Places you visited as a child

A recent discussion at work come up about places we visited as kids, First one i can remember is "Wobbies World" ... which i am lead to believe now is a plant farm....Also somebody mentioned to me they went to lion safari park in bacchus marsh and rockbank.

Puzzle Park in S.A. Murray Bridge I think (?).

I remember going to a place out near ballarat that had giant dinosaurs everywhere

Apparently there was 2 "lion safari parks" one was in rockbank (which you can still see the toilet blocks with the writting on it) and the other was in bacchus marsh.

I remember going to a place out near ballarat that had giant dinosaurs everywhere

Dinosaur world in Creswick

A recent discussion at work come up about places we visited as kids, First one i can remember is "Wobbies World" ... which i am lead to believe now is a plant farm....Also somebody mentioned to me they went to lion safari park in bacchus marsh and rockbank.

A place more schizophrenic between 'awesome' and '■■■■■■ awful' than Wobbies World I have never seen.

 

Only went there once.  It had the most terrifying quasi-rollercoaster thing ever, not because it was actually fast or dramatic or did cool loops or anything.  In facts it was really soft and just had a few gentle slopes and u-turns.  But it was so ancient, decrepit and it juddered along shedding flakes of rust and other bits of itself while the prehistoric rails groaned and bent beneath the weight of the dodgy helicopter-shaped car - you were genuinely in fear of your life through the entire ride, cos the whole contraption just gave off a million-decibel ABOUT TO COLLAPSE AT ANY TIME warning.

 

But on the other hand, they had a tank!  And they let you drive it.  ■■■■, I was 12 and I was DRIVING A REAL TANK.  Talk about the best thing ever.

 

A recent discussion at work come up about places we visited as kids, First one i can remember is "Wobbies World" ... which i am lead to believe now is a plant farm....Also somebody mentioned to me they went to lion safari park in bacchus marsh and rockbank.

A place more schizophrenic between 'awesome' and '■■■■■■ awful' than Wobbies World I have never seen.

 

Only went there once.  It had the most terrifying quasi-rollercoaster thing ever, not because it was actually fast or dramatic or did cool loops or anything.  In facts it was really soft and just had a few gentle slopes and u-turns.  But it was so ancient, decrepit and it juddered along shedding flakes of rust and other bits of itself while the prehistoric rails groaned and bent beneath the weight of the dodgy helicopter-shaped car - you were genuinely in fear of your life through the entire ride, cos the whole contraption just gave off a million-decibel ABOUT TO COLLAPSE AT ANY TIME warning.

 

But on the other hand, they had a tank!  And they let you drive it.  fark, I was 12 and I was DRIVING A REAL TANK.  Talk about the best thing ever.

 

and the mini log ride as well.

had somebody at work mention "the swagman" which from what i am told sounds like Smorgys all you can eat.

had somebody at work mention "the swagman" which from what i am told sounds like Smorgys all you can eat.

There used to be a few of those types of things in the Dandenongs...one or two of them burnt down IIRC. One that rings a bell is The Cuckoo. I think its owner Willy Koeppen did a Lord Lucan. I remember going to one of them when I worked at AMP, which was mid-70s.

I dont think there is anymore smorgys thou.....Lingy took over Geelongs and bundoora burnt down...What ever happened to Sizzler?

 

had somebody at work mention "the swagman" which from what i am told sounds like Smorgys all you can eat.

There used to be a few of those types of things in the Dandenongs...one or two of them burnt down IIRC. One that rings a bell is The Cuckoo. I think its owner Willy Koeppen did a Lord Lucan. I remember going to one of them when I worked at AMP, which was mid-70s.

 

The Cuckoo is still operational i believe. Open for over 50+ years i think it was saying online.

Seagull Paddock in Geelong with the huge slides, I think it was near the Ford factory.

A recent discussion at work come up about places we visited as kids, First one i can remember is "Wobbies World" ... which i am lead to believe now is a plant farm....Also somebody mentioned to me they went to lion safari park in bacchus marsh and rockbank.

Bacchus Marsh lion safari was great as a kid. I remember going there with family and they let you drive your car through the lion area, I always wondered what happened to anyone whose car broke down.  The one in Rockbank was much smaller and I remember going past it on the drive to Ballarat but don't recall ever actually going inside.

Seagull Paddock in Geelong with the huge slides, I think it was near the Ford factory.


What a name for an adventure playground.

Pissweak World.

 

Seagull Paddock in Geelong with the huge slides, I think it was near the Ford factory.


What a name for an adventure playground.

 

LOL! I'm sure thats what it was called, correct me if I'm wrong.

Grew up in Creswick so the Dinosaur Park was a school holiday special. Along with Calembeen Park, the local swimming hole with Olympic size diving tower. Still there. We used to tie a ski rope to the end of the top handrail then jump off the side of the tower, from back a bit to take up the slack. Best rope swing ever, got an extra 3-5 metres high at a guess.

Went to magic mountain on the gold coast when I was about 11. Was pretty lame back then. went back 10 years later one night with some girls only to find out it had been converted to apartments for drunk out if control uni students. was better second time round. The name magic mountains was still pretty accurate.


Seagull Paddock in Geelong with the huge slides, I think it was near the Ford factory.

What a name for an adventure playground.
LOL! I'm sure thats what it was called, correct me if I'm wrong.

To be honest i thought it was Seagull Park, but a ■■■■ name is a ■■■■ name.

 

A recent discussion at work come up about places we visited as kids, First one i can remember is "Wobbies World" ... which i am lead to believe now is a plant farm....Also somebody mentioned to me they went to lion safari park in bacchus marsh and rockbank.

Bacchus Marsh lion safari was great as a kid. I remember going there with family and they let you drive your car through the lion area, I always wondered what happened to anyone whose car broke down.  The one in Rockbank was much smaller and I remember going past it on the drive to Ballarat but don't recall ever actually going inside.

 

Why did it all close down?