When it comes to roller coaster construction, surely the general rule of thumb is that the track should be fully complete ‘with no obvious gaps’ before it gets the green light for real-life human passengers? Apparently not, according to the crazy people behind the Gravity Max at Taiwan’s Lihpao Land theme park.
The thrill (if you can even call it that) of this ride is that it ascends dizzyingly fast to the very edge of a seemingly track-less horizontal platform, before tilting forward to a 90-degree angle pausing for dramatic effect and maximum scares, of course and magically reconnecting to the downward track. It then proceeds to shoot through a pitch-black tunnel and straight into a 360-degree vertical loop, reaching a max speed of 90 kilometres an hour and 3.5 Gs of force.
The Gravity Max is the world’s only tilting roller coaster, is the first with a true 90-degree drop, and it goes for a blood-curdling two minutes and 26 seconds. Ride at your own peril.
In a world driven by technology, devices and information, stepping into the world’s longest-running theatre still showing silent films is like being taken back in time.
Located in the heart of the Noosa Hinterland in the small town of Pomona, the Majestic Theatre sits like a relic of a golden age where communities came together to watch a silent Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton flick while a maestro played the film’s score on an organ. Cinema-goers’ enjoyment of the film rested in the hands of the highly skilled organ player. At the Majestic Theatre you can experience this long lost artform every Saturday afternoon, when a classic silent film is accompanied by the playing of Ron West on the 1937 Compton organ.
The not-for-profit theatre and cinema also hosts screenings of cult and classic ‘talkies’, live events, functions, fundraisers, special events and private film screenings. Post performance, drop over to the Pomona Hotel. Built in 1905, this ancient rollicking pub with its spacious Queenslander balcony, 14-foot ceilings and delicate fretwork over the doors is also a relic of a bygone era and has barely changed in a century.
Denmark is widely regarded as one of the happiest countries on Earth, so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that its capital is home to first-ever museum dedicated to smiling, laughing and generally having fun.
Of course, it’s so much more than a few dad jokes and a display of whoopee cushions through the ages. This is part of the Happiness Research Institute, an independent think tank that focuses on wellbeing, happiness and the quality of life. You may be acquainted with its founder, Meik Wiking, whose books, including The Little Book of Hygge, have been published in more than 50 countries.
The reasons behind it all are rather simple. We all want to be happy, right? But do we really know what we need to get to this elevated state? There are eight rooms in the museum that each explore happiness from a different perspective. It’s all interactive and you can get involved in various experiments. Plus, people from all over the world have donated personal items that remind them of their lives’ happy moments and they’re all on display.
After a day shredding world-class mountain bike trails, there’s surely nothing better than sweating it out in a sauna then plunging into the icy waters of a picturesque lake.
The Floating Sauna Lake Derby in the former tin-mining town of Derby in northeast Tasmania is believed to be Australia’s only floating wood-fired sauna. There are two pavilions – one a changing room and the other the sauna – both connected to the shore by a narrow pedestrian bridge with views directly out to the lake.
The idea was the brainchild of Nigel Reeves, who was hoping it would help draw international visitors to the tiny town. Now he’s banking on locals to take up the ancient ritual. You needn’t be a cyclist to enjoy the benefits either – anyone can hire out the sauna privately and the best bit is it can fit up to nine of your closest friends.
Be aware: you need to book well in advance to bag one of the coveted sunset spots on the weekend.
For those who like a good spooking, can’t wait for Halloween to come around or are sick of Friday the 13th re-runs, Tokyo has opened the first drive-in haunted house. It’s spook city all year round.
Japanese folks love a good scare and, oddly enough, haunted houses are one of the more popular attractions for groups and couples. With the current Covid-19 restrictions, design company Kowagarasetai has ingeniously created a genuine haunted house experience in central Tokyo that you don’t even have to leave your car for. The 20-minute immersive experience comes complete with zombies and blood-soaked figures.
Park your car inside a dark and dingy garage, the doors close and you wait like a sitting duck for the nightmare to begin. Victims – oops, we mean drivers – receive a set of Bluetooth speakers and the narration begins: There’s a legend that there’s a ghost that attacks humans. This is no passive scare fest – it’s all interactive and drivers honk the horn to hear more. As the ghoulish tale progresses actors dressed as ghosts and zombies attempt to scare the living beejesus out of you. And they will!
Just when you think you’ve made it out alive, a figure covered in blood launches its gruesome body on your car’s bonnet in classic jump-scare fashion. You’ll be glad you locked all the doors and the windows are tightly wound up.
And this is Japan, so all the fake blood and zombie fingerprints are cleaned off when the ordeal is over.
It’s hard to get more Aussie than downing an ice-cold tinnie in the red dirt of the outback. Add to that a caravan of camels careening around a racetrack with Uluru looming in the distance and you might just sprout some corks from your hat.
