Elgar Park

This is a lovely playground, despite looking a little run-down and in need of maintenance. It's bright, cheery and offers many play opportunities for the kids.

The wooden train is very popular, although the state of the roof shows that kids rather like running on top of, rather inside of, the carriages.

The main play unit has a cubby house underneath it with benches and windows, and a ladder leading up to the top, from which kids can choose to zoom down the slide, the fireman's pole or climb down the mesh frames. There's also a flying fox and some monkey bars.

The City of Whitehorse recommends this park as being suitable for children between the ages of 2 to 10, but our 18-month-old had no trouble finding things to do. She loved the see-saw, spring rider motorbike and driving in the car (complete with gear stick!).

Just next to the playground is the Box Hill Miniature Steam Railway, which offers public rides every second weekend. The nearby bike path runs along the Koonung and Bushy Creeks and meets up with the main Yarra Trail, which leads all the way into the city.