Fireman's Park Playground- Oak Bay- Victoria

Guest review by Helen

Fireman's Park is in Oak Bay and you can get into it from Monterey Avenue- where there is parking, or from Lulie Street on the other side. It's a small and neat little park with some courts, washrooms and lots of grass to play or walk your dog on.

The playground is situated next to Monterey Avenue and is an especially big hit with little boys, on account of the fire hall over the road. We often visit this playground and it's amazing how often that the firemen cruise their trucks down to the field, bring out their hoses and start doing watery stunts-all in the name of practice! They usually get a line of spectator moms who desperately try to keep their kids from joining in. There are lots of places to sit -on benches and picnic tables (some shade too) in case you want to bring along a picnic to eat during the fun.
The playground isn't half so exciting......but it's a decent come-down after the firemen go back to the station. There are woodchips on the floor, and there is one main climbing area with separate swings and a free-standing slide. As you can see in the photo, the climbing frame has big steps, a bendy slide and a lower set of twin slides. The swings are, as we often see on this site, two for little kids, two for big kids and the most exciting thing is definitely the nice high straight old-fashioned metal slide which reminds me of the slides when we were little only about half as high and not over sharp gravel! Did I say the most exciting thing was the slide? I did mention the firemen didn't I?

Sundance Elementary School Playground

Sundance Elemantary School playground is on Bank Street tucked between Leighton and Oak Bay Ave, and it's awesome. Old-School Awesome. If you don't like old-school, don't even think about going there because I'm pretty sure that there has been no new equipment here this side of the eighties, possibly even the seventies. This playground could be right out of my childhood, except that it's on sand, woodchips and grass rather than concrete.

It may be old, but it's in great condition. It's design and look are outdated but it's not that faded-in-the-sun outdated that you see in the plastic playgrounds around town. before we go any further, this is a playground where you need to watch your little kids more closely because it was not designed with the safety features that we are used to today, and frankly, I am on the fence about whether this is a good or bad thing.



The playground has many features. The ones that immediately catch the eye are the three metal climbing frames- one rocket ship, one dome and one square cube-ish-laddery one. There is also a main log and metal climbing structure- which is probably the newest part of the playground. In my excitement to photograph the other features, I completely neglected to get photos of this one- but it's is plain, solid and has a few frills, climbing bars, a pole and a double metal slide. There are two toddler swings, two big kid swings, a swinging trapeze-like bar and swinging Olympic-style rings.




If that is not enough, there are some odd extras that you don't notice straight away. For a start, there is a long jump feature- a concrete running path with a sandpit at the end which I tried out several times before coming to the conclusion that flat slip-on shoes are not conducive to long jumps. Then, there are the strange little poles with balls on the end that I think must be for leap-frogging. However, there are 8 of them all in an-almost square and it makes me wonder if the school once had a leapfrog team that did mass group leapfrogging displays.



There are no public facilities in this playground but there are good grassy areas to play on, decent shade, nice rocky outcrops to scramble and climb on and if you like the old-school equipment then this is your dream playground.

Pemberton Park Playground- Oak Bay

Pemberton Park is at Richardson and Gonzales in Oak Bay and you can find their playground on Richardson, opposite Lawndale Ave.

There is one main play area (on sand)with separate swings- the usual double big kid and double toddler combination and the toddler swings go nice and high, unlike some which have low top bars and short chains. If 'A' had had his way he would have stayed in the swing all day when we visited Pemberton Park. Whoever made this type of playground must have had a large contract with Greater Victoria City for a while because there are so many around that are almost interchangeable and this is no exception; the tower, the plastic curly slide and the wooden ramp. This one has a sweet little touch- a mini picnic table and benches built into the climbing tower and the friends that we visited this park with says that her daughter likes to have pretend tea parties in there.



Whether it's unique or not, I like finding playgrounds like this. There are good grassy areas around, benches, and surprisingly there are washrooms too. Parking was easy on Richardson and there are also lots of shady areas in case it's too sunny for you and your little ones.

Windsor Park- Oak Bay

Windsor Park Playground in Oak Bay is at the backside of the playing field next to the tennis courts and you can park on most roads around it. On it's bed of gravelly sand, it features a climbing structure with triple plastic bumpy slides, and a small selection of things to climb on and down. There are a couple of bouncy animals , two toddler swings, two big kid swings and there is a picnic area between the courts and the playground that is covered by a shelter.

