Tag: Blue Mountains

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Blaxland NSW

McDonalds – Great Western Hwy, Blaxland NSW 2774

Overall: Basic. Fast nappy change only. 


Good Points: Wall mounted fold out change table; clean and in good condition. Nappy bins. Soap, sink and hand dryer. Assistance rails around the toilet. Nappy wipes in the change table storage unit (big plus!). Door locks from the inside.


Bad Points: Narrow hallway and doorways. Pressure swing door. Extra nappy bins tucked behind the door.


Even when grabbing a quick coffee during a trip into Sydney, I keep my eyes open for Parent Rooms and how child friendly a place is. McDonalds Blaxland is always busy, being the only Maccas on the Great Western Hwy/Motorway between Eastern Creek and Lithgow. 

As expected from a fast food restaurant, the baby change facilities are for quick visits only. Head to the back of the restaurant, following the toilet signs. The hallway and doorways are quite narrow so I wouldn’t recommend taking the pram into the toilet with you. It’ll be more hassle than it’s worth. Save your sanity, just take bub and the nappy bag.

The baby change table is in the disabled toilet, just to the right as you enter the main door to the toilets. It’s the usual pain in the backside pressure swing door, which is another reason to not take the pram. The good thing though is the door does lock from the inside. Changing nappies and keeping your little one calm during the process is something best done free from interruptions. 

There’s four nappy bins in here. Two just inside the toilet door, and the other two right next to the wall mounted fold out change table. I don’t know if this is a regular event, but for the first time ever there were nappy wipes in the nappy wipe storage section at the back of the table. Yay!!! First time for everything. It definitely is the little things that make parents smile.

On the right side of the change table is the sink, hand dryer and soap. My little one goes completely beserk at the sound of the hand-dryer, so just be aware of the close proximity of the unit when you’re changing bub if your little one has the same reaction. These machines are breeding grounds for cooties anyway, so it would be better healthwise and to keep baby calm if there was a paper towel dispenser instead of a hand dryer.

So that’s it really. There’s a fold out wall mounted baby change table in the disabled toilet. Don’t take the pram because it’s only going to frustrate you when you try and get it into the toilet. Just take bub and the nappy bag. It’s not a quiet place at all, but it has what you need for those quick changes. Sadly this Maccas doesn’t have a playground. Bit of a bummer when kids need to stretch their legs and burn off some pent up energy from being cooped up in the car for hours on end. Maybe get takeaway and find a park further on down the highway instead.

Categories
NSW Winmalee

Winmalee Shopping Village – White Cross Rd, Winmalee NSW 2777

Reviewed by B


Overall: Not bad for a small shopping village in the mountains. Nappy change, feed, rest. Quite cool, so have blankets with you.


Good Points: Stand alone Parent Room. Easy to find. Two feeding cubicles. Separate toilet room with big and little loo (and the sanitary bin is between the big loo and the wall – yay!!! away from little hands!!). Single change bay with sink and soap.


Bad Points: Very cool room. No additional powerpoints for mums needing to express. No microwave or bottle warmer. No paper towel. Feeding cubicles are tiny and don’t even have a curtain for privacy.

Easy to find Parent Room – follow the signs

So Winmalee Shopping Village hey. For a little place on the way up the Blue Mountains, it was pretty well equipped. I didn’t expect the Shopping Village to be as big as it is, considering Springwood is just down the road. And was happy to find it has a stand alone Parent Room! I really only thought there would be a combined disabled bathroom and baby change table, so to find a separate room altogether is just fantastic.

The Parent Room is easy to find. Go inside the shopping village and head towards Coles. As you face Coles, to your right is a butcher and also the hallway leading to the toilets and Centre Management. Head down this hallway and to your right is the well sign posted Parent Room.

Well sign posted Parent Room

The door isn’t the easy to get into, being one of the usual pressure swing doors. Just use your body or the pram to keep it open as you shuffle inside. Once inside though, the main space is quite big! It’s a chilly room so can only imagine how much more freezing it would be in winter. My tip – have blankets/wraps for bubs at all times if you’re going to visit here.

It’s not well decorated, apart from some floor to ceiling forest wallpaper. This does make it a little more inviting, but I wouldn’t stay in here for longer than necessary (just because it’s so cold and there’s no real privacy).

Single change bay

For nappy changes, there’s one change bay set in the long bench that runs the length of the wall. At the end of the bench is the sink and soap, and nappy bins and hand dryer. No paper towel though. It’s a clean space and the bench is not too high – a big plus for short people like me 🙂

Sink, nappy bins, soap and hand dryer

There’s two feeding cubicles, and I’d like to say they are ‘private’ but without so much as a curtain covering the doorways I don’t think they’re private at all. Each cubicle is quite small, but they both have a comfortable chair and side table so you can keep the nappy bag off the ground. There’s very little room for anything else other than you, your pram and your baby. So if you like a bit of privacy while feeding, make sure you bring wraps or a blanket with you so you and bubs can stay covered.

