Marama Park

Marama Park is a small, natural-style playground in Wigram Skies, Christchurch, where the play is a climbing boulder, a pair of whisper horns and a trail of rocks and timber stumps set among native tussock, rather than a plastic fort. A basketball court and a goal on the lawn give older kids a reason to come too, and the park sits among the newer housing built on the old Wigram Aerodrome, with the Port Hills on the skyline.¹

Equipment

The council register lists a fibreglass climbing boulder with a 3 m fall height, a timber swing frame with two standard seats, two whisper horns (one beside a picnic table, the other by the shelter) and a set of wooden stepping obstacles.² In the council's asset photos the boulder and swings stand on bark chip, ringed by big grey rocks, logs and tussock, and the stepping stumps are tucked into a planted bed beside the path. The whisper horns are set apart so one child can talk while another listens at the far end, which suits under-fives, while the tall boulder is better for confident climbers of school age.

There are no infant seats on the swing. For a baby swing, Parera Park on Kittyhawk Avenue, about 500 m away, has one along with a small carousel, and Kahuku Park is only a couple of hundred metres from here.

Practical Info

Alongside the playground the council lists a basketball hoop with backboard and a set of goal posts.³ The photos show a marked court beside the path and a netted goal on a grassy rise, and one reviewer's whole verdict is an invitation to come and shoot hoops. Another visitor picked out the native plants, the swings and the shelter, and the shelter and picnic table give parents somewhere to sit.

The play area is not fenced and opens straight onto a broad lawn, so runners need watching. Tree cover over the play area was thin when the council photographed it, and the shelter is the main shade.