A day out in Kyneton (my rating B)

Kyneton is a town in Central Victoria, about 1.5hrs drive from Melbourne.  It is a nice town to explore and stroll on a sunny day with your kids and furry little one.

Our day tour starts at Kyneton Botanic Gardens (we park the car on Clowes St), we have a picnic lunch at the park. And afterwards, a short stroll in the gardens.  It is very pleasant and peaceful.  Dogs are welcome on-lead in the gardens.  There are toilets, tables and benches available in the park.

The Botanic Garden is next to Campaspe River, a riverside walk shall be relaxing.  There are 2 swings in the Gardens, FYI.

 

Turpins Falls and Trentham Falls are 2 of several waterfalls near Kyneton.  Each waterfall is about 30mins drive from Kyneton, but opposite directions.  Both Falls are OK with dogs.


Staff@Kyneton Visitor Centre suggests me to put "155 Shillidays Rd, Langley VIC 3444" onto my GPS for the direction to Turpins Falls, there is a sign on Shillidays Rd pointing to Turpins Falls, so you won't miss the  turn.

There is no amenities at Turpins Falls, however, there's a path to the river level, I'd suggest you to bring a hiking stick with you as the path to river level is quite steep and slippery when wet.

Trentham Falls@Trentham Falls Scenic Reserve is off Trentham Falls Road, there's a sign pointing to the Falls so you won't miss the turn.  There is a picnic ground at the Reserve, with tables, benches and toilet facilities.  It's a 70m short walk on a well defined path to the viewing platform. 
**** Extracted from Trentham Falls flyer *****
Trentham Falls Scenic Reserve offers you the best access to one of Victoria's highest single drop waterfalls.  Here the Coliban River plunges 32 meters over a sheer face of basalt rock.

No wonder you can hear the waterfall thunder from the carpark, and the view is spectacular.

You may also like to take the chance for a short walk in the reserve.  The walking map is available at the carpark.

There are other Points of Interests nearby, like Black Hill, Mineral Springs, and other waterfalls......... :)
We shall come back and explore more, for sure......


p.s.: It may be tricky to find a restaurant / cafe in a Sunday afternoon in a country town, thus we usually bring our own picnic lunch.

Greenmeadows Gardens at St Kilda East (my rating B)

Greenmeadows Gardens is in St Kilda East, it's a small garden with a fantastic playground.

The garden is beautiful, relaxing and peaceful, the grass is very green and comfortable.  There's no oval in the garden, thus no ball games.  But the open grassy areas are big enough for kicking a ball.

The shared path is good for scooters and in-line skates.  Drinking taps are available in the park.  The toilet is the "Exceloo", the computerized toilet.  Unfortunately the toilet wasn't in a clean state when we were there in a Saturday afternoon.

According to the sign and the Council Website, the park offers offleash area at the northern end (i.e.: Not the end where the playground is) between 6am and 9am.  Dogs must be on-leash all other times.

I was not made aware of the offleash time restriction until it was time to pack up and ready to go (when I read the sign).  However, Jessica stayed on the picnic rug all the time, so technically we didn't break the rule.  But I did see dogs run offleash, sniffing and wandering around freely, and apparently nobody made a fuss.  Looks like it's a friendly neighborhood.

Ardrie Park@Malvern East (my rating B)

Jessica's health has gone downhill noticeably.   There are days she's happy to have a walk, and mind other people's business;  There are days she sleeps a lot inside the house, and doesn't feel like to go out at all.  It often reminds me the book "Island of Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell..... Remember?  The first dog the young girl adopts, he grows older and older, and he stops chasing the sea gulls on the beach.....  He spends most of time sun bathing on the beach...... One day, he never wakes up again........


Come back to my Jessica.  My goal now is to make each day as pleasant as pleasant can be for her.

This afternoon, after a good afternoon nap, she gets up at 4.30pm, feels like to go out.  Here we are, Ardrie Park at Malvern East, after a short 15mins drive from home.

The park is certainly a hidden gem.  Quietly suited among residential areas with no dedicated car park, this park is beautifully maintained.  Offleash on the oval, Onleash in other parts of the park, fenced playground suitable for young and school aged children.  Plus drinking taps, toilets, benches......... It's a fantastic spot for picnic and relaxation.

 

(Playground)

 

(Oval, offleash)

 

(Oval Offleash)

Dunns Rd Reserve@Mt Martha, Mornington Peninsular (my rating C)

I'm glad that I chose this park for today.  Within an-hour drive, we arrived at this park just before lunch.  Guess it was partially because of the weather (scatter showers with chance of thunderstorm), we were the only ones in the park.

A big shed with tables and benches is perfect to setup the 'base camp', in case of the rain.  Playground is not bad, about the average; large open grassy area is ideal for frisbee.

BBQ stoves, water tap, toilets, all these things make this park friendly. 

Along the walking path, there're fitness equipments for  people to use.

Next to the playground is a doggy playground (fenced up) with play equipments for them to enjoy.

 

(Open Grassy Area)

 

(Playground)

 

(Playground, the climbing frame in the distance)

 

(Shed with BBQ facilities)

  

(Doggie Playground)

 

(Walking Path, fitness stations along the path)

Sandfield Reserve in Carrum Downs (my rating C)

Sandfield Reserve in Carrum Downs, belongs to Frankston City Council.  It's about 50mins drive from Melbourne City, via Eastlink.

Sandfield Reserve sounds like a good playground, it has interesting play equipments, a tennis wall, and basketball ring, a skate park, and offleash.

With high hope, and to celebrate Jessica's good recovering (she's been very sick for a month), we went to this park, for a picnic lunch and a few hours relax.

According to Council website, there's a community toilet nearby, but the only 'community' site is a primary school, and all the gates are locked..........

With no luck with toilet facilities, we decided not to have picnic in the park.

The kids  had a play in the skate park, looks like it's a popular skate park to the locals, it was certainly very busy while we were there.

The tennis wall and the basketball ring share a block, thus sort of 'exclusive OR' condition, either basketball or tennis.

It is an excellent park to the locals, but not for people like me who wishing to spend a good few hours in the park.

 

(skate park, basketball ring and tennis wall)

 

(skate park)

 

(playground)

 

Glen Park, Bayswater North (my rating B)

Glen Park in Bayswater North, about 40mins drive from Melbourne City, via M3 / Eastlink.

It's an offleash park, with a playground and toilet facilities, as well as tennis courts to public and a basketball court.  It has also a few fitness equipments near playground.

It is overall a nice park that can keep the kids busy for one or two hours.  My children loved the RAMP especially, they went round and round over the ramp in-line staking and scootering.

 

(RAMP close-shot)

 

(Ramp and Fitness Station)

 

(Playground)

Zeally Bay@Torquay (My rating B)

On a warm Saturday (28'C), we went to Zeally Bay at Torquay to 'chill out'.

Why Zeally Bay?  Partially because it's offleash till Dec 1, partially because there're toilet facilities near the beach, partially because beaches on Great Ocean Road are my favourites, partially because Torquay is my favourite town along Great Ocean Road, partially because..................

Why is Zeally Bay rated B only?  All because the offleash period is from May to Nov.  Where do I go when Summer Heat comes?  The Beach Winner goes..... on great ocean road, a bit further down the Anglesea, with toilet facilities, will announce the name when summer heat comes. :-)

 

(Look Right)

 

(and Look Left)

 

(Here's Zeally Bay, ample car park, from Council Website)

 

(This is what PURPLE means, from Council Website)