We’ve been talking about the new Kingston Park in our household for months, patiently waiting for construction to finish.
So having talked it up to both my boys, I was almost a little nervous taking my littlest dinosaur (who is almost four) there for a play this week.
What if it didn’t live up to expectations?
Turns out Archer was in his element at the $5 million park.
Despite being in the heart of Kingston, not far from Coles and Channel Court, this park is MASSIVE.
It has a few pieces of play equipment Tasmanians will recognise from other play spaces like Legacy Park on Queens Domain and Symmons Park at Lindisfarne. But there’s lots of new stuff as well.
There are nest swings and see-saws, plenty of equipment to spin and get dizzy on, and heaps of slides which Archer loved.
The park has lots of quiet little corners and places to sit for a restful minute or a snack, in addition to the busier sections, which I really liked.
Archer enjoyed exploring each of the areas – and was especially fascinated by the sculptural elements of the park – a wooden lizard he could climb on, a metal butterfly that doubles as a musical instrument, a wobbly bee on a spring and a phallic-looking caterpillar.
He loved scrambling up the rocks of the nature-based playground, splashing in the multiple water play areas, bashing out a tune on the musical instruments and jumping enthusiastically across the stepping stones.
Two hours passed easily and there were still parts of the park we hadn’t investigated.
The great thing about this playground is there are things to suit kids of all ages. Bigger kids will love the basketball court (which also has a netball ring), the flying foxes and the climbing fort.
We went during school time, to avoid the weekend crush. It was still busy, but it didn’t feel crowded. And although the carpark looked full we managed to find a park easily.
The playground is being spruiked as Tasmania’s best, and it would certainly be up there (although I still think Launceston’s Riverbend Park successfully maintains that title). We will definitely be back.