my name is mwd

This morning we got up bright and early to go visit the new gym just opened five minutes away from us, the Orchard Park Skate Park:

To avoid embarrassment we got there early, as it’s been a while since I skated much, and definitely a long time since I visited a skatepark :) Still, despite my baby steps, it was a fun way to start the day, and I can recommend a visit if you’re that way inclined. It’s not a vast park, but it has lots of bits to attack – a good sized bowl, a mini ramp etc.; though I imagine it might get a bit hectic if busy. Incompetents like me probably want to find it when it’s quiet :)

One of the fun discoveries was the embedded tech. There’s a black plastic rain/sun shelter for people to escape the weather when not skating/playing football/netball and whatever else you can do in that neck of the woods. To our surprise, built into the shelter was a bluetooth speaker unit that will let you play songs from your phone/mp3 player/laptop etc., or just listen to local radio stations:

The quality of the speaker wasn’t great, but it’s a great addition to area – kids are carrying their music on their phones these days, so why not let them play it when they’re out having fun? Amusingly it kicks your device after 7 minutes to let someone else have a go – I can imagine a fun scramble at that point to be the next person to pair with the shelter :)

Orchard Park seemed to be hard hit when the bottom fell out the building market, being left kinda half finished, but it’s great to see that they’ve put some real effort into making things the local kids to do, and not just a slap dash effort – clearly someone’s put thought and care into it all.