Sydney’s Biggest Backyard on show is a public celebration to commemorate its 50th Anniversary. Stretching over 27km from Blacktown to Liverpool and Fairfield, we spent the day exploring Bungarribee Park and some of the many free activities open to the visitors until the 4th August.
It was great to see the recent $15m dollar conservation and redevelopment project bustling with locals bringing about a sense of community sometimes forgotten in high density urban spaces.
A morning coffee from Lord of the Beans, we started off on the 3.1km off-leash dog walking trails. It was a great way for our puppies, Richard & Bolt to enjoy the sunshine. Alternatively, you can take in nature’s surrounds on one of the cycling trails.
Throughout the area, there are 20 barbecues, making it the perfect setting for treasured family outings.
Part of the Open Day celebrations included an animal visit from some of the reptiles and furry friends soon to be moving into the new Sydney Zoo currently being constructed on site!
A green corridor to the Western Suburbs, the community were able to partake in tree planting which is part of the long term conservation plan to restore the Cumberland Plain.
A recreational space to enjoy, some of the new features include flying foxes, swing sets, a climbing tower for little kids and big kids alike to enjoy.
Black Bear BBQ recharges the batteries from all the exploring. A local area Blacktown restaurant provided lunch for the day at their pop up food truck.
A roll full of slow cooked beef brisket or pork belly was the order of the day, leaving such an impression that would lure us back to their flagship restaurant on our next visit!
A surprisingly warm Winter’s day, and our afternoon sugar craving is satisfied with desserts from Mikey’s Ice Cream Van.
The rest of the program included the more relaxing Aboriginal Stargazing at The Dairy and bird watching at Plough & Harrow, to the high-intensity Spartan Workout Tour in the great outdoors, there is a plethora of events and special offers to suit all walks of life.
For pooch loving folk, visit one of Sydney’s biggest off-leash dog areas, the Warrigal Dog Run. Grab your four-legged friend and be dragged along on a Street Paws two-kilometre amble through the beautiful pathways at Bungarribee as a warm up for the WSP Street Paws Festival in late winter. A small registration fee of $8 will be donated to Pet Stock Assist, which helps local rescue groups foster and adopt out animals in need.
Parkland lovers can also take advantage of one of the special offers available throughout the program.
Joining in the celebrations, Sydney Motorsport Park will open its gates for people to take the family car on a free ‘dawn patrol’ around the iconic circuit. In addition, Sydney Zoo will provide a sneak peek at the soon to be world-class zoo, exhibiting a wide range of animals in a safari-like experience, due to open in early-2019 at Bungarribee.
Get your Tarzan on and hang out at TreeTops at Plough and Harrow with a buy-one-get- one-free offer. Climb, weave and fly through magnificent gum trees on a self-guided rope course and experience the iconic Australian bush like never before. People from as young as three years and up can monkey around in total safety at the multi-award- winning adventure land.
The Parklands provides a home for popular tourist destinations such as Wet’n’Wild and Sydney Dragway, as well as legacy Olympic sites, such as the equestrian, baseball, softball and shooting venues.
Bookings essential for most events and to redeem special offers view the full program via:
https://www.westernsydneyparklands.com.au/about-us/celebrating-50-years/
Joseph Lloyd, Contributor