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What better place to road test the Maclaren Quest buggy than on holiday at Bondi Beach. With it’s light weight sporty aluminium frame and fashionable dark denim seat with reflective accents, this British superstar, looked right at home amongst the tanned trim terrific Australians and British Jet Set strolling along the promenade at Bondi Beach.

At only 5.5kg with a compact umbrella fold, the Maclaren Quest is a dream to travel with. To fold out, simply release the storage clip and open out. Using your foot, push the footplate down to fully engage the primary locks. The large water resistant hood protects Baby from wind, rain and in our case – sun.

The Maclaren Quest is appropriate for young babies to older toddlers. Designed by aircraft engineers to be the safest, most stylish and durable in it’s class, this stroller is designed to carry up to 20kg in weight.

I place Baby in her swish new buggy and she looks suitably impressed. I secure her in the five point harness, from which my baby houdini can not even escape. To undo the harness you need to press the front and back button at the same time. While it’s easy for an adult, it’s too tricky for Baby to undo herself. I adjust the leg rest for Baby and let Baby choose from one of the four reclinable positions available in the stroller. For strolling on the promenade and “people watching” – a more upright position is in order. It’s great to know that if she dozes off into slumber, I can recline the seat back for a longer sleep. The easy operation of the recliner is one of my favourite features of this stroller. To recline you simply lift both hand grips at the rear of the pram to release the seat locks and slide the seat back. To raise the seat, you only need to push the back of the seat to an upright position.

My other favourite feature is the large shopping basket at the bottom of the pram which is easily accessible. The basket easily fits the Maclaren Raincover and is conveniently sized to fit other shopping. The raincover is complimentary with Maclaren Quest Special. It did rain suddenly while we were out and the raincover came in handy. It was quick to put on and the transparent material allowed Baby to feel like she was still part of the action while protected from the elements.

To escape the rain we decided to indulge in some retail therapy in the afternoon. The buggy performed as well in boutiques as it had on the beach. The slim line and front swivel rear fixed wheels, made the buggy easy to manoeuvre and dart about. We were given numerous compliments, while out shopping, on the trendy dark denim seat, which I might add is removable and washable. I must say the stroller was ideal for holding the light weight carriers filled with our new purchases too!

When it was time to leave the shops, I folded the buggy one handed to a compact umbrella fold and there was enough room for the stroller and our new purchases in our rental car boot. The luggage tag on the Maclaren Quest Special says “Happy Travels” and this really summed up our trip!

To find out more on the Maclaren Quest Special and other strollers in the Maclaren range, visit the CNP website.