Best Aussie website to search for family-friendly restaurants and accommodation?

[HighFibreDiet]

Hello knowledgeable mumsnetters . Our family is venturing on our first holiday in Australia. We're not going very far- only a couple of hours out of Sydney - but I wanted to find family-friendly places to eat as I imagine we won't want to cook for ourselves all the time. Is there a good website to look at before we set off?

For future reference it would be good to have one that lists family-friendly accommodation too.

Thank you.

[HighFibreDiet]

Also if there's somewhere to look at reviews of places, that would be good. And any ideas for the long weekend would be appreciated too. We're staying in Kangaroo Valley from next Tues so I was wondering about going to the Royal National Park or the Blue Mountains beforehand. But will everything be booked up already?

Sorry for all the questions!

[smugaboo]

Oh sorry, no help at all re accommodation/restaurants High Fibre. I just wanted to commend your choice on the Kangaroo Valley. I wish more international visitors would take the time to visit that area (Southern Highlands generally). Love it - the south cost (Berri etc) is lovely too.

[sunnydelight]

We tend to use stayz.com.au to find holiday houses and it hasn't let us down yet. We found a lovely farmstay through the site at Bundanoon last holidays. We drove around (Berrima, Kangaroo Valley, Moss Vale etc.) and it's a really pretty area.

We didn't have great success with restaurants tbh, though mainly because we were there midweek and in the Winter a lot of places only opened at weekends. Hopefully you won't have that problem now it's Spring. We ended up eating in the bistros attached to pubs most lunchtimes which was fine, then cooking in the evenings as the only restaurant open in Bundanoon on a weekday night was the Chinese where we went the first night. Food was generally ok but nothing amazing. A friend did recommend the Italian in Kangaroo Valley (can't remember the name but it's on the main street so you can't miss it) but it was closed the day we were there.

Similarly we went to Southern Highlands Winery hoping for lunch as the restaurant got good reviews, but it was closed (bought some lovely wine at the cellar door though!). Have fun.

[chloeb2002]

Only been to kangaroo valley once but i do remember the best chip shop!.. again no help really.. i tend to google local area and go from there....

[Bubbaluv]

Tripadvisor can actually be really helpful, but I generally find most places which aren't hatted (and many that are) are pretty family friendly so just follow your nose. Ask in local shops for recommendations or find a local tourism centre.
If all else fails just google! It's amazing how much springs up. I hope you didn't decide to do too much driving on the long weekend - it can be dreadful.