Centennial Park is situated within the area of three municipal
councils, Waverley, Randwick and City of Sydney. It is about
four kilometres from Sydney's central business district. It is
bounded by Alison, Darley and York Roads, Oxford Street, Lang
Road and Martin Road, and encompasses large areas of lawns,
several lakes, picnic areas, children's playground, cycling
tracks, running tracks, horseriding track and cafes. It covers
an area of approximately 200 hectares. There is a road around
the perimeter of the park with several smaller roads crossing
through it. Centennial Park was opened on 26 January 1888 to
celebrate the centenary of European settlement. Sir Henry
Parkes, the premier and the Governor, Lord Carrington were
instrumental in establishing the creation of a large open area
for public recreational use. They had grandiose ideas for the
park, including construction of an art gallery and a mausoleum.
Many of their plans were discarded as they became too costly.
Parkes described the park at the openin