Nathan and I are on a mission to find some great parks/playgrounds in our part of Melbourne. Several people told us that Phoenix Park was great, so we decided to check it out today.
I have to admit that it was pretty amazing. It was like a wooden fortress, with swings, a flying fox-type-slidey thing, plastic slides and climbing spots scattered around the wooden structure that had steps and bridges galore. As far as the practical things went, there was a fence around the entire place except at the entrance, so I guess it isn’t too hard to make sure that your child stays in the playground though it wasn’t easy to always keep an eye on what the more active child is up to. Toilets were close and there was a cafe somewhere there as well (I saw the signs but didn’t track it down).
The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating of it. So what did Nathan and Toby think of it? I think they both had a ball. Nathan ran for nearly the entire time we were there…running up and down steps, across bridges, exploring what was around the next corner. Toby seemed to have a lot of fun crawling from where I’d place him on a platform, up a few steps, and then coming down the slide. He must have liked it because he went straight for the slide every time I put him up on the platform.
All in all, I’d say it is a pretty good playground. It is very different to any that we have come across before, but I’d hate to be there when it was busy as I think it would be very easy to lose your child.
