Where: The Foreshore, The Entrance

The Central Coast boasts one of the best, free places for kids. Vera’s Water-garden on The Entrance foreshore is a bunch of colourful interactive sculptures that are surrounded by a shallow pool and squirt water. Kids can play in, on and around the Mambo-esque shapes. Council provides a life-guard in the summer, but the water is very shallow, and suitably toddler-friendly. It can get busy on weekends, especially in holiday season, but it’s so much fun that it’s worth the chaos. There are bench seats for adults and cafes within a few metres. Shaded play equipment and the daily pelican-feeding top off an excellent family destination.

Where: Vine Street, Avoca Beach

For the ideal family beach outing, the beach must meet certain criteria: Are the waves small or, preferably, non-existent? Is there easy parking close to the sand? Most importantly, is there decent coffee nearby? Avoca Beach Rock Pool ticks all the boxes. The car park is close to the beach, the surf club canteen does fantastic coffee and the rock pool is shallow enough for tiny tots. With the surf beach just metres away, it’s easy for mum to enjoy a quick body-surf while dad supervises the kids (or vice versa). Afterwards, the park behind the surf club offers excellent play equipment with huge shade cloths overhead. But, parking and coffee aside, the best thing about Avoca Beach Rock Pool is undoubtedly the atmosphere. Summer is in the air, moods are bright and friendships are made as children share their buckets and spades.