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Reviewed by B
Overall: Pretty good! Nappy change, feed, rest, play.
Good Points: Has everything you need – change tables, bins, sink, microwave, play area, loos, and feeding cubicles. And it’s in a quiet corner of the centre, which is a big plus.
Bad Points: Just cosmetic things really, like the change tables being a bit high, no side tables in the feeding cubicles. Nothing too major. There isn’t any pram parking which is a bummer.
Absolutely devastated!! My iron of 13years died the other week. It was soooo good! Ironed like a dream, survived many falls to the floor and kept working, but old age must have got the better of it. Obviously I needed to go out and buy a new one – and I was prepared for a bit of a hard slog in order to make sure I got another one that would be as hardy. Budget in mind and knowing what I did and didn’t want, bubs and I got in the car for yet another trip to Castle Hill. This time to the Supa Centa on the corner of Showground Rd & Victoria Ave.
Pram parking doesn’t seem to exist in the North building, which is a bummer, but there’s loads of parking anyway (at least on weekdays) so we found a park pretty easily and close to the travelator too. It would really be nice to have some pram spaces though, ‘cos it’s a pretty tight squeeze in regular spaces, trying to get bubs out of the car, in the pram and then between cars to get to the shops. Just a little bit of extra space for those of us with little ones would make the shopping experience soooo much better.
From the carpark you can take the lift or the travelator to the shops. Bubs loves travelators, which is great for me because she is happy standing on her own two feet instead of wanting to be carried (hooray!).
Now finding the Parent Room is pretty easy. Like most shopping centres, look out for the signs hanging from the ceiling directing you to toilets and Parent Rooms. You’ll find this one in a quiet southern corner of the centre, near the elevators. Head past Kids Stuff & Wendy’s, and keep following the signs until you find the Parent Room. I nearly ended up thinking I had to walk back to the South building, but thought there had to be one in the North building – and there is. Just walk by the exit to the other building and you’ll find the corner where the Parent Room is located.
There’s a reasonable size play space inside, with a 3-sided activity centre. That’s it. The change tables are wall-mounted fold out ones and there’s too. I found them a tad high and bubs was not a fan of them at all, clinging on for dear life yet again. The sink and bench space is pretty good, and the microwave is clean and working – yay!! It seems a bit strange to me though that the hand dryer and paper towels are next to the microwave – wouldn’t they be better next to the sink?
The room has two private feeding cubicles. Each has a single comfy armchair, floor length curtain and a wall mounted activity centre. It’s pretty comfortable and you can fit a pram in here. Would be handy to have a small side table. Instead just put stuff on the ground or back in the pram. I like that the feeding space is a bit separate from the play area. If you’re there with the one bub, sometimes you just want a quieter space. Being set back from the play area helps to make the feeding space a bit more private and peaceful.
Looking at the feeding cubicles, to your right is the doorway to the loo. It’s one of those pressurised swing doors, so might be easier to keep the pram outside. Inside there’s a big and little loo, each with it’s own set of disposable toilet seat covers (big fan of teaching little ones hygiene in public places). The sanitary bin is between both loos which bugs me like nothing else. There is just the one sink, and it’s regular height so little ones may need help reaching it. Although once I turned on the tap for my lil one, she almost grew centimetres instantly! Water was being splashed everywhere. For drying hands, there’s only an auto hand-dryer.
Something else useful in the Supa Centa is the indoor kids playground! Fenced on 3sides, with loads of things for kids to play with and climb all over, this a great pit stop for littlies to burn off extra energy. The downside though is it’s right next to a huge kids store called Kidstuff. I totally get why, from a sales/marketing perspective, the playground would be right outside the doorway. It’s just that I find it a huge pain when I know I don’t want to go in the store or take my girl in there. Thankfully on this visit, my princess was distracted enough by having the playground all to herself that anything outside of it was not an issue at all.
Now back to my iron! Yep, I got a new one and it was the first one I saw. The staff at Good Guys were awesome! From the door lady who has a massive bowl of lollies (yummmyyyy) to the staff inside who took me to the irons and showed me what was the simplest to clean, use and do what I want within my budget. Initially the lady helping us had us looking at irons around the $20-$50 mark, until she asked how much I was willing to spend. When I told her around $100, she whipped us ’round to the super dooper irons right behind us. Ahhhh….ironing heaven. What I thought was going to take half an hour took about 5min. Looove that. $100 later I have a new iron that works like a dream. Now I can continue being the good little housewife and get the ironing done. Seriously, I really do enjoy ironing. Don’t know why.
