Redfern Park and Oval

What a park. Seriously. What a great local park. This is what local parks are all about.
This park is so flat, so chilled out, and so … park like. It’s not hoity toity, it’s not that clean, it’s not botanical and special, it’s a place to commune.
There’s an impressive selection of dogs, a unique assortment of people (it’s diverse, and full of surprises), and from time to time there is a jumping castle. We like the grandstand, the soft grass, the sense of community, and the peculiar oversized palm trees.
Downsides: The place needs more BBQs, and maybe a little more shade.
If you lie back and relax a dog will lick you, and you may well get hit by a soggy tennis ball. That’s just life though…
Upsides: The junkies asking to use your BBQ are always very friendly and polite. No, I mean that generously — one of the things I like about this place is that it isn’t soley used by wealthy white joggers wearing lycra. It’s a diverse community and everyone makes use of the park.

One of my Sydney’s best inner city neighborhood parks. Very grand Victorian design for its modest size — promenades lined with tall palms lead up to a pretty central fountain. Big olé strangler figs along the perimeter, and beds of who-​knows-​wot lush vegetation. The water-​geyser flower sculpture is great fun for children — you can watch the younger toddlers jump from water hole to hole, squealing with pleaure and surprise when the water spouts — and cools us all on a muggy day. Take a look at the sweet face of the granite (?) figure reading the scroll at the memorial near the Chalmers Street corner. A well-​used park, with plenty of room for play, bbqs and picnics, a quiet read, or just a stroll. (Oh, yeah, and there’s a rugby practice oval at the other end with a café next to it ;) Several of the neighborhood café’s and restaurants have a nice view of the park, especially Tapeos which overlooks.

Redfern oval is a very large and beautiful park in the heart of Redfern, and shouldn’t be considered a dirty and dangerous park during the day. It’s shadowed by beautiful large palm tree’s and designed with a central fountain.
Often during the day you’ll find locals picnicking for lunch, lying in the sun for a tan, or doing exercises, it’s very communal. The great thing about this park is the café which is situated in the corner of the park — it adds a comfort that someone is always there watching over you, and their coffee and sandwiches are fantastic.
The unfortunate thing is that Redfern is still recovering from their ’80’s and ’90’s bad rap, which clouds judgement of this creative and versatile suburb. The outdoor sporting oval looks great after the huge renovation, and is the home of the Rabbitohs rugby team. So if you’re keen to get a glimpse of autograph of your favourite player, then head down during the early mornings and afternoons to see them in action.

This isn’t the quietest of parks — there’s two fairly busy road but that doesn’t mean you won’t find some peace and quiet in here. The centre is a nice place to sit amongst the tall pine trees facing the waterfall. There’s a café which is pleasant enough and some open stands by the football field if all the shade under the trees is taken.
The best bit about this park is the kids play equipment… If you could call it that. It’s more outdoor design come burning man art sculpture focused than child fun park but then the kids playing around the popping water and sticks piece were having a lot of fun on the really hot day I was there.
It’s a funny mix of life colliding together in this park — the white butterfly landing on my screen followed by a group of school kids, skinny beaked marsh bird, the artsy creative type, the business suit and then the homeless man asking for bus money. Just the general happening of an inner city park I suppose.

Redfern Park is famous for the Redfern Oval, which is the former home ground of the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league team. Not being a rugby lady, that means absolutely nothing to me — I just like it because it’s a huge, green space complete with fountain, sporting fields, playground and public toilets. The park had a $ 32 million upgrade a few years ago, and it’s definitely looking a lot better than it was. It also got a new shaded toddler’s playground in 2010. The site has hosted a bunch of community events over the years. If you’ve got a pooch who’s dying to be let off the lead, dogs are permitted off-​leash between 4.30pm and 9.30am, but check the signs for all the little details and conditions.

Redfern gets a bit of a bad rap. In a suburb that’s up-​and-​coming with some amazing cafes and bars and a pretty sweet park, I think people should be a little easier. I recently attended a Saturday afternoon birthday BBQ here and found it to be quite a lovely place indeed. The park has your classic amenities– large grassy field, fountain, restroom block, jungle gym– but also has a bit of style as well. My favorite example of this is the tall flower garden sculpture that has water geysers coming out of the ground at random. Nice touch, Redfern.
Positioned on the corner of Chalmers St. and Redfern St., there are a lot of awesome little spots cropping up nearby. We stopped at the bottle shop in the Woolpack, which is right there, to pick up some libations for the afternoon. Walking back I took note of the cafes nearby. Next time, I might try lunch at the American diner-​style join Eathouse, and then stretch out the full belly in the park for a while.
More Redfern Park perks? You’re a stone’s throw from Surry Hills, and thus all the über crowded hangouts over there, but you probably won’t see your boss and your ex best friend, and your landlord’s gay lover and everyone else you kinda know here. It’s hip but not «too» hip, and because of that… I’m sold.