NATURE’S PERFECT PLAYGROUND

Nature is purpose-built for healthy family adventure and fun. Get your whole crew out into the great outdoors where there’s fresh air, room to zoom, unbeatable views and always new adventures to enjoy. Learn to surf or stand-up on a paddleboard. Paddle a canoe, whirr through the forest on a mountain bike, or trek to a volcano rim or ocean clifftop. With stunning beaches, bushland, lakes and rivers all around, family adventure becomes the most natural (and affordable) thing in the world.

FOUR FAVE FAMILY ADVENTURES …

• Open up the kids’ eyes to the landscape and world around them. The self-guided 12 Apostles Visitor Inspiration Project (#12avip) gives you oodles of options like hunting the roaring wind, navigating for hidden treasure, exploring the night sky, tracking local fauna and more. The program loans out telescopes, anemometers, GPS units, binoculars, compasses and all the info you need to explore. Call into the Port Campbell Visitor Information Centre to get started on your true ‘find your own’ adventure.

• Hire a vessel or two from Anglesea Paddle Boat and Canoe Hire and hit the water for some splishsplashing family paddling on the Anglesea River (below). It’s safe, flat, fun and flowing with nature. Look for fish and birdlife as you make your way upstream to Coogoorah Park and downstream toward the beach estuary.

• Nurture their love of nature with a rainforest walk adventure even your littlest ones will enjoy. The well-marked Maits Rest Rainforest Walk takes around 30 minutes. Stop and rest on benches along the path, marvel at prehistoric Myrtle Beech trees, listen to forest birds calling, hear water trickling and chat about the dinosaurs that once roamed this ancient fern-filled glade. Pramfriendly and super accessible.

• The best fun you can have for free. Lake Pertobe in Warrnambool is the 8th largest adventure park in the world. With giant slides, flying foxes and a maze set amongst eight hectares of landscaped gardens, this playscape ticks all the boxes. Take a boat ride around the lake or play ball with the kids on the grassy lawn. Add in walking trails, picnic areas, mini-golf and a nearby skate park, this is a must do family adventure.