So this playground isn't really fantastic but it is reasonable, it has a water fountain, seating…read moreand shade. Right behind it you can see a huge oval but looking at the nets/fences built on it the oval is obviously used for baseball, or possibly softball. So if it were game day I am sure you would also have access to toilet facilities at the oval. This playground is fully fenced from the road as well as extremely high fencing you can see in the background of the pic so no fear of gettin hit by a stray foul ball (yes this happened to me as a kid!).

Peace Park is a somewhat ironic name for a memorial to those killed in World War I. The price of…read morepeace is high, and this is a beautiful place to dwell on what peace is an how we have sought to achieve it in the past. The centerpiece of this park is the Women's War Memorial Cross of Sacrifice and its Memorial Garden. Backed by St Peter's Cathedral, the cross holds a striking place in the park, as everything spans from it. I'm not sure how a cross symbolises the deaths of these men, but I have no doubt there are many ways to interpret it. To the side of the garden is the Eternal Flame Remembrance, also dedicated to "those who made the supreme sacrifice." Though beautiful, this place makes me rather sad. Though I agree we should remember those who died, I don't think it's a matter of making them heroes, but of reminding us not to let it happen again. This is a strange place, juxtaposing the beauty of nature and the sorrows of humanity.

For me the most significant element of Peace Park is the Cross of Sacrifice. It is a haunting…read morestructure of some 11.6 metres that was built just two years after the end of World War I in 1920. The Cross is made of Tea Tree Gully stone and there is a large sword on the face. I have to admit I've never understood the significance of the cross but can only assume it is a tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Every year on Anzac Day the crowds gather at the Cross of Sacrifice after the march for a service to pay tribute to the fallen. It is always a poignant ceremony and more than one or two tears are inevitably shed. This is such a solemn and almost sacred area that being there at any time of year, one can almost feel the sadness and the grieving in the air. And yet it is also a beautiful place.

If you happen to be a native of Adelaide then you are going to be very familiar with this place…read more Basically it could be considered to be the heart of the Fringe Festival. However, I really don't like the place. Maybe it is because I have been coming here so often that it has basically lost its appeal. Well, also because on the weekends this place gets so absolutely packed that it is nothing short of impossible to even get inside, and when the crowds aren't there, well, you can be assured that there is nothing really on. Fortunately it is only set up for one month in twelve (and also there is a lot more to the Fringe than just this place).

I've been to the garden ever since it first started quite a few years ago. Whilst it is part of the…read morewhole Adelaide Fringe experience, it opens before the Fringe begins. Each year it gets bigger and bigger. What was once a dirt fenceless patch of Rundle Park with a bar area, is now a collection of amusements, performance tents, a series of bars (one in a double-decker bus) and eateries, freakshows, sideshows, buskers, spruikers and stalls. As someone said, it's basically an adult carnival. Amusements tend to change it up each year, but in previous years there's been a silent disco, water zorbing, merry-go-round, ferris wheel, dodgem cars and trampolining. There are a lot of performance spaces in the garden, a lot. Some of the more well known ones are the famous Spiegeltent, Umbrella Revolution, and the Bosco Theatre. Umbrella Revolution is the one that runs latest into the night, and it also always seems to run late. I've been queuing to see something at 11.30pm and walked into the tent at 1am on more than one occasion. During Fringe that is beyond annoying as there would've been a million other shows I could've gone and seen instead, I could've even gone and seen whole other shows in the time it took to wait. The other epicly annoying part of the garden is the queue to get in to it. There is only one entrance point for the whole of Adelaide and more often than not queues go all the way up along North Terrace to get in. If you're patient enough to wait, when you get in, more often than not there is acres of room inside. There is a back entrance but it is for artists/media only and very small, I think the place needs more entry/exit points, or more bouncers/bag checkers because there has been about the same amount for years whilst the garden has grown. If you've the courage or impatience to saunter through the "I am media/have a ticket to a show" line, give it a crack, I often do and have never been busted. It is just as easy (and less worrisome) to buy a ticket to a Fringe show in the garden from one of the spruikers or the box office located just outside the gates, in order to get in quicker. I think this may be one reason why the garden makes it so very inconvenient to get in, but that's silly because tickets to shows at peak times sell out anyway. Whatever show you plan to see, get in earlier because you will still have to queue up in order to get good seats to your show. Certain parts of the garden over time have been gated off, and where there was once room to spread out along the grass to watch the buskers there no longer is. This is partly where the International Buskers Festival is held and it's ridiculous that the spectating area of world class street performers has been diminished. There are many amazing things about the garden which I pretty much make my home during Fringe time, but the thing I hang out for all year round is the cone chips. The chips in a cone chip shop comes around but once a year, to the garden. They're awesome. But don't expect to pay for them with credit card (or anywhere else in the garden for that matter). Make sure you head to an ATM before you go into the park as there is definitely not one in there and those directly nearby run out of cash fast. Entrance to the garden is free, but there is no stamp-out type policy so if you leave you'll have to queue up all over again.

