Grinstead Park (Ship Park)

Grinstead Park is our local large park. It's a walk away from us yet still is a cool park in terms of the structure and imagination of the park. It's one that your playground seeking parents from around Brisbane have probably had recommended to them. Map is here.

The name Ship Park is obvious - the playground itself is built entirely (well, with the exception of a set of swings off to the side) as the body of a ship. There are places to climb, deck holes to poke through, walkways to run along and perhaps one of the best slides in town. Always having a gaggle of kids running to the top of the ship to line up for a turn, this slide is an enclosed slide which has a clear section in the roof so that you get a glimpse of sky amidst the red and green plastic as you slide down. Apologies, I only have one very terrible picture of the slide in question!

As Cody gets older, I find that she is more enamored with the exercise park which is at the top of a hill nearby. This presents more of a challenge to her with the monkey bars, climbing wall, balance beam and sit up benches. She spends more of her time here than in the classic park, which leads me to suggest that this is a park for a younger crowd on the whole. The last time I was here there were lots of school age kids climbing all over the park, but they seemed to be bent on causing havoc rather than enjoying the facilities.

The sails create a lovely shade which covers a large part of the ship and there is an abundance of grassy spots on the nearby hill to sit and look down over the park. What this park excels at is the picnic or BBQ. Its not popular enough to be cut-throat about getting one of the two main BBQ areas (there are a few other tables around but only two covered tables next to BBQs) so you can safely arrange your weekend party here. We grabbed a table and bought a picnic style afternoon tea and had a lovely chat whilst the kids ran off to play.


I would suggest that if you have very young kids that hovering may be required. There are lots of high bits and open floor within the ship itself as well as lots of areas which are tucked out of view so if you are sitting back you won't always be able to spot your kids. That said, the middle deck of the ship is large enough (and has benches) for you to sit in the middle and let the kids run around you! It works very well in this regards.

The surrounding area is picturesque. A nature reserve, this is also accessed via a bike park which runs from Mitchelton through Everton Park. As such, its a great destination at the end of a long pram walk.

The theme is lovely and really lends itself to imaginative play so it deserves at least a 7.5 rating.

RATED:

Age Groups: Monitored walkers will thrive here, but best suited to your 3-4 year old crowd.

Kid Friendliness: we've been here a ton of times and the kids have never really interacted with each other.

Parent Friendliness: there tends to be a ton of mothers groups here - which I find very excluding to the non-group mum. This said, I've met some fabulous parents here.

Shadiness: there is a sail cover in place playground is shaded by a canopy of trees

Tricked Out: nah, not at all really - the ship theme is nice though

Picnic/BBQ: there are two BBQs but a lot of additional areas for picnics

Shabbiness: neither here nor there really

Toilets: ithere is a toilet block by the car park which is small and clean

Hovering Required: Yes, there are lots of places under the ship where you can lose your kids and lots of places on the ship where they could fall.

Bring Yr Bike: The playground itself is not good but its surrounded by a bike path

Crowded: not super crowded but definitely popular

Wow: no wow just a solid park

Downey Park/Northey Street

Northey Street Park was one of the first parks we started visiting with any regularity. It was not right next to our home (so it was 'special' enough to drive to) and it just was made for the young folk just finding their legs. On the weekends it was a stop past when we went to the Northey Street markets and Cody and her dad would often bike ride on the Kelvin Grove/Windsor bike paths over to here. It certainly is a special place for us. Map can be found here.

I should just say that you should NEVER attempt to visit this park on a Saturday. It's nestled between the hockey and netball grounds and thus is over run with literally hundreds of sporty pre-teens and their sporty vehicle driving parents (no parking for miles on the weekend!). During the week it plays host to quite a few playgroups, mothers groups and a place for field trips for some special needs kids from a school nearby.



What do we love about this park? Well firstly its always clean and the bark which covers the ground of the park is always fresh looking. Cody is a shoes off the second she sees a park kind of girl and - maybe I've watched too many movies or am being overly paranoid - but I do worry about what lies beneath that first layer of bark at parks. This park doesn't make me want to run ahead and scour the park for glass, needles, condoms or whatever other object of danger which I have conjured up in my paranoid mind. It's clean, its localised, its not near a road or a river - its safe.

I guess that's what I love about this park, but asking the expert - what Cody loves about this park - is that its served her so well from her early beginnings that she's formed a very fond association with it. The playground is really very good for small children. The little frame with the slide/walkways/cubby underneath has wide steps, well protected sides, easy accessibility for parents. It's made for kids which still need their hands held when they climb stairs yet it has appeal enough that Cody (now nearly four) enjoys climbing and running across it. On this visit, the cubby was an ice cream shop and the bark was the ice cream. Perhaps I should call this "wishful thinking park".





The base of the park also has a great see saw, swings and a climbing wall and climbing rings. What makes it unique is the 'spinny thing'. I have no idea what they are called but it seats four kids and you spin a wheel in the middle and it spins and spins until a kid screams STOP as they are about to throw up. Surprisingly, this is not Cody's favourite thing here and she rarely goes near it. What draws Cody the now big-little-kid is the newly installed climbing frame.

