Westburn Bike Park

This is one of those hidden secrets - not a lot of Christchurch people seem to know about it. We discovered it quite by accident when friends of ours told us about it.

Westburn Park is an average suburban playground but with a difference - it has a mini road system set up for kids. There are roundabouts, Give Way and Stop signs, a railroad crossing, pedestrian crossings, one way bridges, etc.



The kids LOVE this place. They could happily spend a couple of hours here, mostly riding their bikes around, but also taking turns at being pedestrians on the little footpaths, or just going and playing on the playground equipment.

It's aimed at kids aged up to about 8 years old.



Where: Westburn Terrace in Burnside. It runs between Greers and Grahams Road, on the south side of Memorial Ave. If you prefer, there is an alleyway to the park from Memorial Ave, opposite Burnside High.

Facilities: Toilets, drinking fountain, playground equipment, shady trees to sit under and a couple of park benches.

Barnett Park Cave walk

If you're into walking and you're after a pleasant short walk then Barnett Park might be what you're after.

It's in Redcliffs, on the main road. There's a playground at the start, so you can bribe the kids with Happy Times once they complete the walk.

The walk supposedly takes about an hour and forty minutes, in a round trip.

I've attempted it twice.

The first time was with my husband and two kids, aged 3 and 5. The five year old was fine. The three year old found it tough going and made life a misery for us all.

We managed to make it up two thirds of the track, the goal of the big cave lurking tantalisingly just a short distance away, but no. After more than an hour we had to stop for good and turn back. Damn.



The second time I tried the track I went with a friend. I didn't realise just how uber-fit she was, and just how uber-unfit I was. We set off at a cracking pace, and within two minutes into the uphill leg I was wheezing like an asthmatic. Not good.


We continued, with rest breaks every hundred metres or so for poor old me. Rather embarrassing.


We finally made it up to the cave - what a great cave (wheeeeze!)! What a great view (wheeeze!)! I'm sure that fitter people would have appreciated it more than I did.


The downhill leg was much easier.


We managed to complete the round trip in about an hour, which is still pretty good, but gosh, it was hard.


Watch for sheep poo - it's everywhere. Watch for the little side track about two thirds of the way up - it takes you to a secret (or not so secret, judging by all the rock climbing carabiners on the rock faces) cave, which is quite cool to be in and makes up for those not being quite fit enough to make it to the main cave.

The little side cave.

So there you have it. Barnett Park walk. A pleasant morning out for the fitter ones amongst us, a torturous trek with a nice view at the top for the rest of us.

The Groynes

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!

The Groynes

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)

The Botanic Gardens playground

The Christchurch Botanic Gardens playground is CLASSIC. I have photos of myself, aged 3 years old, playing happily there. It is practically a Christchurch institution.

These days the playground is a bit safer than it used to be - heaps of sturdy plastic equipment, plenty of soft mats to fall on, and NO roundabouts (have you noticed that every playground in Christchurch is slowly but surely becoming roundabout bereft? Not that I'm particularly upset, as I've spent many a worrying moment watching toddlers attempt to board a speeding one). But the playground STILL has the wonderful toddler pools and is still situated in a gorgeous and central part of town.



The good things:

• The pools. There are two pools - one bigger and deeper for the older children (it's about 70 or 80cm at its deepest, at my guess) and a smaller shallower one for the babies and toddlers (about 10 or 20cm deep). These are only filled in the summertime, so remember to bring your togs on those hot nor'wester days!


• The equipment. There are two areas - one specifically aimed at toddlers, which is handy as you don't end up getting your just-walking one year old knocked over by rambunctious eight year olds, and the other is a general play area with the usual swings, slides and monkey bars.


• The Botanic Gardens in the centre of the city - you're right there. It's a lovely setting and SO easy to wander off with the kids on a nature walk.


• The ice-cream shop attached to the kiosk.


• The places to sit and have a picnic - plenty of seating around the place and heaps of grassed areas to lay out a picnic rug.


• The toilets - only a short walk away.


• Car parking - plenty of free carparks in Hagley Park - take the Armagh Street/Rolleston Ave entrance.


• For those with disabled children, there is also a special wheelchair friendly swing - I've never seen it being used but at least it's there.


• The ducks from the nearby Avon River. Remember to take some bread! The kids LOVE feeding the ducks, and in spring you have the added bonus of ducklings.

The bad things:

• The ducks. Don't feed them IN the playground area if you can help it, as they end up pooing all the over the place. Watch where you sit.


• In the winter try to avoid the playground before about 11am, or else you'll find all the equipment is covered in dew. It's a bit tragic to have upset kids wondering why their backsides are wet when the sun is shining.

This place is really popular during weekday mornings with mothers' groups, as the preschoolers have the run of the place while the older kids are at school. Bring your own thermos of coffee or buy a cappuccino and a slice at the nearby kiosk cafe - even better on a cold winter's morning as they have an open fire.

Make sure you take the time to stand on the footbridge leading to the carpark and look for trout and eels in the river below. And if you have an extra ten minutes walk the 100m or so over to Victoria Lake and watch the old men playing with their remote control yachts - the kids love this!

THE LOWDOWN:

Cost: Free!

Location: Botanical Gardens, in Hagley Park. Either walk through the gardens going West from the Museum entrance, or drive into the Armagh Street entrance and park in the carpark and then head over the footbridge - the playground is just there.

Hours: The gates are open during daylight hours.

Suitable for: Everyone!

Allow: as much time as you have - half an hour is okay, but three hours and a picnic is better.