Playground Tour 2021
Today we tackled Playgrounds #1 and #2.
- Point Hut Playground, Gordon
The tower is much scarier to climb that one would think.
Lizzie took this picture of the view:
I misspoke six years ago, largely dismissing this playground. It’s definitely one of the best in Canberra, and richly deserves to be on this tour. There were several parties happening there today but there was still plenty of space for everyone. It’s really five or six playgrounds in one big grassy area (and a basketball court, and a brilliant picnic spot), and has enough range that my kids cheerfully bounced from one place to another. I’ve noticed they’re starting to outgrow playgrounds (even if they haven’t realised it themselves) but there was a great range of climbing stuff which is at a perfect level for them—both fun and challenging.
After that, a not-very-surprising spanner in the works: we could not go to the George Gregan Playground, because it’s in a hospital. Given the lack of cases in the ACT (for many months) I thought we’d be okay so long as we sanitised like mad coming in and out. Of course I was wrong. There’s a pandemic on.
So instead we went to the new playground in Ginninderry, which of course wasn’t there six years ago. It’s maybe half the size of Point Hut, which is still a very respectable size, with lots of different things to do.
That’s a combination soccer/basketball field behind the merry-go-round. And very pretty mountains.
This climbing frame set up (there are others as well) was definitely a hit with the kids.
Spinny thing.
It also has a pretty pond nearby, with a bridge over it. I love a good pedestrian bridge (that’s not it, but another climbing thing).
We have a week of school to go, but soon we’ll be on to playground #3: At the Cotter Reserve. Hopefully with a bunch of friends along too.
Ten Playgrounds in One Day
Yes, I’m a teensy bit manic depressive. Some days I barely move. Other days I’m ON for hours and hours and I act like nothing hurts and nothing is hard.
This was one of those days, back in 2015 when Lizzie was three and Tim was just one year old. Overwhelmed with life and with all I couldn’t do with my children, I decided to throw common sense out the window and have an ADVENTURE. This is how it went:
- 1. Point Hut, Gordon. We arrived around 7:00am, ran across the playground, climbed the tower, and ran back to the car. The top floor of the tower is tilted.
This is the tower. As you can see, we started when it was still dark.
2. George Gregan at Canberra Hospital. At this point my adorable social butterfly was saying, “I want some kids here.” (I recommend GG because it’s super awesome, but also because it’s quiet.)
We always make sure to take some jumps off the crocodile. Oh! I forgot to mention that at this point it was six degrees outside.
3. Cotter Reserve Playground (just after the second bridge) although we barely touched the playground. She’s in swimmers and a towel jacket.
…and water shoes. My crocs went really well, but I refused to go deeper than (her) knees.
4. Arboretum Playground. I promised Louisette there’d be kids there, and I was right. She made two completely unrelated friends in the 40 or so minutes we were there – just enough time to go down all the slides a few times, then promise her a surprise at the next one. (I had of course a series of useful rewards planned out for the day; it was a test of her endurance as much as mine.)
At every playground, I asked, “Did you like this one or the last one best?” She always said emphatically, “This one!” until just after Questacon, and then said, “Questacon” for the last two. Then I attempted to get a definitive answer this evening and she was back to insisting that every playground we mentioned was her favourite. (PS You can see mountains in the background of this photo.)
5. (Somewhat easier for the pre-schooler hand to shape than 3 or 4.) The National Gallery Sculpture Garden, cunningly timed for. . .
The 12:30 fog sculpture. We sat beside the water waiting (I told her something surprising would happen at 12:30 because of a machine) and then hissssss, and suddenly fog rose from the ground before us. She was suitably impressed, and when the wall of white sent Evil Magician-style clouds right at us – blocking out the world – she stepped back. It was really eerie! After a bit we walked through it – cold and subtly wet – to the car.
6. Boundless! Directly across the lake (timed so we’d hear the Carillon play, although the Sculpture Garden would have done just as well). Those are water cannons. . . and swimmers.
Being there at lunchtime there was a single school group on their way out and then it was emptier than I’ve ever seen it. Louisette practised jumping on and off the merry-go-round, which was definitely something we need for the future – it goes seriously fast.
7. A water dragon (and two turtles not visible here) at Questacon’s Waterways exhibit. We also saw caged lightning and the earthquake centre – but deliberately avoided Mini-Q this time! Mum’s catch-cry was “Quickety-Quick!”
