I ‘discovered’ this place when setting up my other caches around here … never knew it existed until I was driving past, and my peripheral vision picked up the form of a giant lizard. Whoa! Rubber on the road, quick reverse! But on entering the place, I was more puzzled than amazed. What I’d thought might be a sort of local Jurassic Park (without the blood and gore and death) turned out to be a hotchpotch of all sorts of things. You know, what you often end up with when a Committee puts something together (maybe there was more behind the name of the park than I realised). Or maybe some left-of-centre landscaping company had gone bust, and a whole lot of their samples were auctioned off at bargain basement prices. Whatever. Yes, sure, at the back of the community hall there’s your stock-standard play area. But there’s also that Lizard at the entrance. (Admittedly, missing one eye gives him an ever-so-slightly piratical air). And there’s a giant gecko stuck to the wall next to the community hall verandah. “No darling, he only eats children who won’t have their lunch!” And there’s frogs. Big ones. And some other play stuff different to anything I’ve seen (a strange cross between a climbing frame and a climbing wall and supersized lego blocks; a queer little playhouse straight out of Hansel & Gretel; and a soccer ball being put to a use that was a new one on me). Oh, and a half sized basketball court (I’ve been back there 3 times now, and nary a teenager in sight) and one of those metal ping pong tables complete with metal net (we have one of those at Gregory Hills, but I think this one’s the clunky 20th century prototype)
But the BEST thing (and I’m being serious here), the thing I DID get a kick out of (“OK Quiffle, we always thought you were weird!”) was the perimeter concrete path. Next to it, at fairly regular intervals, are pairs of raised discoid shapes, also made from concrete. But worked into the concrete of each one, like some try-out pre-decimal coin effort (those happy few who lived through the 14th of February 1966 will get the feel) are images … with titles … of Australian birds and small animals. Quite well-done. It was enjoyable strolling around the place finding and reading them. And for the geocachers who, for entirely understandable reasons, find it awkward to go searching near a kids’ playground, these little man-made fossilish-things are a genuine reason to look around. Probably helps that the path also takes you right by GZ. I’ve included a couple of pics to whet your appetite.
I’ve never seen a park quite like this one for … unusuality (is that a word?) Maybe some geocachers will say “Oh we’ve got a stack of those in the Eastern Suburbs (or on the North Shore ... the Illawarra … fill in the blank)” Well, this is OUR version.
PARKING ... There's usually plenty of space on The Kraal Drive, immediately outside the park
SEARCHING ... No need to climb the fence ... it's in the park. And you'll have to go digital, not ocular.