Harleston Park, Elsternwick

Splash parks in Melbourne, Australia

The water feature at Harleston Park in Elsternwick encourages mild risk taking behaviour and helps to develop your child's sense of balance. I saw many kids of various ages testing themselves as they judged the distances between the stones poking up above the water, and then stepped, hopped or leapt from one to another. The landings don't always stick, so make sure you bring a spare pair of socks, shoes and pants to this park. Above: The meandering stream water feature at Harleston Park in Elsternwick (Order this image)

The meandering stream is around twenty metres in length and runs down a very gentle, almost imperceptable slope into a drain at the bottom. After disappearing into the grill at the bottom, the water is pumped under the ground along a pipe back up to the top where it emerges from between a few large rock slabs. The water runs automatically, so you don't need to manually activate it.

The water depth is 5-10 centimetres at most, with two steps in the stream that can easily be stepped onto with little legs. The stream bed has a concrete base with smooth rounded stones set into the concrete to make it look like a natural stream. Either side is flanked with large slabs of rock at different angles, and as a parent you can patrol in the open spaces along both sides of the stream. Above: The steps in the stream at Harleston Park in Elsternwick (Order this image)

The broader park has another fun aspect away from the water feature, with a very long steel slide set into a little hill on the opposite side of the playground. The slope of the slide is quite gentle at the bottom, allowing you to slow gracefully even if you have built up a little bit of speed on the way down. The park has a modern playground with the usual swings, climbing equipment and slides. In one corner of this small park there is a giant chess board, but it was unclear where you hire the chess pieces.

This little park hidden away in the backstreets of suburban Elsternwick also has bbqs and plenty of shaded or sunny lawn area for a picnic, as well as numerous park benches and picnic tables.

Here is a Splash-Rascals video of Harleston Park, featuring Splash-Rascal Froggy jumping on the rocks and taking a daring ride down the really long slide on the hill.

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 location of the water feature at 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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