Coyle Park

A great spot for the kids, we often bring my nephew here on Sunday morning and let his parents catch up on a bit of sleep. I must say there is so much more to playgrounds in New Zealand than what I grew up with. In my day, you were lucky if you had a slide and a couple of swings — here it’s all flying foxes and even a minuture train track. Speaking of which, an old guy with his young daughter pulled a fast one on me there. I was about to push my nephew around the track when he suggests I put his daughter on as well. I thought sure, glad to help — how wrong I was. I pushed him them around once and I was out of breath. The kids simply said ‘again’. I pushed them around again and I thought I was going to collapse. The kids just said ‘again’. I did it one more time and noticed that the guy whose kid I was pushing was standing there with a big smile on his face. Evidently, he had done this before.

Coyle Park is cool and with Pt Chev Beach nearby I love that you can smell the ocean as you head towards it. Perched right on the point, it’s a great place for picnics and has a really awesome playground including a giant sleeping… dragon? Crocodile? Whatever, it’s cool.
There’s enough room here for people to do things with balls (Aucklanders love to do that in public parks I’ve noticed), without disturbing everyone else.
I will say that early evenings are not so great due to the local teenagers amping up their car stereo and having a big old underage booze-​fest in the carpark. Kind of puts you off. The good news is that they eventually lock it up although one would imagine the kids just continue with their cars on the road instead.
Anyway, come during the day and if you’re lucky Mr Whippy will turn up too — he usually does.

You’ll find this park at the end of Point Chevaleir Rd, right by the beach.
When I last visited the beach, there were a heap of kids all enjoying the playground. I gotta admit that it did look pretty awesome. There was a couple of twin slides that looked like they’d be a lot of fun, as well as the playground feature I most loved growing up — a flying fox. There is also a modern roundabout (safety conscious) and a miniature train ride.
This park has a heap of grass to chill out on, play volleyball, get a cricket game going, play some touch, or walk the dog. There are barbecue tables and a block of toilets also in the park. This park offers some great harbour views over the city.
And you have Point Chev beach as an added attraction!

People unfamiliar with Pt. Chevalier are probably unaware that it ends in this green expanse. Coyle Park has all the things parks should have — grass, trees, a pretty substantial playground — plus some other stuff that’s less common — cliffs, sea views, a walk along the rocks by the water. Pt. Chev in general has its waterside location as a blessing, but Coyle Park exploits this to the utmost. Going for a walk (or if you’re a kid, an epic run/​climb/​swing/​clamber) at the right time of day gives you some very pretty horizons to look at, although with it can sometimes come a blustery wind. One other potential downside that’s worth noting: the grass can get pretty boggy during the wet winter.