Boyds Orchard Park in Turramurra opened in Winter 2020, and North Shore Mum Felicity Frankish went along to check it out! Read on to hear what she thought.
I love checking out new parks with my kids Cassie (4.5), Vivi (2.5) and Elliot (14 months), and even better when we can load up the bikes and have a ride there are well. When a friend suggested heading to Boyds Orchard Park, I was all too keen. Ku-ring-gai Council started work on this park in May 2019, and it officially opened to the public on Saturday 14 March 2020. Of course, with a global pandemic sending us all into lockdown and away from playgrounds, it hasn’t seen much love yet.
View of the park from the bottom grassed area
Getting to Boyds Orchard Park
We live in Wahroonga and love finding parks around us that don’t require a long drive. Boyds Orchard Park is just down from Warrawee Public School (on Pacific Highway) and there is plenty of street parking right next to it. There are even two disabled parking spots provided. With three kids, two bikes, helmets, and an overflowing nappy bag to unload, it was handy being able to make a few quick trips in and out of the park, leaving the kids in a fenced area.
I feel like this needs to be brought up early in our review: there are no toilets at this park. As a mum of three young kids, one of whom has recently toilet trained, I found this problematic. There is a service station nearby we toilets, but that is a hassle in itself. We were warned before we went that there were no toilets, so we pre-empted it with a toilet trip before loading into the car, and thankfully had no issues. But it is still disappointing for a kids’ park not to have toilet facilities.
Riding Bikes
There are a few different levels to this park. I met two friends here, both with 4.5 year olds and 2 year olds, and our younger kids loved hanging out on the grassed area at the bottom and just running. They chased each other and played for hours just running around. And the best part? It is all fenced in and open, so very easy to keep an eye on them.
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- Chasing each other on the grass
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- Elliot exploring
Around this grasses area is a paved path that was perfect for riding on. The older kids loved zooming around on this path. Cassie has only recently learned to ride without training wheels and loved being able to test out her new skill somewhere other than our street.
Cassie riding on the path
There’s a half basketball court on the next level up. For Vivi, who has just started to ride a bike with training wheels, I found this was a perfect spot for riding. It’s completely flat, nice and smooth and easy to get around on a bike. Perfect for kids learning to ride. Of course, you can also bring a ball and play some basketball too!
Kids riding on the basketball court
Play Equipment
Go up again and you hit the swings – always a favourite with my kids. They have the big netted swing and two flat-seated swings, but surprisingly, no baby swing! This was fine for the bigger kids, but Elliot wasn’t a fan of the netted swing and will usually sit happily in a baby swing at the park (he is only crawling, so doesn’t get up to much else at a park).
Enjoying the netted swing
Even the play equipment has different levels. From the swings, kids can climb up a rock climbing slope and either run on to the equipment up there, or head down the slide and do it all over again. I was a huge fan of this slide and went down a few times with Elliot on my lap (it’s nice and wide, which meant I didn’t have to worry about my bum getting stuck). Cassie and I even raced each other a few times! But be warned, you do fly off at the bottom.
Vivi having a blast down the slide
The play equipment at the top has lots of netting for climbing, ropes for swinging and another little slide. The older kids enjoyed it, but it was a bit too challenging for the younger ones. In fact, the little kids found the wall around this play area that leads down to the grassed area the most fun, which meant a lot of running back and forth to make sure they didn’t fall! It was far too enticing to climb and they weren’t hearing the word no – especially because older kids were doing it with ease. It does get quite high in places.
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- Top play area
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- Hanging from the bars
Seated Area
There is a shaded seated area off to the side with tables and chairs. Next to it is a little train kids can play on. But there is plenty of other seating around the park too. We just sat on a small wall in the grassed area, opposite the basketball court. There is also another seat down on the grass where the old kids sat to have their lunch.
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- The low wall we sat on
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- Kids eating lunch on the bench at the bottom
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- Shaded seating area with train next to it
Essential Details: Boyds Orchard Park
- Where: Allan Avenue, Turramurra
- Parking: Street parking and two disabled parking spots
- Toilets: No
- Sunshade: Shade sails over most of the equipment
- Enclosed: Yes
- Seats: Benches, wall space
- Nearby Refreshments: The shops at Turramurra are your closest option, but not close enough if you’re walking with little kids
