by Sydneyfunmum (
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Dreamer, wordsmith, mum of two - I enjoy the outdoors, good food and good company. Subscribe to my articles to follow what I've been up to, and like those articles you want to see more of so I can tailor what I write to my audience.
This is a local favourite - with several swings, a hill slide and a fantastic toy train for kiddies to stretch their imagination with, it's immediately apparent why!
Bales Park in Chatswood
As well as being lovely and leafy, with plenty of shade and park benches for parents to laze on while the kids play on hot sunny days, the highlight of this park and the thing that differentiates it from all other parks in this area is the lovely multi-carriage toy train which my kids love to sit in and and play conductor and passengers on.
view of toy train from top of hill slide
This is why we refer to this park as the Train Park
View of train from the side
Bales Park is not that close to public transport or the shopping centre, but it's usually pretty lively, with mothers' groups, birthday parties, playdates, and all kinds of other children there for various reasons, because it is such a charming park.
View of the train from the back
The slides are built into a small hill, which doubles as a pretty decent climbing wall alongside the actual slides.
slide and climbing wall in one
Totally enclosed and therefore safe from kids running away, it's also situated right next to a sports ground, which is a bonus because on weekends if the kids' soccer games are on, there's a little kiosk at lunchtime which opens and sells sausage sizzles, lollies and icecreams on the far side of the grounds. I have a sneaking suspicion this is the real reason why it's the most requested park for my kids to suggest we visit on the weekend!
Bales Park sportsground
Other features are a good-sized sandpit, a climbing frame, a spinny-thing, and lots of decorative planes on sticks planted around the park. The park itself has a great flat continuous path around it which is perfect for scooters and bikes to go around on.
climbing frame to hike up and then look down upon everybody else from
Sandpit at Bales Park
Spinny thing (what is this piece of equipment called?!)
A park without swings is not a park at all (at least according to my kids!)
There's a water bubbler at a good height for littlies, and when those inconvenient demands for the toilet appear, a quick dash across the sports ground will find you a handy toilet to relieve little exploding bladders.
bubbler is at a good height for toddlers and children
Planes on sticks
