Templestowe you have done it again with yet another totally awesome park. This one is located on…read moreThe Grange and is surrounded by large houses. The park itself is always pretty quiet as not many cars tend to peruse this street. There is a fun playground with lots of unique play equipment. It is very colourful as well. There is a swing set, a climbing frame and some springy toys for young children as well. For older patrons there is a netball and basketball hoop complete with little concrete squares to allow a small game. For cricket fans there is even a set of three wickets in the middle of the reserve. There is plenty of grass to run around on and a nice scattering of trees that provide just the right amount of shade. To help you enjoy the surrounds are three wooden seats. It is a really nice place to relax on a warm afternoon and is big enough for a few people to share without feeling cramped.

For many years the lake at Banksia Park was empty. But now, the park is restored to its former…read moreglory after strong rains and volunteer work. The park backs on to the Heide property and features walk trails, a cherry blossom garden, a playground and a lake filled with black pacific ducks and waterfowl. The walking track that takes you in a loop and along the Yarra River is a great place to spot local wildlife including parrots and honeyeaters .The soundtrack is the bellbirds that sing in the branches of the trees. Gums, wattles, and other native trees provide beautiful scents and attractive foliage along your walk. This is a leash park, and you are encouraged to clean up after your dog. There are little barbeque areas and a few bins. The open grassy spaces are great for getting a group of friends together on a sunny day, and the nearby playground provides an excellent place to let the kids run around. Banskia Park is perfect on a sunny day with a lot of space to host a barbeque or go for a walk. In the warmer months you may have to watch out for snakes.

I love the dog park at Banksia Park!…read more There are so many other great owners who are super friendly and will talk to you about your dog and other dog-related chats. I love that there is a fence so that all dogs are safe within the vicinity! Additionally, it's not an open space, there are bushes and trees that break up the land so that shyer dogs can get away and have some space to themselves! However, I wish that the grass was cut a bit more frequently and that there was a doggy poo bin with doggy bags. Another difficult issue is that the entrance gate closes at 6pm on the dot when it is not daylight savings - pretty hard for owners to get to the park after work during peak hour traffic. Other than these, it's a great dog park and I love the people and their dogs there!

NOTES: ~ Bring some good tennis shoes or hiking boots. I…read moredidn't expect us to end up here when my friends and I went out for a drive and ended up needing to navigate through Kangaroo poop and rocks with open-toed heels. La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary is great for people who want a nice experience of Australian wildlife, but don't have the money to go deep into the outback. I fit the bill, and I genuinely really like this place! It is quiet, serene, and even better if you play the Jurassic Park theme song in your head while wandering through the pristine jungle-like reserve. Prepare to meet KANGAROOS! We saw some adorable kangaroos and silently watched them for a bit of time. Because the kangaroos aren't kept in cages or enclosures, the experience at this wildlife sanctuary is even better than an actual zoo! The kangaroos are free to roam - just be careful not to piss anything off! La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary is a fantastic nature experience and I would definitely bring anyone here. In fact, it makes me quite jealous of students attending La Trobe University! They get easy access to a beautiful reserve!~

In the interests of transparency - I'm not a train buff. Or train spotter. Never have been. Don't…read moreget it. Never will. Don't get me wrong, I love trains - for getting me from A to B generally quicker and less stressful than driving. That's as far as any appreciation of trains go... But... I HAD SUCH AN AWESOME TIME HERE! OK... That's the big kid inside me screaming out, but I honestly did! I'd never heard of this place until a few days ago, and came along with no expectations. Actually, that's not true - I had images of some tin-pot hobbyist's "dream turned into reality" and "barely OH&S legal" toys chugging around in a circle with train-nerds everywhere going "Woo!"... Well, I'm not ashamed to admit it was me going "Woo!" - but I'll start from the beginning... The place isn't too well sign-posted from the road - so as a guide, the entrance is opposite the fairly obvious Eltham Tea House, in the grounds of Eltham Lower Park. Once inside the park area, there's loads of parking but on the day we visited (Sunday of ANZAC weekend) it was very popular so finding parking took a bit of looking but wasn't a drama. As we were walking to the ticket office, there was what appeared to be a huge queue - it turned out this was for the trains (Uh Oh!) but getting the tickets took minutes. And here's the first gotcha - it was a staggering $3 per passenger, with kids under 2 going free. Yes, you read that right - just 3 bucks per passenger! "Oh dear" my cynical anti-train-spotting inner voice said - "How dodgy is this gonna be for 3 bucks...?". So we joined the back of the apparently long queue (which was undercover, so nice shade in hotter weather) and here's the second gotcha - the queue moved pretty quickly, helped by the fact that you can watch the miniature trains arriving and departing from the platforms (yes, there's more than 1 - three that I saw, in fact) and a chirpy, but not annoying, voice of a platform announcer. I had already started enjoying myself but didn't know it at the time... Our little train soon pulled up and we slotted ourselves into the cozy little seats and trundled off. It very soon became obvious that this was a very well run professional set-up - speed limits, signals (I don't know what they are - honest!), safety barriers at crossings etc. The little train made its way through lovely parkland scenery and intermediary mini-stations and mini-junctions, going up hill and down dale on its merry way... There were several other trains passing in the opposite direction and I found myself smiling and waving at other passengers - oh the horror! Having done a lap, we then become one of those trains going in the opposite direction which recenty departed passengers were waving at. So much smiling and waving - it was wonderful! After a thoroughly enjoyable 15 minutes - a full 15 minutes, not a piddly 5 minute spin - we pulled back up to our platform to alight (that's a London Underground term - ;o)...) and made our way out having had a jolly good time! And all for $3 per person... All staff (I think volunteers) were great and obviously enjoyed what they do. Nearby is a kid's playground that's well equipped and is safety-oriented with wood-chip under the play areas (swings, flying fox etc.) and that bouncy footpath stuff, not concrete. There's also clean toilets near the playground. Just down the road from the playground are pony rides - we didn't do this, but it was $5 for a quick spin around a small grass area. A really small area - I know where I'd rather spend my $5... Choo choooooo...!!! ;o)

