A double flying fox, a Roktopus and a rope pyramid share a riverbank in Gisborne's Botanical Gardens, the city's oldest reserve, set aside as a public garden in 1874.1 The playground sits among tall palms beside the Taruheru River, and the gardens around it fill out a whole afternoon: an aviary, duck ponds, a cactus glasshouse and a native bush boardwalk.
Equipment
The council's asset register lists close to twenty pieces here.2 Older kids head for the Roktopus, the Spacenet rope pyramid in the middle of the play area, a Serious Air swing on a tall steel frame, and the double flying fox, where two riders go side by side.3 A double embankment slide runs down a grassy bank at the edge.
Younger children have Kompan Tree Castle and Play and Stay modules with a tunnel, a bumble bee springer, a caterpillar seesaw, a small carousel and junior in-ground trampolines. There are musical pieces too (a Cadenza, a Babel drum and a musical bridge), a basket swing with two timber-framed swings, and the Dizzy Disc and Dippy Disc spinners. Council has said the playground is designed mainly for under 12s, a point it made when it began replacing the old swings in 2009.4
Access and Inclusion
The play area is open, not fenced, and the tidal river is a short run across the lawn on its eastern side, so watch toddlers who like to wander. Sealed paths loop through the gardens and reach the edge of the play area. Most of the play area is on loose-fill surfacing, with rubber pads under the trampolines, so wheelchairs and buggies will find the middle heavy going.
History and Cultural
Cricket was played here until 1901, native bush was planted between 1915 and 1920, and a free-flying aviary went up in 1972.1 In 1978 Mr and Mrs J.B. Greig left their cacti collection to the council, and a glasshouse was built to hold it.
Practical Info
Public toilets and picnic tables are on site,5 and shade sails on a timber pergola cover a row of tables right beside the play area. A small car park sits at the playground's south-eastern corner. Dogs are not allowed anywhere in the gardens.6
It is a popular spot for children's birthday parties, and reviewers say several can be running at once on a fine weekend, so arrive early if you want a shaded table. Away from the playground, some reviewers have raised upkeep issues: a stagnant duck pond, birds in the aviary looking poorly, and rotten boards on the jetty behind the Australian garden.
