A walk in the park!
2004 after closure.
We arrived at the park at about 9.30am, and came into the administration building. Then we took a tour out into the park. A lot of backstage fencing has been removed on the way up to the park entrance at the front gates. As we walk into international village (or botany bay) all of the chairs and tables have been removed outside bounty burgers, and the roof has been removed off the bounty's revenge side of the food outlet. The fountain is drained, the paving has lots of weeds growing through it, and a lot of the pavers have been removed, with removal still underway in transylvania, with pallet upon pallet of pavers stacked up ready to be removed. Bounty's revenge still stands, and we walked up to the lake. now fully drained (maybe a small pool in the bottom from rain) but the lake for those interested is about 6 metres deep in the middle, and it drops sharply at the sides. Lakeside has been completely demolished, all chairs and tables gone, and the piers over the water are gone. all of the signage has fallen apart and is sitting on the bottom of the lake in pieces. As we walk up along "IV" toward dodgems, the carousel space is now just a plain concrete slab. all of the skill games have been stripped bare. Entering Transylvania, it is strange not to have the "creature" growling from its tunnel. more weeds, and the grass in the gardens has overgrown. it is from here we got our first close up view of Demon, undergoing demolition. the "demon" gates are closed, with all sorts of safety and contruction signs posted on it. two cranes are around the ride, and the entire boomerang is now removed. both lift hills remain standing, the 3rd loop, and the drop from the boomerang is still up there, so the drop looks like an evil hook just sticking up in the middle of the sky. Zodiac, contrary to popular belief, is holding up well. it is still completely intact, however is completely level due to the equalisation of the hydraulic fluids. all gondola's are still complete. The rest of HBL have fallen apart. the only rides still within HBL was Beastie and Skyrider. all of the shops, outlets, etc we pathetic. grass, dirt and garbage were everywhere. the magic tree theatre still stands, although looks slightly worse for the wear. Action Arena has no seats, walls, fences or anything else, however the oriignal building housing the dressing rooms etc are still there. "Balloons" has disappeared, Endeavour is dismantled, but still remains on its original site in pieces. Ampol's Antique Autos still stands as is, with cars still on the tracks, however the entire ride has been purchased. Skyrider still stands in goldrush as well. all of the games down the bottom of goldrush are standing, but nothing is there, and the arcade building has been levelled. Snowy River Rampage could still be operated in its current condition. everything is in readiness, and it appears the pumps and all the rest of its associated equipment are intact. the control panel has gotten a little filthy, but looks ok. the holding lake for snowy has NOT been drained. Bush Beast also still stands, but as with a previous post somewhere, the trains have been moved out to the back of the property. The Beach walkway, from bush beast to the pool area used to have pine poles lining it as a fence. these have been cut off at ground level to allow vehicles easier maneuvering in and out. the beach pools are stagnant, with all sorts of things in the pool themselves. there are no shade sails or anything still up, and all of the palm trees etc have been removed. Maintenance around the back of the beach is littered with parts of rides, although Tassie Devil has been removed from the maintenance area. There is a mould for the plates of the space probe shell, and some carousel items that were HB themed such as jabberjaw, yogi, scooby etc. the only thing in the whole park that looked like it was in decent condition was the garbage disposal unit out the back of maintenance, which was a brand new cleanaway compactor. On our return to admin, I took a trip down memory lane by walking down through into wardrobe and the lockers. i came across bits and pieces of operaitonal paperwork littered across the floor. So all in all, i cannot describe how I felt going through the park one last time. I was happy that i got to see it again before it was levelled, but sad to see what it had become. |
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