Borrow a small child and bring them here for a couple of hours of fun. Pack a picnic or a BBQ and…read morelet your child run wild in the playgrounds with the thousand other rug rats. Then, when you need a little rest from all the squealing head over to the "train station" and buy your $3 ticket and join the long line to take a ride on the mini trains. I'm not even a train nerd, but I really appreciated the effort and workmanship that has gone in to creating this fully functioning mini railway, complete with dozens of trains, bridges, tunnels, tracks and signals. The staff who run this place must be in heaven as they all look so happy to be riding around on the trains and getting kids (young and old) on and off the trains. $3 doesn't buy much these days, but it will buy you a full 15 minutes of train rides. The tunnels are the best bit and all the kids (*cough* adults *cough*) hoot and cheer when they enter the dark abyss. It's fun, scenic and fun for everyone. We came here for a kids party and the hosts had booked a private train ride, so the whole party could get on the train and enjoy the experience together. We had two rides, which meant a full 30 minutes of riding around on the different routes around the train lines. A really memorable and different kids party experience.

This is actually quite a large park, and it is certainly pretty popular on the weekends, if the…read morenumber of cars piling into it is anything to go by. Then again, I did wander through it on one of those nice February days, so that probably shouldn't be all that much of a surprise. Anyway, it is a part of the Yarra Parklands, a stretch of park that runs along the banks of the Yarra River (and is not doubt also used for flood control). There are plenty of facilities, and the walk long the river is rather nice as well. Oh, and there are some lovely gardens at the entrance.

Ruffey Lake park has something for everyone. Plenty of…read moreBBQ's and covered tables and benches, fun playgrounds, and a huge off leash dog area. Clean toilets and actual working taps ( yes lots of public toilets have no working taps, no locking doors and just plain gross). I find Ruffey lake very enjoyable to visit and amenities are well maintained. Lots of hills and paths for variety. Definitely a lovely day out!

This is a big park. Like huge…read more It feels like you could be far away from the world, but then you can get a glimpse of nearby houses and a small view of the Doncaster mall sitting up on a hill. It really is nice for a daytime, the sun is out so you should be outside type of day. It's good for a walk around their many paths, or for a picnic on one of their many open hilly spaces. If I was a dog, this would be optimum day out stuff. Because at Ruffey Lake Park, there are dogs galore, on leashes, on the footpath, running around, soaking up some sun rays, taking a dip into the lake, this park is their oyster. The lake itself, is average size, it's nothing to exclaim over, or take in. For seating, if you didn't take a blanket with you and are one of those don't-like-grass people, then find yourself one of the many benches that are laid out throughout the park. For the kiddies, there are two playgrounds with swings and activities, I feel like whenever I've been here, that area is hands down the most populated part of the park. For all of your park needs, Ruffey Lake is a stand out.

Not to be confused with the CBD's Birrarung Marr, Birrarung Park is a little further along…read moreTemplestowe Road from Banksia Park, and while smaller, it's still a great park to take the family for a barbeque. Like Banksia, the park is made up of a few open spaces, a lake, a tack along the river and a playground. The track is pretty short but it takes you through some beautiful bush land, and while the place is usually swarming with kids on the weekends, you'll still manage to find a patch that is quiet and peaceful, with nothing to listen to but the birdcall. Home to some beautiful species of birds and rumored platypuses (you'll be very luck to spot one), but unfortunately the park is also home to some nonnative animals including fluffy bunny rabbits. Remember if you take the dog with you to keep it on the leash, and clean up after it. Also be wary of snakes in the summer, I once saw a Tiger snake on the track so keep an eye on your kids.