Driving Force: Family Fun on a Multi-Generational Road Trip

Hitting the road with the extended family can sometimes mean a few bumps in the road, but hiring the right car from car-sharing marketplace Turo can be a great way to ensure a smooth ride.

There are few places in Sydney where you can dine as close to Sydney Harbour as Doyles in Watsons Bay, where the city’s famous ocean laps at the feet of your outdoor table in the sun. We have three generations of our family sitting in Doyles Garden Bar under a white umbrella as we feast on fish and chips with a chilli plum sauce, barramundi burgers and oysters with a finger lime mignonette. Sydney is putting on one of its take-that-Melbourne sunny days where the weather is Goldilocks temperature and all clouds have been banished from the harbourside. The air smells briny, the wine is ice cold and there is a very-eastern-suburbs swimsuit photo shoot just a few metres away.

This seafood stalwart is a favourite of my mother-in-law but, with mobility issues, it can seem far further than just a ferry ride away, so driving a brand-new BMW X1 to the bay and dropping everyone off just metres from Doyles makes for a much more palatable lunch.

When you are driving three generations around NSW, comfort is key, and our family’s aged sedan doesn’t really cut it. Ordering through Turo, the 2023 BMW X1 is dropped to us by the owner, Mint Rides, and they collect it from us when where are done. The one-click sunroof keeps my child happy, the steering assistance keeps my wife happy and the spacious rear seat and boot leaves plenty of room for the mother-in-law’s folding walker. Happy family, happy road trip.

Travelling north

From Sydney we head north along the Pacific Highway to the north coast city of Newcastle, where my wife’s family are from. Newcastle is having a bit of a moment in the sun, after being best known as the centre of the local mining trade. But the so-called Steel City is now uncovering local food talent like Bistro Penny, small bar The Falcon and all-day hang The Ship Inn. There are also great hotels springing up like Little National with an intimate bar and library space looking out on the Newcastle harbour.

But for a multi-generational lunch time spot, it is hard to go past The Lot – Smokehouse and Beer Garden in the suburb of Islington. Tables surround a huge central smoker churning out burnt ends and Mexican street tacos; while local brewer Taphaus has its mobile bar set up in the corner serving up pale ales, kolsches and more experimental one-off brews. We pile a table high with smoked meat, slaw and chips and a range of craft beers and have a family round robin on the cornhole courts at The Lot.

Coast with the most

Jumping back in the car we head to the little-known coastal enclave of Caves Beach, just south of Newcastle. Caves Beach is the sort of place where you could leave your surfboard propped against your fence, ready for use each day and know it would be safe. It is a small local community centred around a coastal park that has pop-up beer festivals and fete days.

We head to Caves Coastal Bar & Bungalows for dinner, a share-plate heaven where you can smell the salt air coming in off the beach. We have wild-caught “kickin’ prawns” in a sriracha aioli, salt and pepper squid and crisp fish tacos green tomato salsa; there are margaritas on tap and craft beers aplenty.

It’s a quiet town, so we get an early night, but in the morning we explore the eponymous caves at the southern end of the beach. We start with a coffee at the Caves Beach Surf Lifesaving Club right on the sand, serving up caffeine and local pastries. Coffee in hand, the younger family members rock hop over to the furrowed-out rocks that are only visible at low tide and check the rock pools out that have formed on the rocky outcrops.

Soon after, we pile back into the borrowed Beemer and head back to Sydney safe in the knowledge that it would not have been as big a holiday success with us all squeezed into our far-more-modest set of wheels.

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