Polly Woodside Pirate Day

What do you do in Melbourne on a 39 degree day? Well you throw caution to the wind and decide to take a tram down to South Wharf, check out the Polly Woodside and have a few cheeky ales on the side. Madness l know! Hey it may not be everyone’s cup of tea to get out and about on a hot day but we like to make the most of our weekends.

We’d generously been given a family pass to the Polly Woodside courtesy of the National Trust of Victoria in conjunction with their 100 days of summer campaign.

Now a tiny confession, l have not been to the Polly Woodside for over 30 years and based on my last experience as a child l wasn’t expecting too much. I thought we’d be in and out in about 30 minutes. Oh how wrong l was!

So unbeknown to me, the first Sunday of every month is pirate day for the kids at the PW. Kids can dress up in the spirit of the theme and join in on the various activities like pirate themed face-painting, pirate crafting, swinging from the sails, scrubbing decks, pirate tattoos and of course a cheeky walk off the plank.

The kids were totally captivated with the wonderful PW pirate crew and the activities. The staff are a real credit to the Polly Woodside – all were extremely helpful and the kids found their pirate antics rather amusing. They especially loved scrubbing the decks under the shower of water from up above, and as it was such a hot day it was the prefect activity for them. Although be careful with those broom sticks, Mr 3 nearly lost an eye thanks to Mr 5.  How ironic would it have been if we had to invest in a real eye patch after our outing!

I was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience and the kids have been raving about the captain and his crew for days, they even went to bed with their pirate swords which were purchased from the PW souvenir store.

In fact the boys loved it so much we went twice in one day. Yep the kids wanted to go back after lunch. Lucky enough our lunch venue happened to be right next door at The Boatbuilders Yard, you can find all the details on this great place HERE. They have a sandpit and totem tennis to keep the kids amused and of course kids eats and cold beer (for us – not the kids!). Need l say more! It’s a fabulous spot to visit with kids.

So after lunch was inhaled and a few pots had been ingested we rolled on back for more pirate antics in the afternoon.

All in all it was such a great family day out for us, the kids had an amazing time and Mr Bambini and l got to sample some tasty eats and some cold brews. I know l say it a lot – but l HIGHLY recommend a visit to the Polly Woodside with the family. I love it when you don’t have any expectations on how a day will pan out when venturing out with the kids, especially when it was so hot, but the whole family thoroughly enjoyed our outing.

Want some quick info about this adventure?

What :: Polly Woodside Pirate Sundays
When :: 1st Sunday of every month from 10am - 4pm
Where :: South Wharf on the Yarra River
Cost :: Adult - $16.00  - Concession - $13.00  - Child - $9.50 - Family - $43.00 ( 2 Adults and 2 Children)  - Single Family - $32.00 (1 Adult and 2 Children)  - Additional Children $5.00 per child.