BATS!!! We had a wonderful little family hike here to see the famous flying foxes, otherwise known…read moreas fruit bats. Being from Hawaii, this was a totally unique and cool experience as don't really have a lot of bats in hawaii! We walked maybe a half mile from the parking lot and BAM, BATS GALORE! This place is totally worth visiting!

I love coming here, as soon as the weather gets good I'm making any excuse possible for a day out…read morehere. This is a quiet park right off the eastern freeway. It's close to the city, but feels like a whole new place. This park has bbq facilities with wooden tables under pavilions, there's not too many spots so you might want to get in early if it's going to be a long weekend (or exceptionally sunny day). There's also a café here that sits besides the river, where you can dine outside and enjoy the serenity. This is definitely perfect for families as there are bike trails, a playground and did I mention the rowboats for hire. Yes rowboats! There's also fishing available, although I'm not sure if you would catch anything here. If you don't like bats, I probably would come here then. I was lying in the sun with my hunny after a lovely picnic, we didn't notice anything at the time- but after careful inspection of the funny looking leaves on the trees, turns out they were bats. A hundred or more bats, hanging from the nearby trees sleeping. They weren't scary, or noisy or obtrusive, it was just a surprise to see so many up close. Bats aside, this is a lovely park. Perfect for whatever occasion.

A wonderful hidden little strip of nature. A wonderful respite from the hustle and bustle of…read moresuburbia, parks like this are largely underappreciated. Brought the wife and kids down here a couple months ago for some live jazz, and whenever we visit friends nearby we picnic with their family here too. Today I brought my laptop and got some work done in the shade, listening to the water fowl play, and the other murmurings of a park. A pleasant reminder that I should share my love of this special place with my fellow suburbanites. Pros: Proximity to life, great walks around the lake, wildlife, great for sunset/sunrise walks. Cons: No Swimming thanks to pollution.

It is amazing how Melbourne's suburbia hides away little pockets of nature. You can be driving…read morealong with the trees on the nature strip and eventually you realise the houses themselves are gone, replaced by the sprawling expanse of a sanctuary. Blackburn Lake Sanctuary is on of these many magical places. Tucked in from the train line and busier surrounding roads, it is near a number of schools, so it's no surprise their field trips will include walking through the park and looking for wildlife. With open park area and play ground for kids, there is perfect space for picnics and events. Community music events - like a jazz festival in February - will often set up shop here for people to attend and listen for free. And after you've stuffed yourself with nonna's best home cooking and cleaned up the paper plates, what better way to burn it all off than with a walk around the lake itself. Not so big that the whole family couldn't do it, there are several smaller paths leading to different places outside the realms of the park. One school actually backs on it, as does a nearby church. All manner of wildlife can be found - ducks, birds, even a fox once or twice. Don't swim - apparently in the 50s they used to, but sadly water pollution has turned that idea quite sour. However, sitting by the water and watching life go by has never looked better.

Wow. This park looks like it is out of a fairytale. Rolling green grass spreads in every direction…read moreand the park seems to go on forever. There is an undercover outdoor eating area with a BBQ provided. This is enclosed by hedges and trees making it quite a nice private little section. There are two tables with long bench seats too. The park also has public toilets that are extremely clean. This is perhaps because this park is not ridiculously well known - in fact most people driving down High Street Road have no idea it is there. There is a pond in the middle that is full of lily pads and reeds. The water itself looked putrid. What was disappointing was that the pond itself is completely fenced off to the public. Two seats have been placed to 'overlook' the pond but all you can see is the fence when you sit down so they are a bit silly.

