There were five of us - myself, a couple of four year olds and a couple of five year olds. It was a hot stinking day - it got to about 35 degrees celsius and the nor'wester was howling. What to do? Where to go?
Well, I think most sane people would have stayed indoors in the cool and calm, but we went to the Groynes.
Okay, now that you've stopped making silly jokes about the place's name (yes yes, we've all been there, done that), the Groynes is actually not a bad place to be on a hot day.
For a start, there's HEAPS of shade. Trees, trees, trees. A couple of little playground areas. Lots of little lakes and waterways.
The Groynes is really one big ol' picnic spot. Go there any weekend or public holiday during the summer and you'll be one amongst thousands of others with their rugs out under a shady tree.
For all of that, there's not much else to do, except picnic, take a walk on the various trails, or hire one of the little boats. You can also fish there if you have a permit.
If you have a dog, the Groynes even has its own dedicated Dog Park. I don't have a dog, so haven't been over to that side of the park to take a look, but I'm sure the dogs love being able to run free.
There's plenty of birdlife to be seen - the ubiquitous ducks, a few geese, some swans, and some of these little critters.
In the end myself and the four little ones had a nice couple of hours at the Groynes. We ate sandwiches under a shady tree then played in the playground. I then devised a scavenger hunt for them (Things to find: white feather, wiggly stick, pointy leaf, etc; Things to see: someone fishing, a boat, a swan, etc...) and we headed off on the 1.5km loop track. The track was in shade for most of the time so it was fine. The kids' little legs kept getting tired, so I had to use the age-old Bribe Technique of promising a sweetie "at the next bridge!" (I mean, what madperson goes on an outing with four little children and does NOT pack bribes into her bag?).
After two hours in the heat of the day we'd definitely had enough. We were going to buy an ice-cream at the kiosk on our way out, but I only had 60 cents in my wallet, which definitely wasn't enough. Oh well, another sweetie!
Off Johns Road, just off State Highway 1 heading north out of the city
Hours: daylight hours
Cost: free (although you can pay to use the coin-operated barbecues if you want)
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