Out and about - the park around the corner

We are pretty lucky where we live. Besides living in an area which is highly populated with koalas, it's close to the beach, islands only a short ferry ride away and we're only 5 minutes to anywhere, we have a huge amount of parks close by to enjoy. This one is just around the corner from home. 

My son and I decided to pack a picnic lunch of peanut butter sandwiches, banana muffins, strawberries and cordial and head off to the park for fresh air, bird watching, bike riding and koala spotting. (Koalas are active at the moment and I always seem to spot them when I don't have the camera.)

There's a nice selection of playground equipment for all ages including a shaded playground.

Time for a snack and a rest. (Note his mate "Nosey". He's a visiting toy from Kindy we have to have photographed with my son and recorded in a book. All the kids at Kindy do it so they give an insight to what life's like at their place.)

Strawberry season is upon us and we live in a strawberry growing area. In fact, we have an annual "Strawberry Festival" next month. Can't wait!

When I'm taking photos of my son, I get mesmerised by his dark, long eyelashes. The photo doesn't quite capture how beautiful they are but they were kind of all tangled, they're so long. He also had his hair cut the day before. I love a little boy who's just had his hair cut.

There's a long bike path, a small basketball court with hoop, plenty of drinking fountains and low taps for dogs PLUS 2 fenced, off leash dog parks.

There's one for smaller dogs and a larger area for dogs of all sizes, plus a small shaded area for the 'humans'. The Council also provides 'doo doo' bags to pick up any nasty surprises left by your pet. I used to take my dogs there all the time. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was there and a younger girl came in with her dog and it got away from her, grabbed my Minature Fox Terrier and shook her in it's mouth. I was terrified. Everyone sprung into action. My poor little dog was finally released, we rushed her to the vet hospital and she finished up having her side ripped plus internal injuries. It cost over $700 for the vet bill but we were lucky the little girl told us where she lived and her Mother was very apologetic and paid the bill. I'm still a little scared to go back there with the dogs unless it's the middle of the day and no one else comes.

This is a huge park with a cricket pitch, batting practice nets, lots of shady areas with beautiful tall trees. It's well kept and we are truly blessed to have it in our midst. The kids want to go there all the time but I always put them off because I'm putting dinner on but I really should just go with them. They're getting new bicycles for their birthdays this year so that could be a good enough reason to take them, so they get their money's worth.