The climbing frame has automatically ensured that its rating from Cody is high. She loves to climb! This one is extra special as it is TWO of the usual climbing frames which are connected by a rope bridge. The frame is high, requires skills to navigate beyond the first level and is a great addition to the park to ensure the older kids are kept happy too.





What this park excels at is flexibility - the surrounding grounds are great for ballsports and biking. There is ALWAYS a crew of children on the bitumen of the nearby basketball courts learning to ride their bikes. Its wonderful to see the bike excitement on the courts - be it first time on a new bike or first time with the training wheels off - its an area of such excitement and ambition.



Further beyond the playground and the courts are the actual bike paths (which run from Kelvin Grove to Northey Street) and the creek which runs along beside the RBWH. The bike paths are lined with the exercise equipment, streams of runners and a truck load of dogs (there is an off leash area behind the netball courts). Unless its a Sunday and the markets are on, don't even think of being able to find a coffee around here so make sure to come when you are naturally perky!

Cody is in danger of outgrowing this park sometime soon but for the moment it keeps her most happy. This park would be rated a nice solid 7.5 if you are looking at the park for Cody now, but if you are taking very small kids then I'd suggest you really can't beat this park for suitability.

RATED:

Age Groups: Suits the 8 month - three year crowd best of all but the climbing frame and the bitumen give it a bit of older appeal also.

Kid Friendliness: give the clientele is so young, its really parallel play at this stage rather than anyone seriously forming an organised game or involving each other.

Parent Friendliness: all the parents have been lovely that I've met here.

Shadiness: the playground is shaded by a canopy of trees

Tricked Out: nah, not at all really

Picnic/BBQ: there is one BBQ and one undercover table

Shabbiness: lovely and clean

Toilets: given that on the weekend this place turns into a sports hell, the toilet block is as functional as a school toilet block. Its built for the masses, for frequent use and sturdiness.

Hovering Required: No, the park is small

Bring Yr Bike: Yes for sure.

Crowded: not super crowded but definitely popular

Wow: no wow just a solid park

Sydney Street/Merthyr Park (Treasure Park) New Farm

Sometimes a park is not about a park but about the experience, the surroundings and the ritual. Such is the case with the Sydney Street Park. This is a dinky little playground which is about half way around the Sydney Street river walk (which runs from Sydney Street ferry stop to Merthyr Bowls club). Map is here.

Cody wanted a pram walk - I have no idea where her sudden love of the pram walk has sprung from as she never wanted to be in the pram when she was a baby. Now Mika shares a pram she just loves it. I think the pram walk symbolizes a sense of escape for me (which she picks up on) and typically ends in a park. For some reason I was fanging for hot chips, so I devised a plan.

We used to live in New Farm many moons ago, and the walk around Merthyr Park (from Sydney Street to Merthyr Bowls) was something I tried to do every day. It's just a beautiful walk along the river, looking at the fancy schmancy houses and taking in the sights and smells of the Brisbane river. Just divine.

So we parked in Sydney Street itself and got out the pram, piled the kids in and headed down to Sydney Street Ferry stop for the beginning of the walk. About half way along there is a tiny little park, which of course Cody demanded we stop for.




The park itself is small, a few swings, a slide, a climbing frame. Its cute but pretty lo-fi. Cody had one small play on the park but then turned around and stared with a jaw-dropping delight. SAND.





Down she ran and began to squeal with delight and frolic in the sand. She ran into the mangroves and began playing a game where pebbles and leaves were hidden treasures. My belly rumbled. I feared I was never going to drag her away from this for chips. There was some discussion between my husband and I about the, uh, "safety" of letting her dig in the sand. He'd grown up with the knowledge that the Brisbane River was a disease ridden vile sludge cesspool. I was totally cool to let her dig, build up her immune system, but wash her hands before she went anywhere near that chip bowl. I don't know who is wrong or right here. Take that one as you please. But I'll say this, I haven't seen Cody so very happy for a long time as when she was running around her treasure island. We also got to have a chat to her about nature and how totally weird it was that trees were able to survive underwater and about tides and stuff. So educational to boot!

A play on the park ensued and then it was time for the drag. This blog is not called Leaving Is Never Easy for nuthing! Cody is horribly, terribly, stubbornly hard to move from a park. Finally it was on our way to Methyr Bowls for chips.







Merthyr Bowls has changed a lot since the heyday of our New Farm adventures. Its polished, a thriving business! The service was great, the views were amazing. At lunch time on a public holiday we got a great table overlooking the river and had a lovely lunch (chips and a garlic bread were about $15). Cody noticed the ferry's and we decided that the best way of getting back to our car was by ferry. A quick walk over to New Farm Park and we jumped a ferry for two stops back to Sydney Street.




So this blog entry is not so much about the playground - although it was fun and we had some giggles on the super long slide - but more about the whole package. A dinky park is more than a dinky park if you surround it with some adventures, chats and a bowl of chips.

I'm not going to rate it as the park would come up about a three but Cody would give it a ten because chips were involved. Not a fair rating!!