Outdoor sights in Melbourne
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Fawkner Park
This huge expanse of green is loved and used by the area’s sport folk and lapdogs alike. Walkways lined with elms, oaks and Moreton Bay fig trees provide structure to the otherwise open fields. Barbecues and charming little pavilions are available for public use.
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Flagstaff Gardens
These small gardens with open lawn are popular with workers taking a lunchtime break. There’s a rose garden, children’s playground, barbecues and a lawn-bowling green. First known as Burial Hill, this is where most of the city’s early settlers ended up. The hill once provided one of the best views out to the bay, so a signalling station was set up here; when a ship was sighted arriving from Britain, a flag was raised on the flagstaff to notify the settlers (it was also significant for the Wurundjeri for the same useful vista). The gardens contain many trees that are well over 100 years old. These include Moreton Bay fig trees, and a variety of eucalypts, including spo…
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Albert Park Lake
Elegant black swans give their inimitable bottoms-up salute as you circumnavigate the 5km perimeter of this man-made lake. Jogging, cycling, walking or clamouring over play equipment is the appropriate human equivalent. Lakeside Dr was used as an international motor-racing circuit in the 1950s, and since 1996 the revamped track has been the venue for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix each March. Also on the periphery is the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre, with an Olympic-size pool and child-munching wave machine.
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Birrarung Marr
Birrarung Marr, which means ‘River of Mists’ in Wurundjeri, is a park on the banks of the Yarra, providing a scenic route to the MCG via William Bark Bridge and a promenade amble to the Melbourne and Olympic Parks sporting precincts. In its centre, the Federation Bells ring out daily with specially commissioned contemporary compositions. An old railway building in the park, ArtPlay hosts creative weekend and holiday workshops for children aged between five and 12 years – bookings are essential.
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Royal Botanic Gardens
The finest botanic gardens in Australia, and among the best in the world, the beautifully designed Royal Botanic Gardens sprawl beside the Yarra River. Plants from Australia and around the world feature in mini-ecosystems, such as the cacti and succulents area, a herb garden and Australian rainforest. Take a book, a picnic or frisbee; most importantly, take your time.
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Herring Island
Once an unloved dumping ground for silt, Herring Island is now a prelapsarian garden that seeks to preserve the original trees, shrubs and grasses of the Yarra and provide a home for indigenous animals such as parrots, possums and lizards. Hidden within is an impressive collection of environmental sculpture including work by Brit Andy Goldsworthy and locals Julie Collins, Robert Jacks, Robert Bridgewater and architectural photographer John Gollings. Designated picnic areas, with barbecues, make for a rare retreat just 3km from the city centre. The island is theoretically open to visitors all year round but can only be reached by boat. A Parks Victoria punt operates from C…
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Royal Park
Royal Park's vast open spaces are great for a variety of activities. You'll find you quicken your jogging pace when you hear lions roaring behind you. Royal Park contains the Royal Melbourne Zoo, a number of sports ovals, netball and hockey stadiums, a golf course and the Games Village. The village housed athletes and officials participating in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and is gradually being turned over to public and private housing. Neighbouring the Village is Trin Warren Tam-boore, a new wetlands area with boardwalks and interpretive signs for spotting native plants and animals. In the park's corner closest to the University of Melbourne is a garden of Australian na…
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Point Gellibrand Coastal Heritage Park
Along the waterfront of this expansive stretch of parkland, the roadway has intermittent information panels. These explain the area’s significance as the first disembarkation point for early Victorian settlers. Historic buildings also dot the area, such as the convict-built Timeball Tower, once used to calibrate ships’ gauges, and the remains of Fort Gellibrand, which staged many a mock battle. Access to the park is via Nelson Pl.
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St Kilda Botanic Gardens
Only a few blocks from Acland St, the Botanic Gardens are an unexpected haven from the St Kilda hustle. Wide gravel paths invite a leisurely stroll, and there are plenty of shady spots to sprawl on the open lawns. There are local indigenous plants and a subtropical rainforest conservatory to ponder, as well as the springtime splendour of the Alister Clarke Rose Garden. The duck pond is a favourite for children.
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Edinburgh Gardens
Established European elms line the tranquil walking paths of this 140-year-old parkland. Not far from the North Fitzroy cafe strip, these gardens are an ideal place to laze about. On weekends, wedding parties invade the rotunda while picnic blankets are spread, Frisbees flung and barbecues fired up. Should the mood take you, there's a lawn bowls green next door .
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Princes Park
Joggers and walkers make early morning sorties to pound the 3.2km gravel path around the perimeter of the park. Former home to the Carlton football club, the ground is known as MC Labour Park; the sprawling park has a number of other sporting ovals, a children’s playground and barbecues.
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Studley Park Boathouse
The Studley Park Boathouse dates back to the 1860s, and houses a restaurant, kiosk and cafe. There are also boats, canoes and kayaks available for hire. Kane’s suspension bridge takes you across to the other side of the river, and it’s about a 20-minute walk from here to Dights Falls.
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