An ancient gem. Ahuge, vast old volcano /parkland hidden off the Calder Hwy…read more You drive in through the gates and the noise of the highway disappears and is replaced by bush sounds. Peace and quiet are valued and other park attendees respect each others' space and individual nature experiences. Walkers, joggers, hikers, day trippers, locals; all types are here and hanging out. Those that walk down the steep mountainside are greatly rewarded with a view of The Pipes. An old volcano stood here eons ago. Soo Ancient this place is We are the guardians' of this sacred place, treat it as you would your own home. Soo much sacred geometry to view here, for those that can see. I'm lucky to live within 5kms and get to frequent this place. I can see how some people might get bored here but you have to explore every rock, path, grass mound, butterfly, organ pipe, river, etc with a open, childlike engry to get the most out of this place. I often see wallabies and kangaroos; side note: I hit a roo on my way out one night, driving at low speed at sunset. Roo was fine. Car had acouple scratches. Roo was jumping in a pack then randonly darted in the direction of the road and hit me. Best be careful of the inhabitants and respect their home. Cows grazing on the other side of the mountain Beautiful river flowing down the bottom. Snakes are around, my friend has seen them but I sadly have not. Take sandwiches, crackers, water, snacks for lunch or dinner down by the river or in the picnic area. Take a bag to take your rubbish home, no bins. Bascic, clean bathrooms located in the carpark. Free parking. No attendants work here, its unmanned. Police drive around occasionally. Enjoy the place and remember, you are where you are suppose to be, trust the process & explore

This national park is right off the Calder Freeway, and with all those fast cars, make sure you…read moredrive carefully. As we rode on up, we saw a truck just outside the gate with a official looking man and thought - you've got to be kidding me, as he was closing the entrance gate. Asking him, he said the gates close at 4:30 but we can park outside and he can't stop us from going inside. Lesson learned and we did just that. We followed the pavement leading to the actual car park, then followed the track downwards into the valley. There were a few different walks, 80m to the right are the Organ Pipes. 240m to the left are the Rosette rock and the Tesselated pavement formation. To any one who knows rock talk formation stuff, this can be a learning experience. I, on the other hand, read some of the info boards and thought okay cool, this looks different, and how weird. I'm sure there is more to be appreciated here. Anyways, there are a ton of picnic benches here, so come for a picnic and a walk. Because I was here after closing times, it was the time of day that rock wallabies and kangaroos were out and about. And that was by far cooler than the cool rock formations I saw, it added to my time here. For a small park, its good for a drive up and a few hours of sunlight to picnic in and see some different formations. This park really defines the Aussie landscape, hilly, rocky, dry with kangaroos. Oh and its opposing the Calder Freeway, so even with being guarded by hills, you still get the noise factor from the cars.

Really a very cool park. There is a book, movie and play called Picnic at Hanging Rock and the…read morestory is about 4 teenage girl disappearing up in these rocks from the turn of the 20th century. The hike up to the summit was doable especially being rewarded with the views of the surrounding area.

Large car park with a 15 bucks entry fee. Atm machines were broken on this day so bring cash. There…read moreis no reception either. Access to cafes, small visitor center with a viewing deck, and toilets. The walk up to the Summit is meant to be 50 minutes return. Check out various rock formations on the way up such as the saddle and tom's signature (around 20 rock formations with descriptive signs in total). You can either take the ramp up or the stairs and take a different or the same method down. The stairs only go up part of the way. There is a sign that says that it is a 'Grade 3' walk, but it is quite easy. Watch out for slippery rocks and definitely not a good idea to climb up to the summit on a rainy day. The summit view provides you a view of the Melbourne CBD - nicer on a non-windy and non-cloudy day. Once you're back down, you can drive further and check out the Memorial Cross and Cairns or check out more of the Macedon Ranges. The Macedon area is known for its music festival and abundance of picnic areas.

My equal fave nature place in the Northern burbs is Queen's Park. It's frequented by families,…read morechildren, the elderly and fitness fans who take advantage of the many perks about this tranquil park. There are two playgrounds either side of the lake, walking and bike tracks, a gorgeous pergola/gazebo complete with white turret roof. Situated right on the lake, this magnificent area is perfect for wedding photos and is quite often used as a place to get married or to have wedding pics taken. When the giant water feature display comes on in the background the beauty of the scene it creates, particularly from the pergola with ferns and lush greenery in the background, truly takes your breath away. The Queen's Lake Cafe is situated on the opposite side of the gazebo next to one of the two playgrounds. They serve up delicious, homely and oh-so-worth-not-packing-a-picnic sort of food. Fresh rolls, focaccia and hot food, as well as perfecto tea and coffee, this is one playground you won't mind taking the kids to! Even though it gets busy here and not as big as Coburg Lake it's always seemed to be more serene and peaceful each time I've been. Seating a plenty, picnic tables, swimming complex, cafe, playgrounds, free BBQ facilities, walking and biking tracks, peace, wildlife, romantic.... The list goes on and on. The best thing to do is come and experience it for yourself, particularly if you live on this side of Melbs.

