Vogelmorn Park

Vogelmorn Park sits up on the ridge in Mornington, on Wellington's southern hills behind Brooklyn,¹ and families come for the bike track as much as the playground. A sealed loop runs right around the park, easy going for little ones on wheels, with skills features and a pump track for older riders.

Equipment

The playground itself is small and aimed at juniors: Wellington City Council lists a swingset, a slide and a spinner, upgraded in 2018, with plenty of kickabout space on the sports field next door.² The bike track is the bigger draw. Parents from Ridgway and Brooklyn schools and the Kaka Project raised the money to lay the asphalt loop,³ backed by $50,000 from the council for Ridgway School's Bikes in Schools project, which planned a skills track and a pump track open to the whole community.⁴ The skills features on what is now called the Tawatawa-Vogelmorn Bike Track opened in October 2020,³ and a recent visitor describes a pump track at the back for the more adventurous.

So it suits two crowds at once: under-fives on the swings and slide, and school-age kids lapping the track on bikes.

Practical Info

The play area is not fenced, and the council records no toilet or drinking fountain nearby,² so bring water and plan the bathroom stop. Parking is limited, which one reviewer calls the big drawback. The ridge-top spot gives a wide view but is very exposed, and when a southerly comes through you feel it, so this is a still-day outing. Te Kura o Tawatawa (Ridgway School) is right next door and uses the track for its Bikes in Schools riding, while the Krull St and Farnham St play areas are each about half a kilometre away if you want a second stop.