Wintere Park

Wintere Park is a small pocket playground hidden behind the houses on the Ōtara edge of Papatoetoe, in South Auckland.¹ It sits back from the road behind a row of homes, so it feels more like a shared back garden than a park: one reviewer found it awkwardly tucked away down a driveway, but the upside is a play space well away from passing traffic.

Equipment

This is a toddler-friendly playground first and foremost. A curving path loops in a figure of eight around two soft-fall beds holding the gear: two baby swings for infants and toddlers, one standard swing for older kids, a short slide and some low climbing. One parent rates it best for two-and-a-half to five-year-olds. The slide faces away from the sun so it stays cool to sit on, although the ladder up to it could do with more footholds for the smallest climbers. School-age kids will run out of things to do fairly quickly.

Practical Info

The wide, smooth path around the play beds is a good place for a first bike or scooter lap, and there is an open lawn for kicking a ball. Big trees around the lawn give shade for a picnic, but the play beds themselves are fairly open, so bring hats in summer. A couple of seats sit beside the path. There is no toilet block or car park, so plan on street parking and a short visit. Reviewers describe it as quiet, clean and well kept by the council, with the odd complaint that the grass runs long between mows. For a change of scene, Kimpton Park (Toetoe-nui) and Maxwell Park are each about 700 m away.²