The two feeding cubicles – byo privacy covering

Comfortable chair and side table

Now what is especially good about this room is the toilets. The door is lockable from the inside, and there’s a big loo and little loo. The best part….the sanitary bin is AWAY from the little loo – yay!!!! It’s placed between the big loo and the wall, so little hands cannot get to it. Very very happy!
There’s just the one sink in the bathroom, but it’s not too high. Little ones may need help to reach it.

Doorway to the toilets

Big loo and little loo

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this Parent Room. It’s better than I thought. Good to know there are places along the way up the mountains that you can take your little one to for a nappy change that does not involve Maccas. Yep, the room could definitely do with a couple of extras like curtains on the feeding cubicles, and paper towel by the sinks. Overall though, it’s not a bad little room. Clean, with the essentials. Just remember to rug up!

Categories
Lithgow NSW

Secret Creek Cafe & Restaurant – 35 Crane Rd Lithgow NSW 2790

Reviewed by B

Overall: OK. Nappy change facilities, high chairs. Not well equipped to cater to needs of children.

Good Points: Gorgeous rural setting. Wildlife enclosure outside featuring emus, kangaroos etc. Nice hard wood high chairs. Big nappy change unit.

Bad Points: No kids menu. High chairs are not padded at all. Nothing provided to help little people enjoy the visit, apart from the animals outside.

Secret Creek is definitely one of the nicest places to eat in Lithgow. It’s a little way out from town centre, in a gorgeous bush setting. Nice and quiet. Good food, BYO alcohol, and friendly staff. For big people it’s great, but for little people….be prepared and BYO entertainment (and food too).

We’ve been to Secret Creek a couple of times now with the little one. This time round, bubs is now 2 and is not content sitting in a chair for an hour or so while the adults eat and chat. Bubs has been when much littler, and the facilities have not changed at all. 
As a restaurant, it’s lovely. Good food, reasonable prices, BYO alcohol, lovely building and interior. But for catering to young ones, it really doesn’t work well at all.
First there is the high chair. It looks really nice and well made, but it’s all hardwood without a single bit of padding. And little people need a bit of padding, especially when they’re going to be sitting for a while. On the earlier visit, bub’s head would hit the back of the chair when leaning back…..not comfortable at all. Being much bigger now, the problem is the chair doesn’t adjust at all. The height of the chair, the table part….none of it can be altered to suit your child. On this visit, we ended up bringing over another regular chair and letting her sit on that instead. 
Second is the menu. There isn’t a kids menu. We were happy enough to share our orders with bub, but it’s nice to be able to give little people their own plate of food…..or even let them choose something from their own little menu. But not here. Thankfully, bub was happy with sharing what we’d ordered (and so were we). 
Going forward, I’ll bring some food from home to give bub.
Third is the lag time between ordering and getting food. The wait wasn’t too long, but long enough to have me begin to feel anxious about how much longer bub was going to last before getting over the whole day. Definitely remember to take a variety of entertainment for your little one. We brought a colouring book, reading book and a couple of My Little Pony’s……..and of course there was the animal enclosure outside (but being mid winter, staying outside is not a pleasant option). Next time we decide to go there and take bub with us, we’ll order ahead so food will be ready when we arrive. 
Fourth, the baby change facilities. The baby change unit is in the disabled bathroom. All restrooms are located down the small hall between the front desk and the serving bar. Head through the big Restroom door, and to your left is another door with a big sign on the front of it with a wheelchair sticker, and another sticker underneath saying ‘Baby Changing Area’.
Don’t take the pram in, if you can help it. There’s really not enough room for the pram once you have folded out the change unit. 
The door does not close or lock properly.
The change unit is wall mounted and is a great big size. The best bit about it is the thick padded surface. Love it! And there are little compartments in the unit to put nappies, wipes etc in while you are changing bubby. This is a great idea, and there should be loads more units with this feature. Would save parents from having to stick nappies etc between their teeth, legs etc, while trying to change little ones and keep them from wriggling away.
One downside to the change unit is the tough clip at the top. I don’t like it. I needed two hands to undo the thing and be able to fold it out – not so great if you have a baby. Toddlers are capable of standing on their own so you can do this, but with babies….this is not such a great feature. This is where other wall mounted units win out – they’re light weight and easy to open up.
Secret Creek really is a lovely place to eat. But just make sure you really do plan ahead if your bringing your little one with you. Apart from highchairs and a change table, that’s about all there is for kids (except for the animals. Kangaroos and emus really are fun to look at, especially through the eyes of little ones). So bring toys, books etc to keep them entertained, and bring food too.