Detailed review by Caradawn
Caradawn
Adelaide, Australia95%
Drive down St. Kilda Road, not forgetting to veer left at the fork and you should come to St. Kilda's adventure playground. On the left you'll pass a car park for the boat ramp and tackle shop come cafe, then a turn to the right leads you in to the parking area for the playground. You can't mistake it because you can't miss the playground. It is huge and I have never seen anything like it anywhere else.
One of the first things you will probably see is a castle like structure. This houses three long slides, some tunnels and the bit of climbing structure which ultimately leads to the slides. Naturally this tends to be the first thing we head for on arrival and the slides are fast, fun and big enough for adults. The tunnels can get a bit dusty in the dry weather and again these are large enough for adult use; so children can be retrieved, or the tunnels enjoyed by all if you like that sort of thing. Where the tunnels meet in the centre there is a ladder for escaping back up to the surface if it just so happens that your children have dragged you in.
Looking down from the top of the castle structure you can see the Pirate Shipwreck on a concrete slab on the shoreline. This is equipped with wooden cannons a brig and has three decks. This one is really just for the children as I didn't see the appeal in it myself, but the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves on it.
On the opposite end of the playground is a large wavy slide. You can go down this slide fairly fast on your own steam, but if you bring a sack or mat you can go even faster (I've seen some children using plastic bread crates). If you choose to go down in just clothes though, you might find yourself with a hot bottom from where the full sun has been shining on the metal. Other slides which can be a tad painful on the rear are the spiral slides which begin in the same place as the wavy slide but go down to a tunnel underneath. With these you hit every join in the metal plates on the way down. You emerge out of the tunnel at the bottom into a maze, but don't worry, it's not one you can easily get lost in. There are a few tunnels around the playground and I noticed with a little surprise that apart from being a bit dusty, they were all relitively clean. That is they hadn't been used as toilets by human or animal, which is what would have happened where I come from in the UK.
The flying foxes (rope slides) are popular. The longest stretches most of the way across the park, then there is a slightly smaller one and there is even a small one for the not so brave with a bar instead of a rope. Swings come in standard and large sizes so again adults can make as much use of them as the children. The only seesaw is a giant one, about three times the size of a standard one. There is a round-a-bout structured a bit like a web, but it doesn't seem to turn very easily. The better round-a-bouts are the ones with swing seats on them.
Besides the oversize equipment there is smaller equipment for younger children. The yellow submarine is a typical playground area suitable for toddlers and young children. Then dotted through the main playground are toddler swings and animal shaped seats on springs. There is even a sandpit with diggers in, although the diggers are very weighty and hard to use.In the playground and around it are sheltered picnic tables. These tend to be taken up pretty quickly, but you can always set up a picnic in the fields on the other side of the car park. These fields are also useful for kicking a ball about. Coin operated barbeques are located outside of the playground, for public use and these are cleaned regularly by the council. By the car park is a standing area with power supply where ice-cream trailers park up.
There is a public toilet block just off the playground site. It is well aired and has plenty of toilet paper; which admittedly has a tendency to get strewn all over the place throughout the day. There is cold running water supplied, but no soap or driers.
This is a large playground and it is located close to the sea; so you do have to keep a good eye on your children. It's easy to lose track of them and you wouldn't want them wandering off to the sea alone. I make it a rule that we always stay together. Cautions aside though, it is a fantastic playground and can be enjoyed by the big kids in all of us as well as our young children. Expect to get dirty!
St Kilda Adventure Playground9
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Accessibility
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"Must See"-Factor
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