We chose to spend a day of the school holidays exploring what Burswood Park has to offer and it certainly kept us busy all day!
BURSWOOD PARK PLAYGROUND
We started our adventure at Burswood Park Playground, a fully fenced shaded playground on the banks of the Swan River. There are parking bays here and toilets, picnic benches and barbecues are a short walk away. Additional parking is available across the road at Burswood Carpark.
The Burswood Heritage Sculpture Trail passes by here and you can admire the bronze statues of Dame Mary Durack - The Storyteller and Hopscotch, a whimsical tableau of three children playing hopscotch. A sign explains the rules for hopscotch and there is a hopscotch marked out for the kids to play on. All they need is a twig or a stone. See if the kids find the hidden maze behind Dame Mary!
The dual use cycle/walk path on the banks of the Swan River passes by and there are a few off shoots so this is a great place for the kids to bring bikes or scooters. Do be aware however that some cyclists use the riverside path as their personal exercise track and are generally not happy if you get in their way and force them to slow down! In my opinion a shared path like this should be for recreational cyclists travelling at a much slower speed! While we are covering safety be aware that the path is next to open water so keep an eye on the kids. In places there are some tiny sandy beaches ideal for a splash or some sand play.
HEIRISSON ISLAND
We headed to Heirisson Island first - a walk of about 15 minutes each way. The path takes you under the span of the heritage listed Causeway Bridges on either end so you don't have to cross the very busy road. We were looking for kangaroos but unfortunately the kangaroo enclosure on the western side of the island was closed. So this part of our adventure will have to wait for another time!
From Burswood Park Playground to Chevron Playground is a 1.7km, 25 minute walk. (1.8km if you follow the path along Camfield Drive rather than the river's edge) It is a lovely walk with stunning views of Perth City and East Perth and of course Optus Stadium and the Crown Complex. The area around Optus Stadium which includes two playgrounds and various other points of interest is called Stadium Park.
CHEVRON PARKLAND
Chevron Parkland is 2.6 hectares of nature based playground themed on the environment and Aboriginal culture. There are six nature play areas inspired by the six Noongar seasons and designed to encourage children to explore and participate in unstructured play. If you are early enough grab a shaded picnic table and a barbecue on the grassed area otherwise put your picnic rug out under one of the shady trees. A drink fountain is available but the toilets are quite a trek away inside Optus Stadium. Chevron Parkland is featured in Nature Play WA's app under "Play in WA".
Djeran Season is represented by the Emu (Weitj) Nest – a fully fenced play area for younger children. You will find a bird's nest swing, a large lizard and emu to play on along with multiple emu eggs to find, balancing logs, a slide, musical play and a fabulous sand and water play area so bring a change of clothes. There is only one large picnic table inside the play area but there are several more on the grassy area immediately outside the fence.
Makuru Season is represented by Mia Mia Hill - a space for climbing trees, rocks and logs and for building cubbys using logs, branches and imaginations.
Djilba Season is represented by Yaargan Dry Creek – a wide open area where the kids can explore the rocks and the dry creek bed. Yaargan is the Whadjuk name for a long-neck turtle and there are 8 bronze and 4 carved turtles located throughout Chevron Parkland – can you find them all?
Kambarang Season is represented by Qwandong Towers – a large and bright climbing frame modelled on the Qwandong fruit and popular with the older kids (and adults). There is a rope obstacle course, rope ladders and bridges, a tunnel slide and climbing nets.
Bunuru Season represented by Bullung Hangout – a ropes course right on the water so kids can look our for Bullung (pelicans) and Bulland (white cranes).
Birak Season is represented by Numbat Burrows – a series of tunnels the kids can climb over or through playing hide and seek.
If the kids stop long enough to read the season signs they will find questions and activities to extend their play.
Although we walked here parking is also available at Optus Stadium but only on non-event days. You can now catch the train to Optus Stadium Station at any time as it is no longer restricted to event days.
There are paths for the kids to ride bikes and scooters but once again beware of other cyclists.
OPTUS STADIUM SENSORY PLAYGROUND
Separate from Chevron Parkland and closer to the Optus Stadium carpark and The Camfield Pub is the fully fenced Optus Stadium Sensory Playground which includes a slide, climbing frame, sand play, bird's nest swing, flying fox, basketball ring, musical play, trampolines and a running track. There are a few picnic benches but there is little shade on the actual playground and even in Spring we found it quite hot!
From here we headed back to our cars parked at Burswood Park Playground - a 25 minute walk. What a view!
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For other parks in this area see these blogs:
In the spirit of reconciliation Out and About- Family Nature Connection acknowledges the traditional owners of the Wadjak boodjar (Perth land) and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and emerging and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.