunch specials at the All seasons Hotel Bendigo.

After Lunch we headed to the Central Deborah Gold Mine. Central Deborah Gold Mine was one of over 5,500 registered gold mines on the famous Bendigo goldfields. It operated from 1939-1954 and successfully extracted 929kg of gold. Today, you can explore the underground workings and discover what life as a miner was really like.

We did the Mine Experience Tour but unfortunately Nash was a little disruptive and I had to take him out of the tour and back up to the surface 

After The mine tour we went on the Vintage Talking Tram Tour which took us all around Bendigo learning about the History and the key monuments. We caught the tram from the Mine and did a full loop but it is a hop on hop off service and your ticket is valid all day.

When we returned to the Mine we explored the mine surface which was included in out ticket, it was almost closing time so we only got to have a quick look. It has some original buildings and equipment that was used when the mine was active, The engine room, a gold museum 

and a panning shed where you can can have a go at panning for gold.

We didn't leave Bendigo until around 5:00, we were planning to grab McDonalds in Ballarat on the way home but ended up showing the kids the last standing "All you can eat" Pizza Hut

It was a really fun 48 hours and I am really Glad we bit the bullet and just did it.

Melbourne Monster Jam - October 2024

 Rydges Melbourne

186 Exhibition Street, Melbourne 

5th - 6th October 2024

$552 including buffet breakfast 

2 adults, 2 children

Twin King Suite 

This night away had the potential to be a fun little get away but not much went right and there is a lack of photos to go with it...

The night before we left Nash vomited twice but when he woke up in the morning he seemed good as gold running around, playing and eating so we decided to go as planned

We had tickets to see Monster Jam at  AAMI Stadium for the 1:00pm show so we packed some rolls and donuts for lunch and left in the morning. We booked a car park a few doors up from the hotel and dropped off our bags before catching the extremely packed tram to AAMI stadium.

Everything was going well 

And then just as it was starting Nash poo'd his pants (which he never does) we didn't have any supplies in the the bin with his jocks and praying to God this doesn't happen again as we are half hour away from the hotel.

Nash falls asleep not long after returning to our seats then a couple of the main cars were having engine problems and unable to complete 

Then at half time Mason wanted to go and get Nash a present as he was missing the whole show being asleep and unwell so I stayed with Nash while the others went looking around. Then it started raining, no actually there was a huge downpour of rain, Nash and I had ponchos on but were still getting very wet.

I had to carry Nash and all our bags out the back of the seats and he continued to sleep on the ground near the rubbish bin!

The rain settled down and Nash woke up for the second half but it was so wet and muddy and with the good trucks out it was such a disappointing show

 We have been to Monster Jam quite a few times over the years and this show compared to the others we have seen was very flat, there were hardly any flips or spins or tricks it was just a few small jumps 

We headed back to the hotel, I took Nash on the Tram and the other kids wanted to walk as they were uncomfortable with how full and squashy the trams were 

Once back at the hotel we had a look around. There was a pool on the rooftop with a rooftop bar but it was quite cold and raining on and off so we didn't go swimming 

The hotel was fantastic and the room was perfect it had 2 king beds which were separated from the small lounge area, which 2 couches and another TV and also a separate bathroom with a bath and shower. 

We knew there was only 4 beds and opted not to pay another $80 for a roll a way bed and instead brought a blow up mattress. The kids caused problems with the sleeping arrangements refusing to sleep together and not with this person and that person.

Since Nash seemed good again we decided to head out to Crown and have dinner at King Pin and play the arcade games. We caught the tram there which was about a 20 min ride

We ordered our food and just as we did Nash projectile vomited all over me, EVERYWHERE, I was covered & he was covered and so was the table and the floor!

Luckily he had a jumper in the bag so we could take off his t-shirt and he could wear his jumper, I had to change out of my t-shirt and shirt and Michael had to take off his jumper so I could wear that and I had black pants on so I washed them the best I could and wore wet smelly pants.

We had to catch a taxi back to the hotel because a crowded tram just wasn't going to work, the traffic was so bad and it took us about half hour to get back praying Nash didn't spew in the Taxi and trying to pretend the smell wasn't all over us

It was about 8:00pm when we got back, everyone was tired, grumpy and very hungry, we ordered room service for the kids and had showers while we waited. 

Michael went out in search of Chinese for our dinner and  after Nash had a shower, he laid on the couch and next minute he is asleep. We laid towels under his head and the top half of his body but, no one considered that he didn't have a nappy on and next minute he has wee'd all over the couch!!

We attempted to put everyone to bed and Michael and I ate Chinese and tried to play a card game in the lounge area. The kids were yelling and fighting and got up 1000 times and by 11pm no one (except Nah) was asleep and everyone was over it 

We had a buffet breakfast included in our stay which was amazing

But our breakfast looked more like this

The waiter even gave the kids a free hot chocolate 

While our weekend didn't go to plan we couldn't really fault the hotel and would definitely stay there again, if we decide to try again next year

P.S - by Sunday night I was violently ill and vomited all evening and could not move but it was fairly short lived thank goodness.