There is an digger machine and a rather peculiar set of wooden beams, one I presume for somersaults and one for balancing. Although I will reinforce my theory that any playground is better than no playground, this one seems a little uninspired. However, it's in a great location, is in good shape, has lots of grass around to play on and I am sure any kids would have lots of fun on it. There were probably washrooms that you can use at the building on the playing field but I can't confirm that.

Lafayette Park Playground

The people who live around the tiny little Lafayette Park are lucky. It's a nice quiet area with well-kept houses and the sea is near. There is a country village green feeling to the park which makes me think that if you added a cricket match, cucumber sandwiches and a country pub, everything would be complete. Instead of that dream scenario, there is a sweet little playground.

On a circular bed of woodchips, this playground features one climbing structure that has an assortment of things to climb up and down. It has a fun triple bumpy plastic slide, one bouncy animal and a pudding basin. There are no swings and it's hard to rate a playground like this because it's a bonus to have the playground, which is in great shape, there at all. When rating, I try to look at overall facilities and condition and who it caters to and this little gem is really one of those that everything is right with, nothing should be any different but it just isn't going to score that highly because there's not a lot of it.

There is parking on Hampshire Road, lots of grass to play on, picnic tables and there are even nice details on the underside of the slides. For those that like a good old fashioned explore, there is a hole in the hedge that 'A' was somewhat preoccupied with.....and considering his current fear of beetles, ants, loud noises, quiet noises, tiny little gusts of wind and anything that looks like a worm, I didn't encourage him to go in there so can't comment on what's inside.

Eberts Street & Bushby Street Playground - Oak Bay, Victoria

After we visited the playground that time forgot we decided to drive down Dallas Road to look at the sea, which was getting stormy. I went down a couple of roads that I'd never been down before and low and behold, there was another sad little playground in a triangle of grass wedged between Eberts and Bushby. I stopped the car and 'A' started yelling that he needed to go to this park to play, so it seems the more out of date a playground is, the more attractive it is to my son.

On a sand base, this playground looks like it was built in the same era as the Fairfield & Kipling one with similar spindly and peeling apparatus. On a sand base, this one features a decent metal slide, two swings (one toddler, one big kid)a picnic table, a climbing arch and it actually has....wait for it.....a roundabout! I love roundabouts though I don't know why because I only have to be on one for ten seconds before I want to barf. It must be something to do with all the time I spent watching The Magic Roundabout when I was a kid back in the UK. I could criticise this park for not being flashy but I can't help think that it seemed loved in some way. There were many trucks, buckets and spades strewn around in the sand giving it an often-used feel and it's tucked so out of the way that it's almost like it's actually in someones garden, or a private street playground. Anyway, I can't be too biased, so I have marked it as per the rest, but if you ever pass that way, give it a bit of love- it's quite sweet.

Willows Beach Park - Oak Bay- Victoria

Willows Beach Park is a strange mix of the fabulous and the outdated. You don't get much better as far as views go. Check out the sea view from the swing! There are good facilities too- washrooms and picnic tables and a snack bar that was probably serving the same snacks to Victoria residents back in the 80's. There is a water fountain by the washrooms but it wasn't working when we went there.

There are three structures here and also the usual double double swing set- two for big kids and two for toddlers. The toddler climbing structure is wooden and set away from the rest of the playground. It has things to climb on, ply with and a wooden swing bridge that freaked A out a little- it's really not scary but then again A is 2.5 so who am I to say what's scary? There are twin plastic slides.

The big kid structures have lots to do. One is new and has the things for which I have no name- check them out in the glossary. It seemed pretty popular while I was there. The older structure needs updating- it's metal with a curly slide, lots to climb on but it's rusty and peeling and loses points to the playground overall- though the children playing on it really didn't seem to notice. The playground has a pebble base which I quite like.

There is a lovely grassy area behind the playground and you could throw a stone to the beach/sea, which is what we did on the way back to the car. Speaking of which, there is parking all along Willows Beach on Esplanade Street and more parking on the other side of the beach in the carpark but on nice days you might want to walk or ride a bike because it gets very busy.

Despite needing a bit of work, this is a good place to come with kids- Victoria at it's best.