Family Day Trip to Kiama

A follow up on our Easter adventures during our trip from Sydney to Jervis Bay and back, via the Grand Pacific Drive. We enjoyed a lovely, quiet family day trip to Kiama, and look forward to future opportunities to explore the area!

Check out our other Kiama adventures:

Toddler friendly resturants

Hike from Kiama to Gerringong

We hastily pulled CZ from the backseat, breathed in the warm, salty air, and thanked God that we made it with only one roadside vomit incident. We had arrived at our mid-drive stop, Kiama, a small coastal town of 12,000 an hour and half south of Sydney. We looked out onto the sparkling blue water in front of us, with a bustling weekend market along the shoreline. However, bustling is a relative term. Even while tourists flooded the town on this Easter Monday public holiday, we didn’t have to search too hard to find an excellent parking spot on Blowhole Point road, without a 2 hour limit. The benefits of small town living!

After a quick reapplication of sunscreen and donning our hats, we ambled along the waters edge next to Terralong St, checking out the diverse weekend market. The stalls stocked everything from handmade goats milk soap, personalized dog collars (a very popular item), to long, gauzy, patterned skirts. I maintained focus on CZ, as she zig-zagged through the crowds, stopping to point out dogs. JZ meandered along closer to the vendors, picked up some local honey, always a weakness, and then acquiesced to my desire for a more low key destination.

We walked through Hindmarsh Park, and across Terralong St in search of lunch. The town center is very compact and walkable, with pedestrian paths criss-crossing the major downtown thoroughfares. The storefronts and sidewalks buzzed with patrons eating late lunches, savouring dripping gelato cones, and sorting through souvenirs. We gratefully spotted a public bathroom and water fountain, novelties in much of Australia, to refresh ourselves. As I waited outside with CZ, I looked around at the buildings. Kiama felt authentically it’s age (around 100-150 depending on the building), but still well maintained and clean.

After a bit of indecisiveness and lamenting the time (we saw some epic breakfast menus), JZ and I settled on sandwiches from Saltwater Cafe. He ordered the food, while CZ and I alternately sprinted and hopped back to the park for a picnic table. Astoundingly, we didn’t have to wait long for one, and it had a park view to boot! You can barely find a place to lay your picnic blanket on days like this in Sydney, I again credited the small town scorecard.

After lunch, we set our sights on exploring the blowhole. On Trip Advisor, the blow hole is the #1 attraction (out of 14) in Kiama. I take Trip Advisor reviews pretty seriously, so it was a must-see for our stop. As we walked towards the blow hole at the top of the hill, the ocean crashing against the cliffs was too enticing, and we spent more than a few minutes scrambling around to find optimal views photos.

Once I finally convinced JZ that we needed to keep moving before CZ decided it was nap time (in which case we needed to jump back in the car and drive back home!), we continued our walk to the blow hole. According to the reviews, the blow hole provides the most spectacular performance with a strong south easterly swell. Unfortunately, we neither knew what that meant nor could we plan our trip around these conditions so we did not see the spray at it’s impressive 25 metres (82 ft) potential.

While we were not astounded by the blowhole, the Kiama Coast walk and cliffs more than made up for it. Plus, we had our third dolphin sighting of the weekend! We excitedly followed the pod of dolphins with our cameras and eyes as they gently swam past us and towards a bay. We eventually lost them, but not the thrilling feeling of witnessing their playfulness in the wild, even though it was from a distance.

Thinking we really couldn’t see anything more incredible until the whale migration (which passes the coast May to September), we returned to our car. I wish we could have explored more of the Kiama coast walk, since we barely made a dent into the 22km of coastline. We would also love to experience the town beyond the main strip, and tour some of the historical buildings. Lastly, there are a few restaurants, cafes, and bakeries that enticed us but we lacked the stomach capacity! All in all, I think we will need to make a follow up trip to this charming town in the near future.

Quick Tips for A Family Day Trip to Kiama:

1. Park in the untimed (and free) spots along Blowhole Point Rd, and walk everywhere from there.
2. Meander around the downtown on Terralong and Manning St. The Kiama Museum has an informative (albeit low-tech) guided walking tour.
3. Stop at one of the numerous cafes and restaurants for a meal. Trip Advisor reviews recommend Licked Gelateria, Milk and Honey Cafe, and Olive and Vine (among many others)
4. Check out the blow hole – maybe the southeasterly swell will be in your favour! If not, scramble down the rocks for even more incredible views of that blue water!