By Kathleen Griffin, Justin Atkinson, 27 April 2023
Welcome to the inaugural VUWTC playground crawl, the first of many in a quest to bag all 107 of Wellington's public playgrounds (plus some bonus school ones)! We begin in a popular nightspot: Newtown.
8. Mt Cook Play Area
James Smith on Google reviews said it best: "average playground for average people."
7. Newtown Park Play Area
Lots of spinning things if you want to feel drunk, & a funky caterpillar on springs.
6. Melrose Park Kids Play Area
There was a thing you could climb on, but the general consensus was we didn't really know how to use most of it. Maybe we just aren't creative enough?
5. Hanson St Play Area
Despite the high crossover of climbers x trampers, shockingly few of us could make it up the climbing wall. Good fun regardless.
4. Newtown Public Play Park
Prime location in the centre of Newtown, but really we just spent 15 minutes climbing the trees.
3. Newtown Community Playground
We spent a lot of time here, the springy flowers can tip all the way to the ground if you pile enough people on them. They also spring back with alarming force. Main highlight of this playground was the tower covered in children's art of ambiguous animals with human-esque faces.
2. Vice Regal Park Playground
This was the last playground we visited & I think we were all borderline delirious by then. We mainly sat on the artificial grass whispering secrets & talking about getting McDonald's.
1. Carrara Park Play Area
This was a stand-out winner, it really had it all. A very long flying fox, lots of swings, things to climb & a tower with a slide. The ranking committee had no actual criteria, but this was a unanimous winner.
Bonus photos:
