This is a lovely large and picturesque off leash dog park featuring an under cover BBQ area,…read moretoilet, dog water bowls, bush walks in every direction including one to nearby Jells Park. Amazing bird life, as well as frogs, lizards, turtles. Plenty of parking. BYO poo bags and there's no rubbish bins. It's kept well maintained and mowed. Not fully fenced but enough natural boundaries to keep dogs in the main areas.

Every day this fully fenced park is full of lovely doggies running around. As long as there is no…read moresport or training on dogs are free to run!!

Well if in Kooyong a great park for the dog and BBQ HAS water fountain doggie bags close to Kooyong…read moreStation great benches bins plenty room for your dog and just a great park that has it all! Plenty of k9 buddies walk by to socialise all good for you and your unconditional buddy!

Mahoneys Reserve in Forest Hill is HUGE. When I say huge I don't just mean HUGE, I mean MEGA HUGE…read more Read on and you will totally agree with me! Reasons to validate not only how HUGE this place is, but also how damn good it is: 1.This place has two general grassy areas surrounded by trees. These are wicked picnic spots with fluffy, comfy grass to lounge on. There are plenty of shaded areas as well as sunny spots. 2. It is right next to the Bob Saker Oval, which has a fence and is great for allowing your furry friend to run around without fearing that he/she might run away. Make sure to clean up after them though as this is used for sport regularly. 3. There is a massive multi-purpose field with goals and line markings used by various clubs. This is fenced off however so you will have to join a club to utilise this. 4. There is a large, un-fenced soccer field complete with goals at one end. This is a little shabbier than the oval with the fence, but at least it's free right? 5. There is a decent sized kids playground behind the oval. It is great for kids, or for getting a good view of the footy games played on weekends. 6. There is a heap of parking spots. 7. There are batting cages around the back of the clubhouse. (Did I mention there was a clubhouse?) 8. The Clubhouse is available for hire. Seriously guys, Mahoneys Reserve is the place to be if you are into sport. It totally rocks and is awesome to relax at on a sunny day.

Because I'm a bit of a local history nerd, I know far too much about this unassuming little reserve…read morein Carlton. In the 1800's, the houses in Macarthur Square were occupied by some of Carlton's most notable residents, including one of the leading developers of the suburb. Macarthur, like nearby Murchison Square was designed to be like the 'greens' of London, with rows of houses overlooking a park to give them a country feel, and were prestigious places to live. The small, long, narrow reserve running between Canning and Rathdowne Streets is close to the Carlton Gardens, but offers a far more peaceful picnic spot. Actually, you'll rarely find anyone at all in this little park. As such, the grass is lush and generally dog-poo free - quite a treat! At the Rathdowne Street end there's a drinking fountain and the bust of some notable local (I should know who it is - history nerd fail) but sadly no bathroom, although it's a quick dash to Lygon Court if you really have to go.

This is one of those lovely places where you can have a picnic on one of those lovely summer…read morenights. In fact I have found myself on a few occasions here with friends on just such nights, having purchased food from nearby, and then just sitting on the lawn, or in the rotunda. Thus is certainly one of those lovely little suburban park.

Curtain Square is a fantastic park nestled right in the heart of Rathdowne Village. Surrounding it…read morealong either side of Rathdowne St are so many cafés, delis, grocery stores and bakeries that you could come here completely unprepared and still manage to make yourself a mighty fine picnic lunch with little effort. There's even a library across the road so that you can have something to read while you're here too. The park is quite large, with spacious lawns and lots of big shady trees. The playground is set off to one side so that it doesn't look like it takes over the park (and also means that a lot of the kids gravitate away from the biggest, most shady tree of all). There are public toilets here too and a basketball court up the back. There is probably more here that I've yet to discover, but those big shady trees just don't let me get past them to explore what lies beyond.

The Aranga reserve dog activity centre is essentially a gated off leash dog park. There are 2…read moreseparate agility training set up that you and your dog can run around and use. Inside the park there is another fenced off area for individual training sessions, or if your dog needs some time away from the other pooch If someone is waiting there is courtesy sign to advise how long you can use it for. If no one else is waiting to use this area you can use it as long as you want. The grounds in this park was muddy when I came in on a winter day, I imagine it's a lot more pleasant in the drier months but at the moment it's quite a messy ground. There is water station with a few water bowls scattered around and people seems to be quite friendly and relaxed. The park sits right next to a playground so lots of families flock here, run the dogs then let the kids play, win win. Great facility to use and the plus is that it's fully fenced.