Ive been going to Queens Park for over 30 years! I used to go there as a little kid with my parents…read moreand now Im still going there as a parent with my little kids now! Queens Park is a beautiful park and is more of a "botanical gardens" than a regular or wooded park. It contains a beautiful lake with 3 man-made islands and a large water fountain in the lake. Many different species of bird live on the islands including ducks, coots, black swans and others. Turtles can also be spotted. The walk around the lake can be done in 10 minutes but its nicer to amble slowly! There are 2 playgrounds in the park - on either side of the lake and have different equipment to each other - meaning that the kids get 2 playground experiences rather than one generic one. Parking is also remarkably easy around the perimeter of the park and it is quite normal to see joggers running through the park or newly weds having their wedding photos taken in the lush setting. The park borders a swimming pool (open in summer) and the Moonee Ponds bowling club and contains a small cafe near the western side playground. The park is perfect for a romantic walk around the lake at twilight with your lover (it is well lit with lamp posts and is not dangerous at night) yet is also a perfect place for taking the kids to burn off some of their excess energy in the daytime and is also a great place for a jog or exercise session!

This is a lovely little park that happens to be located just across from the pub. It is sort of one…read moreof those places that add quite a lot of life to a small suburb stuck on the outer edges of a major city. However, it is clear that the park, and the suburb, have been around for quite a long time, and it is a lovely place to relax, and maybe even have a picnic.

I'm not really sure whether I can consider this to be a national park, like those parks where…read morepeople travel to just to go bushwalking. I guess the reason that I say that is because there really isn't all that much bush here. I'm sure there was once, but most of the trees have been removed, probably because this place used to be sheep paddocks (or more likely cattle actually). Still, it is close to home, and when you get to the top of the hills, you do get some pretty amazing views. Also, there are some shelters at some strategic points where you can rest, or if you are like my, sit down and have a packed lunch. At the top, there is a lookout, though unfortunately the lookout is over South Morang, so unfortunately there is really nothing to see there.

This is certainly a village green in the traditional sense, that is that it is surrounded by a…read morenumber of churches. As such it does give this place a rather nice feel about it. It is also where the war memorial is located, along with the cannon that you seem to find at quite a few of them. The other thing is that there is also quite a nice fountain here. It isn't big, but it is still rather pleasant.

Coburg Lake Reserve is a city oasis not ten minutes drive of the CBD. I didn't even know such a…read morehaven existed until the start of this year. With two kids and a need to free my mind with fresh air whilst they play, there simply is no better place than here. Three playgrounds with every thing a kid could want to play with, and good walking distance between all three so mummy gets the refreshment she needs! Wildlife is a plenty off the shore of the lake and it's delightful to see the hoards of families with their bright, colourful blankets out picnicking on sunny weekends, kids squealing with a mix of joy and fear as they throw bread to the energetic and sometimes intimidating ducks and swans. I love it for all the walking tracks, each one ultimately leading to some monument or imposing statue, playground or viewing platform. The tranquility of watching the streams of the lake, listening to the water amidst the parklands brings such serenity. History abounds with bluestone hedging along some of the trails. Complete with amphitheatre and lake side gazebo, huge free BBQ facilities, plenty of seating including wooden, patio like seats with direct frontage overlooking the lake, and shaded areas; to me it's magical, heaven within a tram ride away to the city.

Finally there is a break in the weather and I can go for a bicycle ride around the Coburg Lake…read moreReserve. This former quarry for the bluestone granite that built the old Pentridge Prison was made into a lake with extensive parkland around it about a hundred years ago. There is so much in this large park with lots of lawns and trees. On my ride I pass a few sculptures in the park, a couple of playgrounds (one with the largest twister game board in the world), BBQs, picnic tables, a band stand, bicycle trails, seats, picnic tables and of course, a couple of toilet blocks. I stop and rest at a new beautifully designed lookout point with a view over the valley. I rode around the lake. There are ducks and a swan and cygnets on the lake and on the lawns a couple of galahs are foraging for food. And there are many people, like myself, picnicking the park and the good weather but the park is so large that it doesn't feel crowded, except right down by the lake. I leave the park and follow the bicycle trail south along the Merri Creek but that's another story.