Darebin Parklands — Attraction in Melbourne

It's an urban park, so what's not to like, but still, I'm conflicted. By having so many different environments, the parklands did not convey an identity to me. Aside from that personal conundrum, there's:

a creek to walk along, and in which dogs were splashing paved paths or dirt paths, depending on where you go flat lawn areas for picnics and possibly ball games or Frisbee many hills to climb toilets a bbq area a small dedicated car park along Smith Street a dog off-leash area

On the downside, one of the main paths mixes bikes and pedestrians, which is never my favourite, and while most riders were going slowly and were courteous, there was of course one idiot in training for the Tour de France who came within a centimeter of wiping himself out by crashing into me.

I plugged 'Darebin Parklands' into the GPS to drive there, rather than a specific street address, and it delivered us to Rockbeare Grove, which is residential street on the east side of the parklands. Gaining access is then via first a paved driveway, then a steeper dirt path, then a steep dirt path, so I don't recommend that for anyone who has trouble on their feet. It also drops you alongside the creek, and more dirt paths before you reach the paved paths.

On a low-twenty degrees day, Darebin Parklands has the typical heat of the Australian scrub, and on a hotter day would be scorching. It is cooler near the ponds, though.

And while most urban parks never quite eliminate the nearby hum of traffic, construction, emergency sirens, etc., sitting by the creek near one of the many little rapids, the burbling and birdsong overcame human noise, which was very restful.

This is not a close-by park for us, but it's convenient for friends and the grassed areas would make a nice picnic spot, so we'll return at some point on a nice day. But not a hot one, Darebin Parklands is too open for...

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This park was a frequent visit when we were living in Melbourne. We came back with our two furry friends for old times sake.

The larger pool upstream of the Darebin creek is a favorite amongst dogs that like to swim. Balls and sticks will be thrown in, followed by a splash and doggy paddle. Be sure to not wear your best, it's guaranteed that you'll get a dog shaking off right next to you.

For the dogs that prefer a open field to chase a friend, or fetch a stick, you've got two main options. The upper field where you can greet all the dogs coming to the park, or the lower field where it's a bit more secluded.

We like a bit of it all, so we do a circuit, big pool, little pool, lower field, then upper field. Usually our guys will be dry and...