All kids love being able to manipulate large objects (including TJ), so this has always been a favourite. Plus I like photos of round things.
8. Commonwealth Park Castle. I had her crown in the car and forgot it! Ah well. She was reluctant to leave, but I promised a sleep in the car plus Nanny and TJ at the next one.
New umbrella 
You can see the castle down the path. (Other people call it the mouse house.) I love taking photos and having picnics here, but it involves a lot of crawling and very little visibility. (The crawling tends to tire kids out fast too – unless of course they make a friend. We had it to ourselves today, or it would have been very difficult to move on.)
9. Yerrabi Pond Adventure Playground. She’d had enough of taking photos with her hands in difficult number positions (I’m surprised she lasted as long as she did – changing locations is exhausting, but surprisingly helpful for preventing melt-downs – especially when there are snacks in the car.) I’d decided en route to save TJ for last, but Louisette didn’t mind because I still had one deux ex machine up my sleeve. . .
A bubble gun! It’s operated by blowing in the end and cost the princely sum of $4. (And she even modelled the crown I forgot at the caslte.)
10. John Knight Park Snake Playground. Poor Louisette is trying so hard to follow directions (as my mum holds tiger TJ steady on her lap) – ten fingers, and her face, and the snake at the top right.
Looking down from the top of the snake tower on TJ and my mum. After that we fed some extremely enthusiastic birds and then went home!
I love my special Lizzie time, and I love a good adventure.
Total cost: About $10 in parking (Arboretum, Sculpture Garden and Questacon – which can work with one ticket); Two days physical recovery if I don’t exercise (Thursday and Friday are writing days, so that works). We have Questacon membership so that was “free”.
Total time: A bit under 12 hours.
Worth it for me? When I can do something that is difficult but within my range of ability – and I know it’s something I do better than most – that has a value that can’t be measured. Even if/when it’s a manic episode. It generally only happens a few times a year, which is not enough.
Worth it for Louisette? She likes adventures, but would usually rather spend a day with a friend (although her ability to play nicely breaks down noticeably after an hour or two). We got to know each other better (I love how much fun it is to just talk to her these days), and I definitely feel that Boundless is the biz for the not-that-healthy parent of a moderately-sensible preschooler (although the shade and the seats were very far apart at noon). We went to several places that we wouldn’t normally attempt without Chris, and that was rewarding for Louisette, plus of course she’s once again the star of a unique family story. Although everything was her favourite sooner or later, I think paddling in the Cotter River was the most special, and the surprise fog and/or Questacon were the most immediately absorbing.
In summary:
- Point Hut Playground, Gordon. Cool tower; otherwise it’s only included here to be nice to South-siders.
- George Gregan Memorial playground. AWESOME and so photogenic, but inside a hospital so there’s a risk of infection maybe—and the parking is awful.
- Cotter Reserve Playground. If you’re going there, check the water quality here and keep an eye out for brown snakes. And of course water shoes are a good idea, but/and those underwater rocks are super slippery.
- Arboretum Playground. Super awesome and stunning views across Canberra but the main part involves a long and scary trek through large tubes and pods, followed by a pretty intense slide… if your kid needs reassurance, you’ll have to work hard to get them out.
- Sculpture Garden. Not technically a playground, but super cool, especially when the mist is on. And within hearing of the National Carillion.
- Boundless. Disability-friendly (including toilets) but parking isn’t great. Also near the Carillion (closer, actually; you can walk across the bridge to its island).
- Questacon. Expensive (and currently you need to book in advance) but really cool and educational. There’s a gallery especially for littlies called “Mini-Q” which is only open to those 6 and under and their families. Even when there’s not a pandemic on, you need to book for Mini Q as numbers are limited and it’s super popular.
- Commonwealth Park playground/mouse house. Very pretty, very hard on the knees. A fair walk from the nearest car park.
- Yerrabi Pond Adventure Playground. Lots to do.
- John Knight Park. Everyone who’s grown up in Canberra loves the snake playground, but it’s one of three playgrounds next to each other, and the waterfall, ponds, and lake are pretty (assuming your kid isn’t the kind to immediately hurl themself into the nearest body of water).
I reckon we’ll try to arrange to visit these ones with our refugee mentees, because they’re interesting to adults as well as kids.
Cotter Reserve Playground, for the nature.
Arboretum Playground for the views, and for the Bonsai Garden Exhibit.