Treasury Gardens is the park that lines Spring Street at the end of Collins St/Flinders Lane,…read morebefore Fitzroy Gardens. Fitzroy Gardens is much bigger and full of interesting things to see and do, but if you just want a nice patch of grass and some shade to chill under with easy access to the CBD, Treasury Gardens has got you covered. The people watching here is second to none. With the Treasury building (and Victoria's registry office) next door, you're bound to see an eclectic array of bridal parties walking through the gardens for a photo on weekends. On weekdays, with Collins Place just a few doors down, I like to grab a salad or rice paper roll and head over with a blanket and a book to enjoy some quiet time amongst the hustle and bustle. You won't find kids and dogs here, this is the office worker oasis.

A beautiful oasis in the city as you are about to leave the city. The abundance of trees and…read moreperfectly cut lawn makes a great lunch trip and walk around the park all so worth it. Another wedding hot spot in Melbourne City, and for the all the right reasons too. A great trek for riding bikes is also included; and also the ducks pond towards Parliament House is aesthetically beautiful and pleasing. Love the flowers and lily pads there. A great spot to read a book; take it all in; do nothing; meditate and hug your partner if you have one - all in addition to grabbing something to eat in nearby Collins Street; eat it here or come prepared for a picnic with a group of friends and work colleagues. Those of us living in Melbourne are grateful to have an abundance of parks to enjoy in the city and the city fringe; and Treasury Gardens is one of those parks. Although its quite small; no need to worry because as you walk away from the city; cross a busy road and you have landed yourself into another oasis called Fitzroy Gardens. Just be careful as the traffic gets quite heavy in this area.

(Visited 12/16/24 MO @ 12:00pm): This "river of mists" would've been welcomed on this scorching day…read morewhile out on a casual walk! A friend and I were on Day 3 of our 12-Day Southern Australia Explorer cruise with Princess Cruises, we took the local train into town, and after some initial exploration, we eventually made it to Birrarung Marr. To be honest, we knew nothing of this place until we casually came upon it. In Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung culture, "Birrarung" was the traditional name of the nearby Yarra River, and "marr" referred to the mist that sometimes settled over the Birrarung. This area was historically used for railway lines and yards in 1856. In 2000, construction of the park began and opened in 2002. The park now hosted a variety of native flora, sculpted terraces, pedestrian and bicycle paths, and was used for numerous events and festivals throughout the year. ArtPlay, a children's art center and gallery was also located on the site. Lastly, pedestrian bridges (William Barak and Tanderrum, respectively) bookend the park. Would we marvel at this public open space along the Birrarung!? PURCHASE Unless you took a river cruise, dined at a nearby eatery, or did some shopping, there were no direct ways to spend money towards the Birrarung Marr - 'nuff said. SERVICE I saw a few supposed city employees who cleaned and took care of the surrounding area. Otherwise, there wasn't anything else directly related to the Birrarung Marr - 'nuff said. PARKING (Varied; N/A this instance) There appeared to be a decent amount of parking on all surrounding streets (please note any posted signs), onsite parking at the nearby Federation Square, and of course the wonderful public transportation such as the tram system which we conveniently took and then walked the rest of the way - 'nuff said. ATMOSPHERE, DÉCOR, AMBIENCE As previously mentioned, this was a completely exposed outdoor area with several art sculptors https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=jFWhi7YvYd0e2r9VU2S85A while the park was decorated in Christmas cheer https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=2k72ZA4tgRzz1XZmFCJdSQ and a beautiful downtown city view https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=eBa5d7pRaKR0QezOOy6M7Q just across the river. Obviously, there was plenty of natural lighting (duh!) while the night stars and electric business and street lights, respectively, filled in the rest. There weren't any TVs while the sounds of construction, conversations, motorized vehicles, and more were heard in the background. https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=ch5R0TpstGK_nVzKB0Cw1Q ATTIRE Totally casual, so I would normally be in a t-shirt, boardshorts, and flip-flops. OVERALL Birrarung Marr was a pleasant surprise to had come upon, and it was a relaxing time as we walked from one end to the other before we left on our next adventure. I was a huge fan of public open spaces used for multiple purposes that invited people to feel comfortable, safe, and offered other options such as places to dine or simply people-watch. I found complete value based on the prices, service, and experience noted above (TOTAL paid experience was around $0.00AUD / $0.00USD BEFORE any discounts/tip). And, although there wasn't anything directly you could've paid for to the park, my credit card of choice was accepted at nearly all of the surrounding businesses... AMEX! 5.0 STARS

