Out of all the surf destinations on the map, Australia topped our list as the first place to take a one-year-old. Yes, the flaky meat pies from corner cafes and perfect point breaks might’ve been incentive. But mostly, we knew it was family-friendly and safe.
Safe. Safe, as in, if there was an emergency of any sort, we’d have no problem accessing a quality medical facility or first responder. Surfing accidents happen. Toddler accidents happen. And knowing that we had good options, if life threw us a spikey curveball, gave us peace of mind.
Australia isn't only a highly-developed country but also an English-speaking one. Because it would be our first time taking a surf trip with a toddler, we wanted everything to be easy. The charming Aussie accent and their own variety of vernacular took a bit of getting used to, but it was nothing like learning smidgens of a brand-new language to simply order food or ask where the diapers are.
Direct. And we definitely didn’t want to deal with layovers. The direct flight from Hawaii to Australia is about 10 hours. It's definitely a lengthy flight; but without any stops, it was so worth not having to lug the bulky baby items from one gate to the next. It was also a plus to not risk delays and have to run to our next flight with a baby! We’re getting stressed out just writing about it. The lack of layovers may sound like a small luxury, but it made a world of a difference on our worldly travels.
Easy to navigate. Because our daughter still needed those bulky baby items (stroller and car seat), we decided it best to rent a van than to hire a driver, like we did in Indonesia during our pre-baby adventures. We didn’t feel confident in taking public transit either; we did that in Denver and Japan, and that was another set of challenges altogether.
Despite driving on the opposite side of the road from America, getting around the country was pretty easy, too. Just be sure what lane you're turning into and which knobs are for turning and which are for the wipers. We used Google Maps religiously–even if it meant walking directions from our B&B to a coffee shop. Our data plans gave us some internet on our phones, but it was weak and unreliable. However, you can download the area maps on Google Maps when on wifi. That way, you can access it when without internet.
Family-friendly beaches. Byron Bay was our home base in Australia. We mostly surfed around that area, like Broken Head and The Pass. Most every beach had restroom and/or showering facilities. Liv wasn’t potty-trained yet, but we liked having somewhere to rinse off before the drive back to our B&B. Some of the popular beach parks, like Main Beach, had playgrounds to entertain the little one while Mommy and Daddy took turns in the ocean.
And the cherry on top? The waves. Australia is home to some of the best right-hand pointbreaks in the world, perfect for longboarding and epic for shortboarding when they get a bit of juice. The coast also hosts a hoard of fun beachbreaks when the points aren't doing their thing.
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