Sculpture Garden. It’s part of the National Art Gallery so OF COURSE we’re taking our artist friend! We’ll try and time it to enjoy both the mist sculpture and the Carillion’s bells across the water.
John Knight Park. Including a BBQ, probably.
How to post a painting
The Marhaba Arts Etsy shop is shaping up nicely (still bits and pieces missing, but most of the important stuff is there). Qusay asked me to take a commission, which is ethically tricky because I’m a volunteer… but I don’t think Qusay is the type to efficiently run a shop, so my organisational skills are going to be useful for far longer than our official mentorship 6 months. I agreed to take 5% (the standard is 10-20%). And I’m doing a LOT to earn that. I’ve spent the last three days figuring out how to post a painting interstate. There’s a lot of specialised material involved, so I’m going to blog about it for those who find this kind of obscure knowledge fascinating. Almost all my knowledge is from the UPS.
Qusay uses acrylic paint on stretched canvas (on a wooden frame) in a wide range of sizes.
Step 1: Gather Your materials
The stuff you probably have:
Scissors
Tape Measure (unless you’re super confident of your ability to measure by eye)
The stuff you probably don’t have (and where I bought them):
Glassine/Acid Free Paper $2.95 per sheet (Eckersley’s Art Shop)
Painter’s Tape $8:90 per roll (up to half a roll per painting I reckon; Bunnings)
Cardboard Corner Protectors (Couldn’t find them so bought a small box for $1.80 and made them with box cutters and special Painter’s Packing Tape.. yes, there was blood)
Bubble Wrap $20 for a giant roll. I used half of it for a single A2ish size painting and could easily have used the whole roll. Bunnings.
Foam ($6.95 A3 size; $8.95 A2 size; $10.95 for A1 size OUCH) Eckersley’s Art Shop
Outer Box, should be bought new, $4.00
Painter’s Packing Tape: $1.70 per roll; I used about half a roll.
‘FRAGILE’ stickers, $3.40 for a pack of 50 (I used one each for front and back)
Possibly:
Corrugated cardboard 0.5cm x 64cm x 90cm $3:95 (I reckon I’ll use THAT instead of foam in future, especially for the back of the paintings).
Here’s the pretty pretty picture that has been sold to an acquaintance in Sydney for $300 + postage & packaging:
Step 1
Wrap it in glassine paper, secured with painter’s tape (the thinner blue tape, not the thicker painter’s packing tape).
And now, let’s see that picture with a cat because the more protective I am of something, the more interesting it becomes to my local hoard of beclawed goblins. (Note to self: warn buyers that the house contains cats as they may suffer allergies.)
2. Cardboard Corners, THEN Bubble Wrap, THEN foam. Like a foam sandwich. I put foam first because I liked the neatness. I’ll do it right next time.
NOTE: Keep the ‘flat’ side of the bubble wrap inside, so you don’t get indentations of the bubbles on your painting.
Also, don’t wrap any of it too tightly. At any point.
3. After you’re made your bubble wrap and foam sandwich, wrap the whole sandwich in more bubble wrap. Multiple layers of the stuff.
4. Time to shape your box. I think you can get custom boxes but either way there’ll be adjustment to do. It’s best to buy new boxes; they’re both prettier and stronger. I used the scissor handle to indent where I wanted new folds to go.
5. Fill in any gaps in your box with more bubble wrap, and reinforce every edge and seam with Painter’s packing tape (the clear stuff—it’s stronger than the blue painter’s tape).
6. Put fragile stickers on both sides.
So that cost $45, including two crazy expensive pieces of foam.
Tomorrow, I take it to the post office. My guess is that it’ll cost another $50 to post.
Edit: It cost $40 to post, including registering it and insuring it for $300.
Whatever it takes to make me Lizzie Bennet
I made a thing. No one find it as amusing as I do, but I thought I’d paste it here so y’all know I’m not dead.
Stuff is happening, especially with the refugee sponsorship group! Here’s a pretty pic of all our original members. It was taken in February, and our group has doubled in size since then.
We are mentoring an Iraqi couple, and Qusay (the man) is an exquisite artist. More on that soon, but here’s a taste!
YES I am in the process of setting up an Etsy store for him (and a designated web site, which isn’t live yet), with better pictures than that. It’s already live, but haven’t measured the paintings yet but will hopefully do that tomorrow. I will also set up the ability to order prints of each painting.
Felicity Banks 