The Great Valley Rally and The Amazing Valley Chase is the Amazing Race for kids and it’s free.
If your kids are fans of treasure hunts, racing and map reading they will love The Great Valley Rally or The Amazing Valley Chase.
They say you need around 3 hours to complete the clues but if you want to explore a few of the stops I would give yourselves 4-5 hours. Bear in mind the visitor centre shuts at 4pm when you are heading off (we only just made it through the door at 3.58!) You could easily do a few parts of it each time you visit the Swan Valley as both sets run every day of the year.
To start either hunt you begin at the Swan Valley visitor centre on the corner of Swan & Meadow Streets in Guildford. This is an amazing spot in itself to explore with the old jail, courthouse and police quarters.
Once you have your instruction sheet make sure you keep the letters in order of the clues with no spaces between each set so you can work out the final message.
The Great Valley Rally
The Great Valley Rally has you out looking for Sterling the Black Swan and is the more adventurous of the two. We are regulars to the Swan Valley and this one introduced me to so much more I didn’t know about in the area.
This series of clues takes you around the Guildford and Woodbridge areas before heading out along Great Northern Highway and back down West Swan Road.
The Amazing Valley Chase
The Amazing Valley Chase has Taylor Tortoise giving you the clues and takes you on the Swan Valley loop (West Swan Road, Reid Highway, Great Northern Highway). It starts with a much-needed caffeine stop which you may need again by the end! This one had more of the food spots to stop at, which would be good for those that aren’t regulars to the Swan Valley.
Education and Fun… Don’t Tell The Kids
Don’t tell the kids but there was a lot of learning while completing these adventures. History of both the Aboriginal people of the area and the European settlers. The Rally also had us doing a lot of math. Both involved reading of street signs and working out directions on the map.
I had my 7, 8 and 10 year olds with me and they all did well at finding the swan and tortoise at each clue stop. They did need help deciphering some of the locations but my 10 year old did very well at the map reading. Younger children would still enjoy the journey but would need a lot of help with getting the clues. I would say it is best aimed at 4 year olds to teens though I still enjoyed exploring all the stops as an adult.
Whether you haven’t visited the Swan Valley in a long time or you are out there every week all families will enjoy doing both of these hunts and proudly hang their certificates on the fridge when they get home. It was great fun and the time flew by with lots of laughs and plenty of treats. I dare you to try and make it around the whole course without buying an ice-cream!
Great Valley Rally and The Amazing Valley Chase Details
When and Where: The Swan Valley Information Centre is open 7 days a week (closed Christmas Day) from 9am-4pm. Though it is recommended that you run the rally’s in the morning to avoid the WA heat and as most venues close between 4-5.
Cost: Both the Rally and the Chase are FREE to take part.
For more information and other great family fun activities in the Swan Valley visit swanvalley.com.au.