The Knox Dog Park is like, totally awesome. My dog has a great time there, that is, when he doesn't…read morejump the fence and piss off somewhere else. Yup, the first time I took him there I was really excited. He is a big boxer that my family adopted from a group called Boxer Rescue. They got him from the pound when he was found abandoned on the streets and nursed him back to health - then we got him. He was a crazy dog who loved biting our feet. Eventually we got him trained and now he is pretty placid, unless we 'forget' to take him on his daily walk. Then he goes back to being a psycho. Anyway, I took him to the dog park and was really excited to see all sorts of cool things he could play with. There were big hoops he could jump through and even a tunnel pipe running under a mound of grass, it looked pretty impressive. I let him off the lead after closing the gate behind us and sat down on one of the seats to watch him wear off all his energy. It seems he had other ideas though. After the other dogs left he was all by himself and he took a running leap and cleared what I thought has a high fence to chase after a little doormat looking dog being walked along the footpath of Bunjil Way. I had to sprint after him and luckily he stopped short of jumping on the frightened creature as I reached him just in time. The doormats owner was less than impressed however. I guess, at the end of the day, Milo, my dog, had a fabulous time at the dog park. I did too, while other dogs were there to distract him from the wide open spaces outside of the fence. My only concern is that with fences that dogs clearly can jump, the park is a little bit too close to a busy main road. It is a little bit risky for my liking so I don't think I'll be letting him off the lead there again. It is a really good place for him to get to see other dogs and he did have a great day though. I'd definitely recommend it for smaller dogs and if you have a big dog - make sure his or her hurdling days are over before you go!

This dog park is a godsend for dog owners and dogs alike in the area. They've fixed it up a bit, it…read morewas very sloshy there for a while and stank, I think it's all good now. The space is large and it's completely safely fenced with two entrances. The dog owners that go there are pretty friendly and love watching their pooches running around, sniffing other dogs butts and chilling out on the mound. I've never had an issue with another dog or their owner, my dog is a bit of a pain with regards to barking but is harmless really - nobody ever had a problem with it. They're dog lovers after all. My dog doesn't use it but there are plenty of obstacles for them to use and jump over; tyres, pipes. I should really get down there more often.

Our first port of call was the lovely and historic Australian city of Melbourne. We compared our…read morepre-cruise visit in bustling, contemporary, modern architecture, and high-finance areas of Sydney's CBD, like the USA's Los Angeles, to the more politically-centric, traditional British architecture and environment, and historic Melbourne city, like the USA's New York City, as we drove through Australia's second most populous city. We noticed Melbourne's CBD (Central Business District) was designed as a grid with wide thoroughfares alternating with narrow, smaller "Little" streets running parallel to them and plentiful laneways. Many street names honor British colonial leaders, British Royals, local politicians, and influential 19th-century residents. Our guide mentioned themed street clusters in newer suburban residential developments named after sports figures (cricket, football, & golf), Beatles' Strawberry Fields, medieval Camelot, literary figures, aviation companies, photography, and more. We were then treated to the historic, Victorian-era park where we strolled and relaxed along its tree-lined avenues, fountains, sculptures, conservatory, and looked forward to visiting the historic Cook's Cottage (original English home of Captain James Cook's parents), Fairies' Tree, and model Tudor Village on a chilly and slightly wet morning. I could imagine picnicking or just lazing back under the shade of trees during their warmer, clear-sky Spring or Summer seasons. Anyway, knowing we were going to stroll through the gardens, I made sure to take an allergy tablet, since the gardens have various plant and tree species our home state doesn't have. During our two-hour meandering through the Fitzroy Gardens, I felt my stress leave my body as my eyes, ears, and breathing embraced this beautiful English garden.

While Fitzroy Gardens is known as a historical garden built in 1800's, I found the park lacking in…read moreinteresting attractions. It's a good park to take a stroll but that's about it. Personally, I think you can skip and not miss much. The Captain Cook's Cottage wasn't even occupied by Captain Cook and requires an entrance fee to enter. The Conservatory with floral displays is so small you'll finish exploring in about 5 minutes.