GX Outdoors X Aussie Park Barbies: Celebrating Australia's Outdoor Spaces

GX Outdoors recently partnered with Aussie Park Barbies, a new all-Australian digital series dedicated to celebrating our nation's public barbecues, outdoor spaces and the communities that gather around them.

The collaboration showcased some of the great parks that exist across South Australia, and some delicious ways to enjoy them with friends and family.

At GX Outdoors, we believe the best outdoor spaces do more than fill a park. They bring people together. Whether it's sharing a meal, catching up with friends, watching the kids play or simply taking a moment to enjoy the sunshine, these everyday experiences help build stronger, healthier communities.

That's why we're passionate about creating places that people want to spend time in, spaces that encourage connection, support wellbeing and make it easier for communities to enjoy the outdoors together, and why partnerships that celebrate outdoor experiences and community connection are a natural fit for our company.

From Aussie Park BBQs

Australia is filled with free public barbecues. They sit in parks, beside beaches, in small country towns, overlooking rivers, tucked into playgrounds, hidden in reserves and scattered through some of the most beautiful locations imaginable.

Most of us grew up around them.  Birthday parties. Beach trips. Cricket games. Family gatherings. Burnt sausages. Someone forgetting the onions. Someone else bringing way too much food. They’ve always quietly existed in the background of Australian life.

But somewhere along the way, it feels like many of them stopped being used the way they once were.

About Aussie Park Barbies

Aussie Park Barbies is a creative collaboration between Phil Donnelly, owner of the 155-year-old Mayfair Bakery, and NZ-born artist and counsellor Denis Smith.

The idea for the project came from a pretty simple realisation.

The project encourages families, friends, community groups, local businesses and travellers to get outside, cook together, and reconnect with both people and place. Every episode explores not only the location itself, but the stories, characters and communities connected to it.

Food is obviously a big part of that, but the project has never really just been about cooking. It’s about connection, putting down the phone and chilling with a cold drink, having a chat and a play.  There’s something different that happens when people gather around a barbecue outdoors. Conversations slow down a little. Strangers talk to each other. Kids run around.

In a time where everything feels increasingly expensive, fast-paced and isolated, there’s something powerful about returning to something this simple.

Why The Collaboration?

As production started moving forward, one thing became obvious very quickly. Not all public barbecues are created equal. Some feel purely functional. Others become part of the experience itself.

While travelling through the Adelaide Hills scouting locations, Phil and Denis came across a GX Outdoors barbecue and immediately noticed the difference.

It sounds funny to say that a barbecue can have personality, but some genuinely do.

The GX units felt solid, welcoming and thoughtfully designed. They were easy to approach, easy to use and clearly built by people who understand how outdoor spaces are actually experienced by families and communities.

That matters more than most people realise. Accessibility matters. Durability matters. Simplicity matters.  A good public barbecue doesn’t just cook food. It helps create an environment where people actually want to stay.

Reaching out to GX Outdoors the connection was instant, they were keen to support the project and help spread the word.

At the heart of Aussie Park Barbies is a desire to celebrate Australian outdoor culture, local communities and the infrastructure that quietly helps bring people together. GX Outdoors shared a lot of those same values, a family business with a genuine focus on creating great outdoor spaces.

The Vision

Long term, Aussie Park Barbies aims to travel extensively around Australia, showcasing not only incredible locations, but also the people, councils, community groups, producers and businesses helping activate outdoor spaces in meaningful ways.

There are plans for regional episodes, coastal journeys, collaborations with tourism operators, community events, food producers, charities and local councils. Some episodes may focus heavily on cooking, others on the people and stories connected to a location. Some may simply be about reminding people to get outside together again.

There is also a strong mental health philosophy sitting quietly underneath the project.
Denis and Phil’s deep connection with positive mental health is a philosophy sitting quietly underneath the project. The outdoors, creativity, community and shared experiences all play an important role in positive mental health, even if we don’t always recognise it while it’s happening.

You see it every time people gather around a barbecue.
People laugh more. Talk more. Stay longer. That’s important.

The hope is that Aussie Park Barbies becomes more than just a cooking series.

The vision is to create something that genuinely encourages people to explore Australia differently. To support local communities. To use public spaces more often. To discover small towns, local producers and hidden locations they may never otherwise visit.

And honestly, if it encourages a few more people to dust off the esky (ok Denis, the chilly bin) and spend an afternoon outside with people they care about, that feels like a pretty good place to start.