Te Puru Reserve

A broad pohutukawa shades one corner of this small village playground on Te Puru Domain, the sports ground on West Crescent in Te Puru, about 12 km up the Thames Coast from Thames.¹ Reviewers treat it as a rest stop on the coast drive, and a public toilet stands a few steps from the swings.

Equipment

The council's asset register shows a play space renewed piece by piece.² The newest addition is a 3 m basket swing installed in 2022, alongside a Dragon Challenge activity unit, a see-saw, a small spinner, and a steel slide coming off a roofed lookout deck with a vertical ladder. The steel quad swing frame dates from 1998 and the register rates it in poor condition, so expect that corner to look its age.

The basket swing, see-saw and spinner work for under-fives with a parent close by. The ladder, deck and slide suit confident climbers of school age. The play area is a timber-edged bed of loose fill on the edge of the domain's mown cricket field.

Practical Info

The council lists a 24-hour public toilet at the domain on West Crescent, beside the play area, plus another at the Te Puru boat ramp on Tatahi Street.³ There is no shade sail, so the pohutukawa canopy does the work, and reviewers single out that shade.

The playground is not fenced and opens straight onto the field, but it sits about 250 m back from State Highway 25 on a residential loop. Tennis courts and bowling greens are next door,⁴ with a sealed car park beside the greens.

For a second stop, Waiomu Domain and Reserves is 2 km north along the coast and has its own small playground and toilets. Te Puru School is about 500 m away.