A wonderful hidden little strip of nature. A wonderful respite from the hustle and bustle of…read moresuburbia, parks like this are largely underappreciated. Brought the wife and kids down here a couple months ago for some live jazz, and whenever we visit friends nearby we picnic with their family here too. Today I brought my laptop and got some work done in the shade, listening to the water fowl play, and the other murmurings of a park. A pleasant reminder that I should share my love of this special place with my fellow suburbanites. Pros: Proximity to life, great walks around the lake, wildlife, great for sunset/sunrise walks. Cons: No Swimming thanks to pollution.

It is amazing how Melbourne's suburbia hides away little pockets of nature. You can be driving…read morealong with the trees on the nature strip and eventually you realise the houses themselves are gone, replaced by the sprawling expanse of a sanctuary. Blackburn Lake Sanctuary is on of these many magical places. Tucked in from the train line and busier surrounding roads, it is near a number of schools, so it's no surprise their field trips will include walking through the park and looking for wildlife. With open park area and play ground for kids, there is perfect space for picnics and events. Community music events - like a jazz festival in February - will often set up shop here for people to attend and listen for free. And after you've stuffed yourself with nonna's best home cooking and cleaned up the paper plates, what better way to burn it all off than with a walk around the lake itself. Not so big that the whole family couldn't do it, there are several smaller paths leading to different places outside the realms of the park. One school actually backs on it, as does a nearby church. All manner of wildlife can be found - ducks, birds, even a fox once or twice. Don't swim - apparently in the 50s they used to, but sadly water pollution has turned that idea quite sour. However, sitting by the water and watching life go by has never looked better.

I love parks, and I definitely love going for a stroll through parks, especially when they are…read morelocated in the middle of a city. However, what really captures my attention is a park with a lake because, honestly parks with lakes are really, really cool. Okay, when I was younger I also liked parks with play equipment, as well as parks with lakes you could swim in (though you can't actually swim in most lakes these days because they happen to be pretty filthy). Sure, this park is probably not one of my favourites, namely because it happens to be one of those suburban parks that don't stand out as much as some of the parks closer to the city, but it still has a charm of its own.

I haven't been to this park for quite some time, and I was informed that the playground area and…read moretoilets have been revamped, so I decided to take my 3yo granddaughter to check it out, she had a great time playing on the play equipment and looking at all the ducks and other birds, it was a wonderful time for her and that made me very happy 10/10

Mahoneys Reserve in Forest Hill is HUGE. When I say huge I don't just mean HUGE, I mean MEGA HUGE…read more Read on and you will totally agree with me! Reasons to validate not only how HUGE this place is, but also how damn good it is: 1.This place has two general grassy areas surrounded by trees. These are wicked picnic spots with fluffy, comfy grass to lounge on. There are plenty of shaded areas as well as sunny spots. 2. It is right next to the Bob Saker Oval, which has a fence and is great for allowing your furry friend to run around without fearing that he/she might run away. Make sure to clean up after them though as this is used for sport regularly. 3. There is a massive multi-purpose field with goals and line markings used by various clubs. This is fenced off however so you will have to join a club to utilise this. 4. There is a large, un-fenced soccer field complete with goals at one end. This is a little shabbier than the oval with the fence, but at least it's free right? 5. There is a decent sized kids playground behind the oval. It is great for kids, or for getting a good view of the footy games played on weekends. 6. There is a heap of parking spots. 7. There are batting cages around the back of the clubhouse. (Did I mention there was a clubhouse?) 8. The Clubhouse is available for hire. Seriously guys, Mahoneys Reserve is the place to be if you are into sport. It totally rocks and is awesome to relax at on a sunny day.

Collier Reserve is on the corner of Burwood Highway and Stud Road in Wantirna South. It is the…read morestarting point for a few great bike tracks. One leads up to Belgrave and Ringwood, and the other to Dandenong Creek and Scoresby Road. I have been on both bike tracks and they are both fantastic. The reserve itself is pretty cool. There is a gravel carpark off Burwood Highway, or you could do what I do and park on Alderford Drive, which is behind it. The reserve has a little creek running through it and it looks really pretty, despite some rubbish, when you stand on the bridge and look at it. There is a big line of trees and bushes that curtains off a big grassy area from the main roads although it is pretty noisy there all the time because the roads are busy. The last time I was there, there were some boys playing footy in the grassy area. It is a decent size but not exactly up to a footy oval. My favourite part about the reserve would be the metal arches that go over the bike track. They are really artsy with bike parts welded into the arch. They're hard to explain, but look at the photos to see what I mean. If you're on one of the bike tracks for a long ride, this is a really neat place to stop for a rest - make sure you bring a light blanket though as there aren't any benches to sit on.

The Birchfield Reserve is a great little hidden gem in Wantirna South. While only small, it has so…read moremany features that make it the perfect place for countless children's games. There is a little playground with two swings that is, as usual, surrounded by tanbark. The area around this is pretty flat and has a good spread of grass. There is a long line of pine trees along one side of the park and they are perfect for the game "What's the time Mr. Wolf" or even "Forty-Forty". Hide and Seek would also be good, but it'd be pretty obvious that you would be hiding behind a tree because there is really nowhere else to hide! The park doesn't seem to be very well attended to as there were three trees lying on the ground that had fallen over at some point. There are three paths that lead to the various exit points - two out of three are cement but one is loose stones and crunched up cement. The birds here were really noisy but there was no other sound so it was actually really peaceful. The streets that border the Reserve are all courts or dead end streets and there is barely any traffic at all. I really enjoyed spending time in this Reserve.

The Aranga reserve dog activity centre is essentially a gated off leash dog park. There are 2…read moreseparate agility training set up that you and your dog can run around and use. Inside the park there is another fenced off area for individual training sessions, or if your dog needs some time away from the other pooch If someone is waiting there is courtesy sign to advise how long you can use it for. If no one else is waiting to use this area you can use it as long as you want. The grounds in this park was muddy when I came in on a winter day, I imagine it's a lot more pleasant in the drier months but at the moment it's quite a messy ground. There is water station with a few water bowls scattered around and people seems to be quite friendly and relaxed. The park sits right next to a playground so lots of families flock here, run the dogs then let the kids play, win win. Great facility to use and the plus is that it's fully fenced.

The William Morris reserve on Harold Street definitely exceeded my expectations of a suburban…read morereserve. Most are pretty flat and clear, might have a few trees and a park bench, but this one had all of that and way, way more. It was dense bush land with trees and shrubbery packed in really tight. Little tracks crisscrossed their way all through it and there were a few moments were I panicked, wondering how I would find my way back out again. For those who don't like to have trees brushing their elbows or have to duck under branches, there is one main path that leads right through the middle. All the little paths eventually meet this one as I soon found out. I walked through a lot of cobwebs on the little paths, which could mean one of two things. Either the park is really unpopular, which I cannot fathom, or there are a lot of spiders there. The birdlife here is awesome and there was constant movement above my head. It got pretty tight in there at times so I was happy when the path opened up and there was a little clearing with a bench - a rest was definitely needed. At the end of the main path there is a little playground with a park bench. When I reached this I was really hoping someone had moved my car to this end so that I wouldn't have to walk back through the narrow paths. Of course no one had moved my car, but this allowed me to fid the wider path, which I had walked straight past on my first entrance into the Reserve. Lesson learned. I'm looking forward to taking my dog there for an excursion - he would love snuffling through all the shrubbery and there are so many twisting paths that I could easily walk him in circles for a few hours and he would have no idea. Perfect!