A large and beautiful park to the east of Adelaide city, Kensington Gardens caters to a wide range…read moreof activities. The area was originally known as Pile's Paddock and I wish they had retained the name. Instead the highly monarchistic name of Kensignton Gardens was given to the area, emulating the palatial garden of the same name in Brittan. Kensington Gardens has a number of ovals which serve for cricket and rugby matches. The Clubhouses for both the Kensignton Rugby and Cricket clubs are also situated within the park. There are playground areas for children as well as bbq areas and benches and tables. There is also a little pond where the kids can feed the ducks. Within the Park there are a number of nice little areas where the trees and vegetation grow a little bit more wild and rugged in contrast to the manicured lawns of the oval which attract native birds. There are also tennis courts at the far east end of the park.

North Adelaide Fitness Centre has won a plethora of Adelaide awards as an independent fitness…read morecentre and gives the bigger, more expensive gyms a really good run for their money. North Adelaide runs a fully equipped gymnasium with separate weights and cardio room. In addition, they have two rooms allocated for fitness classes. They run all of the popular Les Mills classes and a couple of their own including Pilates, Yoga and Kickboxing. They also offer RPM in the cycling room downstairs but I cannot tell you what it's like because RPM is the worst kind of pain ever invented and I rather poke my own eyes out then go. The staff are super friendly and will sit down with you and work out what they can do for you to help with your weight loss and fitness goals. They will also create a personal fitness plan for free and they go through all of the exercises and movements so they can be performed and safely and correctly for the maximum benefits. They also run boot camps and fund raising fitness classes which make for an exciting and uplifting atmosphere, where you really feel welcome. Because of its location there is limited parking which can be a pain in the butt, and the street is also used as a shortcut for traffic coming from the city. So try to avoid peak times and there will be less traffic, more parking, and less sweaty beefy men filling the weights room!

13/4/2008 I'm so relaxed sitting…read morehere......Ahhhh.......*stretches* For those who are reading in other cities...I currently live in Adelaide, and I nearly got run over in Hindley Street earlier this afternoon, TWICE. So I needed to get out of the city as soon as I could after that near-hit. And we're lucky to have this absolutely beautiful park, available to the public for a 20 minute cruise upstream to the zoo, or you can hire a paddleboat. Bicycle hire is also available. This is the best place for where you can stop and take in a few deep "Yessss, it's so nice to just sit down here and do nothing for a while..." breaths. The Rotunda in Elder Park was erected in 1882 and is a well known Adelaide landmark Whether day or night, this park provides picture perfect views, (and from what I've heard from best friends, late night dates with your lover.) This is an absolute must do for locals, out of town guests, young couples, exercise addicts, teens, or kids. Start at the entrance of Rundle Mall on King William, and then walk all the way down in the northern direction until you see bright green patches of grass on your left...or if you're a bit of a cyclist, go for a long bike ride along the circular concrete pathways that will take you all around. This experience is truly nature at its finest. On a Friday afternoon, like today, I can easily see from mere observation, that more people should get out of their cars once in a while, and go to these kinda places on foot or bikes...because somehow parks like me remind me that sometimes to look more out there, and that there are more out there than narrowly focussing on my "material thangs", or than what initially meets the eye.

Ah, Elder Park. I…read morehave videos of myself here as a kid running around chasing birds (and now I'm scared of birds, how ironic), while holding a rainbow Paddle Pop. Good times. My favourite feature of the park would have to be the beautiful rotunda. It has been the centre for meeting spots, wedding photos, and provided extra (dry) seating area during annual events like Carols by Candlelight. Elder Park was also where the Moon Lantern festival was held, and if I'm correct, the Oz Asia festival was held here as well. There is a cafe which sells hot food, drinks and snacks. You can sit outside at the tables or have a picnic. Other activities to do at Elder Park would include taking a cruise around the Torrens River in the legendary Popeye boat, plus you can hire paddle boats! I remember one time the weather was so nice and my Mum and brother were in one paddle boat, and Dad and I were in another, and he fell asleep as we were floating around. I had to paddle back myself. Again, good times. Oh yes, you can also hire bikes for free and ride around the tracks; it's so much fun especially in warmer weather.

Turramurra Recreation Centre is the North East local (Council run) Sports and Fitness centre…read more It is a great centre which hosts two courts (Netball and Basketball) with electronic scoreboards, meeting rooms, change rooms a creche, 4 Squash courts and a dance studio. The facilities are quite old but are maintained really well and have very healthy netball and basketball competitions running all through the year. Anyone can get together a boys, girls or mixed team and start to crawl through the ranks. It always works out to about $6 per game per player in a netball game which is quite affordable and makes for a fun social weekly workout. The only thing that can make this place crazy is that some games can be scheduled to play at 10:30 at night, making it impossible to get to sleep for work the next day until after midnight. They run Zumba and I know that there are Weight Watchers meetings held here. These are great facilities which keep really busy with local competition.

Baddams Green....green it is not. The entire area is either paved or bark chipped but the…read moreplayground itself is pretty decent considering it's such a small space. Don't get me wrong, there isn't a whole lot to the playground, it's mostly bridges from one slide to the other, but it's likely to appeal to a few different age groups. I really do appreciate the companies designing these newer playgrounds for incorporating some kind of shade and shelter into them. After being on one the other day, I really did notice a difference when I was in the shade. There aren't any 'extras' here (ie drinking fountain, toilets, sheltered table/chairs, BBQ) so it definitely isn't a 'destination' playground but it is fully fenced. *Dogs allowed* *No shade*