Potters Park

I play netball just across the street and I used to walk my dog here when I lived down the road. It’s a really decent sized park so you never feel overly crowded with all the people who go here. Recently I had dinner with some friends on Dominion Road, and because it wasn’t quite dark yet and it was a nice temperature outside we decided to get ice creams and sit in the gazebo thingee and chat, and it was awesome. They were setting up a stage so I presume they do shows here sometimes as well. When we have netball we come and practise on the basketball courts before games, but these days we’d be lucky if we get on the court because it is always taken. I used to do a couple of laps of running around the park before netball to warm up, because it’s not so big I would feel like dying after, which is what I look for when I have to go for a run. There’s a playground for kids and toilets too I haven’t actually been in, but the toilet block looks OK and is quite large.

Potter’s Park is where I spent a huge amount of my childhood. Playing on the swings, gossiping in the band rotunda, attempting to ‘shoot hoops’ with my brother on the basket ball courts and learning to ride my bike on the field — it’s absolutely full of good memories.
This having been said, I will share a word of warning to anyone on rollerblades in this park. The path on the big hill may look like a fun idea, but the trees on either side of this path drop little hard berries. Berries that are the perfect size to get stuck between the wheels of your rollerblades, jam them, and result in you flipping and skidding your way down the pavement. It’s a horrific experience, and one I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Be warned!
This bad experience aside, Potter’s Park is a great place to meet up with other families and your friends and blow off a bit of steam.
Tip: Carols by Candlelight are one of the many family oriented events the park hosts (though when I used to go you were actually allowed to have proper candles — shock horror), keep your eye out for the next event at Potter’s Park, get a picnic together and enjoy some time with your family in an iconic Auckland park.

The coolest thing about Potters Park is the tiny little house that sits by the footpath on Dominion Road. I used to walk past this place every day and never noticed it — untill one morning on my bike I came down here with a friend of mine who may have eaten the wrong piece of cardboard. We came across this little house and he nearly started crying because the light shined through from cars behind and made it look like a nice little family home.
Potters Park itself is a fairly standard city park — with English style trees and a winding path through them, as well as a basketball court and the occasional cross fit training programme. There are also a number of events on here during the year, so definitely check it out if you are in the neighborhood

I know Potter’s Park only because it hosts the terrific annual Auckland International Cultural Festival, and it make the perfect location.
The park is big enough so that there’s plenty of room for a good-​sized stage as well as heaps of stalls, but small enough so that it still feels like a community event, and you’re pretty much guaranteed a good view even if you’re not right at the front.
There’s also all the usual parky stuff — a playground, toilets, and lots of big old trees, so I’d say it’d be a good spot for any of the other events it regularly hosts — including Family Fun Days, Carols by Candlelight, and the Community Spirit Family Carnival — as well for a family day out.

Potters Park is beautiful and historic with gorgeous tall Norfolk Pines and a darn good playground (and, randomly, an award-​winning toilet block). The park’s amenities also include basketball courts which always seem to be in use and one of the most excellent things about the playground here is that it’s fully fenced.
I’ve spent a lot of time in this park and can recommend it for kids of all ages. I would say though to go hard on the sunblock and make sure the kids are wearing hats, because the Westerley sun in the afternoons is haaaaarsh bro. I know that’s probably a bonus to a lot of people but I’m part vampire and just melt.
Despite the traffic at the busy intersection, this is another of Auckland’s really great green spaces and the «pigeon lady» who feeds the birds here is one of the local Balmoral personalities that make it such a cool neighbourhood.