Royal Park, Melbourne 3.79

Royal Park is the largest of Melbourne's inner city parks . It is located 4km north of the Melbourne Central Business District, Victoria, Australia, in the suburb of Parkville.Many sporting facilities are provided including the North Park Tennis Club, Royal Park Golf Course, football and soccer ovals, baseball and cricket pitches, State Netball & Hockey Centre, and cycling and walking paths. On the corner of Gatehouse Street and Royal Parade there is a native garden. There are wide vistas of grassland and lightly timbered areas with eucalypts, casuarina and acacias. The Melbourne City Council administers the park and instituted in 1984 a park management plan. A wetlands area was developed in 2005.The grassy hill between the Royal Children's Hospital and the Native Garden is ideal for kite flying during the day. Over the summer months members of the Astronomical Society of Victoria set up telescopes and conduct evening talks and tours of the night sky from this vantage point.