I was one of those kids who tried just about every sport available to me in the hope that I would excel in one. I sucked at them all and eventually came to terms with the fact that I'm just not athletic. In fact, I'm totally uncoordinated and pretty much the last person you should pick in that humiliating team selection game thing. My sporting pursuits meant that I spent a lot of time at Downey Park. Whether I was tripping over clods of dirt on the hockey fields, tripping over the bases on the softball diamonds, or tripping over a painted line on the netball courts (do you see a pattern here?), I was always at Downey Park on a Saturday morning in one hideous uniform or another.
Because I live quite nearby, even though I've given up my dreams of Olympic gold I still come to Downey Park quite often. For one thing they have a nice big enclosed dog park area at the back which is ideal for my two crazy terriers, but there's also a nice walking path along the creek which will lead you to City Farm. The playground at Downey Park was recently redone and now includes a dizzying whirly-gig that I can never walk past without taking for a spin and some swings under the shade of big jacarandas. There's always something to do at Downey Park, even for those of us who are athletically-challenged. read more