Midlands Aquatic Playspace, North Ballarat

Splash parks in western Victoria, Australia

The Midlands Aquatic Playspace is a free water play area in North Ballarat that is loosely based on a garden theme, with a giant sprinkling leaf, a butterfly shower and a squirting ladybird. There is a wide range of water features, including numerous small, ground level sprinklers, two types of tipping buckets, and rotatable water cannons. To operate the water features, there is a button on a waist high green pole on the edge of the water play area, which gives you 15 minutes of water play before you will need to press the button again. Above: The water curtain, giant sprinkling leaf and tipping buckets in action (Order this image)

The best feature of this water park was the positioning of the various sprinklers and showers. Kids would hang around the edge of the wet zone, and then select a path through the water features to try and avoid getting wet, sometimes succesfully, but often not. Throughout the fifteen minute cycle, different features would turn on and off, and the path would have to change. The water features were however less challenging for older kids.

The only water features that could be manually operated were the two rotatable water cannons. You could spin these around in a full circle (and get dizzy in the process), and they would only operate when you were facing the direction of the other water cannon, which was an intriguing puzzle for some kids. I saw one toddler spend an inordinate amount of time hugging the ladybird sprinkler, so he may have felt that it was hugging him back. Above: The shade marquee that runs alongside the water play area (Order this image)

I liked the strip of soft, dry artificial grass that borders the water play area, as well as the long shade marquee that runs alongside one edge to provide complete shade. If you are sitting under the marquee, bring a picnic mat because the grass here is patchy. The two barbecues are also fully shaded. I'd also suggest you bring a first aid kit (or at least a few bandaids), because even though the rules say no running, the layout of the water play area seems to unwittingly invite kids to run, and if they fall it is on a roughened concrete surface. I couldn't spot any drinking fountains so bring your own water, and lastly, the wind can whistle through this fairly open and exposed area, so if it is a windy day, pull your kids out and wrap them in a dry towel if you see them start to shiver. Before you head out, make sure to read the water safety information and check with the managing authority for any current change of conditions.. The marker indicates the approximate location of the park. If the map is not zoomed in locally, as can occur with some browsers, simply click or tap on "View Larger Map" below.
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