Located downtown near the Yarra River, this park area provides quiet, serenity, and the ability to…read morebike, run, or walk the pathways. Rod Laver Arena and the Melbourne Cricket Grounds are conveniently located within a few minutes from this location. There are shops, vendors, and restaurants neaby to take advantage of. The city of Melbourne do a great service with this public park.

The Birchfield Reserve is a great little hidden gem in Wantirna South. While only small, it has so…read moremany features that make it the perfect place for countless children's games. There is a little playground with two swings that is, as usual, surrounded by tanbark. The area around this is pretty flat and has a good spread of grass. There is a long line of pine trees along one side of the park and they are perfect for the game "What's the time Mr. Wolf" or even "Forty-Forty". Hide and Seek would also be good, but it'd be pretty obvious that you would be hiding behind a tree because there is really nowhere else to hide! The park doesn't seem to be very well attended to as there were three trees lying on the ground that had fallen over at some point. There are three paths that lead to the various exit points - two out of three are cement but one is loose stones and crunched up cement. The birds here were really noisy but there was no other sound so it was actually really peaceful. The streets that border the Reserve are all courts or dead end streets and there is barely any traffic at all. I really enjoyed spending time in this Reserve.

Templeton Reserve is quite la-di-da compared to the other reserves in the area. For starters it has…read moreits own driveway that winds up to a large carpark on site. Higher still sits the clubhouse, which is converged on by football teams and their families and coaches come weekends. There is a football oval on the right and it is common to see kids down here practicing. Next to the carpark and furthest from the footy oval is a decent sized playground. It too was being utilized by a group of children - perhaps because of school holidays, I'm not too sure. Either way the playground looked good enough to warrant decent popularity. There are a few different ways to enter the park on foot and there are walking tracks provided for convenience. I really liked that there was a row of pine trees lining the edge of the park and separating it from the road. It made the park look a lot nicer and contributed to its more upper class feel - well as upper class as a park can feel when there are kids everywhere. It is a nice place for a walk, and great if your personal trainer has told you to find some hills to run up - yep, that was the reason I was there. Warning - there are some real calf-killing hills so I wouldn't let your personal trainer find out about it or you'll be there faster than you can blink!

Yelp Review 2023 #290:…read more When in Melbourne, you have to come check out the Bathing Boxes. It's along Brighton Beach. It's a popular thing to see and take pictures of. They're so colorful, bright and cute. Each box is uniquely painted and privately owned. So, do not try to break in. Just admire them, look at each one, take pictures, and enjoy the beach. They've been around since the 1890's for modesty purposes. Beach goers can change into their swimsuits in the privacy of a bathing box. There's no electricity or running water in the bathing boxes so, they're not truly bathing boxes. Nowadays, a bathing box here can cost about $200,000-300,000AU should you be interested in purchasing one. If you're driving or taking an Uber, it should take you about 30 minutes from Melbourne CBD/ Chinatown. If you're taking public transportation, you can take a train to get here for about 40 minutes with some walking involved. My favorite boxes are the Australian flag, The Wave, and the rainbow bathing box. Some boxes are less colorful and exciting than others.

I only had two days in Melbourne with a jam packed work schedule and I this was on my must see list…read moreto visit in Melbourne so I woke up really early braved the bad weather (cold, windy, rainy) and went to visit the beach. I have visited several beaches in my life but this one is beautiful in it's own way. Thanks to the bad weather, I had the whole beach to myself. It's a short walk to check out all the bathing boxes and back. I couldn't spend a lot of time here since it started pouring but whatever time I spent was breathtaking and unforgettable.