Australia: visitng family for first time. What gifts can I bring from UK for the children?

[copycat]

Thought I would post this question here and aim it at Aussie Mums. We are visiting relatives in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney at Easter and I want to take some presents for the children. What toy do you suggest I could buy in the UK that would be quintessentially 'British' or perhaps unusual or difficult to find in Australia. Children are: baby girl 6 months, 8 year old girl, 2 year old girl, 4 year old boy, 6 year old girl. Thanks for your suggestions [hopeful emoticon].

Hi Copycat,

CBeebies has just begun here in Australia and so any British toys relating to the shows might be a good idea. Peppa Pig is very popular here yet no toys...

Also Doctor Who is gaining popularity and you cannot buy Dr Who Toys anywhere apart from one on-line store.

I will have another think for you

My dd had a lunchbag from the Disney shop in the UK that is MUCH admired over here. It almost draws a crowd every day.

Another thing is that my other dd, who is two, has two fancy dress costumes that are like tabards (?) that you can't seem to get over here. Lots of people have asked me about them . One is a sheep and the other one is a cat. You can get all the TV related costumes here but not any other kind. I got them from Sainsurys and Asda.

I will have another think too.

Ah these are great ideas thank you so much. Of course I don't have any idea which programmes these children watch but it's worth a gamble I guess. SC is it difficult to get hold of all Disney lunchbags or just the one you have? Are there any particular Disney characters that are popular right now? My children are 14 and 11 and we left Disney behind a few years ago and I shouldn't think they have even heard of Peppa Pig (although I have ). My local Disney store has closed recently due to the recession (or maybe due to my loss of trade!) so I shall have to travel a bit further afield or check out the supermarkets for Disney merchandise. Any other ideas welcome.

Charlie and Lola stuff might be good too. It is on Cbeebies and is very English. I have only seen the books over here.

You can get Disney lunch bags here but they are not as fancy as some of the ones that you can get at home. My dd's has got sparkly bits and it not a rectangle like the ones here. It is more like a handbag I suppose and thus seen as more glamorous.

Okay thanks SC - which Disney characters are popular for the girls right now? The lunch box idea is a good one.

Tinkerbell came out here at Christmas, the same as it did in the UK. My dd's one is Sleeping Beauty.

We get In The Night Garden on terrestrial tv, but I have seen the dolls and things in the ABC Shop.

Are the rellies Poms? M&S baby clothes could go down very well. DD has almost outgrown her last two M&S babygrows and I shall be gutted. They're much better quality than anything you can get here.

Games/puzzles from Orchard Toys. They are so fab...we can get them here, but they are much more expensive, and pretty hard to find.

I also get clothes from Frugui and Boden (on sale!) sent here (we moved back to Aus a few months ago). Also we LOVED Polarn. o Pyret clothes (also wait until sale!), but they don't do online shopping.

You can certainly get Charlie and Lola DVDs here, but I haven't looked for merchandise. If you look at ABC shop online you might be able to see what they have available here (I'm sure its not nearly as much as in the UK)

Paddington bear stuff maybe? I'm sure the books are available here, but maybe cute lunchbox/pencil case/ apron? Ditto Beatrix Potter - books available here, but maybe not merchandise?

But DEFINATELY the Orchard toys games...www.orchardtoys.com.au

woops, force of habit now. Its www.orchardtoys.co.uk of course, not com.au!

(ninedragons...really? re the babygrows? Aren't Bonds Wondersuits essentially the same?...they even come in bright purple now!)

Not sure where you are shopping DCsnatch but there is Dr Who in all the toys tores in Brisbane.

I second the Paddington Bear stuff.

When I went to the UK I brought back bathtime ducks in Bobby uniforms and Palace Guards (not sure what they are called) for babies. They were a big hit.

Quality dressing up costumes would be great too.

The M&S ones are a lot thicker and softer than the Bonds ones, I find. We had an Oshkosh outlet near us in Shanghai so I stocked up before we left, and I still find the M&S ones better than either the Oshkosh or the Bonds.

I've always wondered about the British obsession with babygros - but never had them to compare thickness/quality. We used to get bonds Stretchies suits sent over (the stripey ones, not the terry towel ones) as they were so much funkier than anything in the UK!

my dds love things from the early learning centre. My MIL sends over fab things from there - we can get it here in Aus but it is just so damn expensive.

I would say cheap[ish] good quality clothes is what I miss most!

Hate Bonds wondersuits with a passion. Would love some Mothercare ones, maybe your relatives would too!

What wrong with wondersuits? Aren't they essentially the same as babygros? - made of towel? Or am I thinking of the wrong thig when I think of babygros? (Is babygro just a name for the type of suit? I thought it was a brand...mightily confused now, clearly 3 years in the UK was not long enough!)

I think Frugi have the most fantastic quality all-in-one baby suits - gorgeous quality...with Polarn O Pyret a close second. But I do love Bonds stretchies for their funkiness, although the quality is not amazing. They last 2 babies IME, but no more.

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(Bloss, we have the shopping list game too - both 3 and almost 5 year olds love it. I wanted to get the 'extensions' pack for it, so thought I'd order it from the UK along with a few other games - didn't think postage would be much...they quoted me 68Pounds!!! So maybe not...!)

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Thanks Bloss, that is really kind of you (sure you were in Sydney last time I checked!?)...It ok though, I can atually get it at a toy shop here, its just that its $19 here, and 4 Pounds at the Orchard online shop...so I thought I'd get a few to make it worthwhile and pay the postage.

Actually, I misread the email before and its not 68 Pounds they quoted for postage, its 86 !!! I asked them to please check the price with Royal Mail, rather than a courier, and get back to me! They also say they don't deduct VAT, which seems odd. All in all, I think it will be easier and cheaper to just pay $20 and get it here!

Thanks a lot though

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Ha Bloss...I'll keep it in mind!

I check Rpyal Mail and it would cost about 40 with them - so still not worth it I don't think, but I will email Orchard Toys anyway and tell them that their courier is a rip off!

Hope you are enjoying being back in the UK Bloss. We moved back to Sydney (from UK) around the same time...can't say I am loving it yet - feeling 'homesick'... things like this don't help (not being able to biuy things easily online is very annoying as I used online shopping so much in the UK)...hope it passes soon.

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Bloss, once again, that is really kind of you ...But I know what luggage allowances are like - I'm sure your friends will have loads of gifts etc to bring back for their family. Don't worry about it, I can go to Macquarie centre one day and get it - there are a few I want to get now that I have checked out the website (unless your friends happen to live in Neutral bay, in which case they might be my neighbours, which would be too much of a fun coincidence to pass up!)
Thank you though