Gallipoli Park in Marysville

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Marysville has had a total facelift since much of the main street was destroyed by the bush fires of February 2009. Part of this facelift included a $1.8million redevelopment of Gallipoli Park in the centre of Marysville. If you are passing through this region or staying in the surrounding area, Gallipoli Park is definitely worthy of a visit if you have young children. This beautiful park includes a state-of-the-art children's playground, with some unique play equipment and a reflective garden.



Children will be especially delighted by the water play area which features a system of levers, wheels, dams and canals. They can pump water up through the system and create their own reservoirs or activate the water wheel. The nearby sandpit encourages little ones to unearth the prehistoric remains buried in the sand and the giant lizard is crying out to be jumped on.



There are the usual swings and slides present, as well as a roundabout and 2 long, parallel flying foxes which are located in a separate area of the park. A huge rope pyramid invites plenty of scrambling and climbing for older kids. One piece of equipment which I have never seen before is a sort of spiders web of ropes, interspersed with springy platforms to navigate – almost like a constantly wobbling set of stepping stones.



The park is well maintained and equipped with barbeques, benches, rubbish bins and toilets, as well as having plenty of parking. Dotted around the park are wooden posts with pictures on them showing the sign language equivalent of different words, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet. Also watch out for the beautifully made alphabet frieze, presumably created by local children.



Winding paths, a gazebo and a beautiful, locally made statue encourage quiet reflection of the tragic events which occurred on Black Saturday. The Steavenson River runs through the park and I imagine in the warmer months this is as much a drawcard as the playground itself for young explorers.

This is a beautifully planned playground which will really appeal to young children. It was very cold and damp when we visited and we still had to drag our son away 40minutes later. We will definitely be making a return trip in the summer to make the most of this lovely play space. It is a testament to the resilience of the town that they have resurrected Gallipoli Park in a relatively short space of time and made such a lovely job of it.

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