On a May weekend – the dates vary each year – the Uluru Camel Cup lures jockeys, beer drinkers and party goers to the Red Centre for a weekend of genuinely ocker revelry. Kicking off on Friday at the Uluru Camel Farm there’s everything from boot scooting to bidding on your favourite camel at the Camel Cup Calcutta. Don’t go too hard though, as Saturday is a long day at the track if you’re fighting a hangover.
Be sure to dress up on Cup Day for Fashions on the Field – with full post-race presentation – and enjoy all that is on offer. Whip cracking, cold beers, Outback Games (think Aussie Olympics with no Cathy Freeman lycra), more cold beers and, of course, the camel races. You’ll be surprised just how fast those big beasties can run.
A helicopter trip out over the track, Uluru and Kata Tjuta is well worth it, too.
If you’ve managed to pace yourself there’s more fun to be had on Saturday night at the Frock Up and Rock Up Gala Ball.
Muscles feeling a little atrophied with all the iso stagnation? Get into the great outdoors and get those legs pumping again with Spicers Scenic Rim Summer Walks.
Relax, though, because it’s not all hard work. Ease into it with your fellow walkers over lunch before being taken by helicopter to Spicers Mount Mistake. As you soar above farmlands and mountains, you’ll get a bird’s-eye view of the glorious mountain range you are about to conquer.
The following three days will be spent exploring some of Australia’s most beautiful landscapes and staying in purpose-built accommodation, including the Spicers Treehouse.
By day you’ll traverse various landscapes and ecosystems including rainforests, red cedar-filled national parks and valley floors where you’ll have the opportunity to cool off in natural spring waterholes. Stare out over Fassifern Valley before finally arriving at Spicers Peak Lodge – it’s 1,100 metres above sea level and on 3,000 hectares of pristine wilderness. Here you’ll feast at the award-winning, five-star Peak Restaurant. At night you’ll bunk in sustainable eco-cabins. Sound good? Do it!
If you tire of the perfect beaches and wild surf, head deep into the centre of French Polynesia’s main island where few tourists tread. This is “forest bathing” at its best and even better when guided by Moana, one of the island’s few female mountain guides. Having spent 23 days surviving on her own in these mountains Moana is better than Google when it comes to knowledge about the island’s flora. She picks leaves and wild fruit to smell and taste while pointing out caves she slept in while “cleansing her soul” during her 23 days in the wild.
While this starts out an easy stroll you do end up climbing through dense bush and crossing several rivers, so ya reasonable level of fitness is required. The deep breaths and burning thighs are all worth it though once you spot the cascading Fautaua Waterfall through a clearing in the distance.
It spills into a natural amphitheatre with a deep swimming hole below. Lounging in the cool water is the perfect end to a rather sweaty hike. Moana’s jungle platter of mixed fruits soaked in coconut milk and vanilla is a just reward, too.
One of Europe’s most raucous festivals is tucked between rolling Serbian hills, a three-hour drive from Belgrade. For one week each August the quiet village of Guca becomes a mass of maniacal dancing, heavy drinking and enough brass to plate an empire as bands battle to win the coveted Golden Trumpet Award.
The town swells from 2,000 inhabitants to a whopping half-million as Serbs, Eastern Europeans and a smattering of international travellers converge to hear horn at its best. Said to warm the soul of the population, the trumpet heralds every important occasion, and festival goers celebrate their affection for the instrument with gusto.
Official competitors perform on stage from Friday through to Sunday, while gypsy orchestras and travelling bands jam in surrounding streets and restaurants, tooting Balkan tunes in exchange for cash licked and pasted to their sweaty foreheads.
Days begin with sticky shots of rakia (plum brandy) followed by gallons of local beer. Competitors’ tunes are rehearsed to perfection, but a din of vevuzelas sounds over the trumpets mingling with the chants of patriotism in the hot summer air.
Vegetarians beware – hundreds of pigs crisp on spits until they’re ready to be devoured with a mound of cabbage and litres of beer. Temporary stalls share slices of Serbian life, with weavers, tailors and cobblers hawking their wares as brewers pour homemade liquor with a generous hand. First held in 1961 with just a scraping of musicians, the festival survived decades of political turmoil and the trumpeters of Dragacevo continue to bust out brass like you’ve never heard before.
Just off the coast of Townsville, in Queensland’s north, is a surprising visitor attraction, the Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA). It comprises, at the moment, two separate works of art.
The first, a glowing statue off the Strand, a popular waterfront promenade, is Ocean Siren. Modelled on 12-year-old Takoda Johnson, a member of the local Wulgurukaba people, the sculpture changes colour according to the ocean’s temperature using data collected by the Davies Reef weather station. It’s a reminder – and warning – about rising sea temperatures.
About two hours off shore by boat, at John Brewer Reef, is Coral Greenhouse. Anchored at a depth of 18 metres below the ocean’s surface, it consists of a ribbed structure and 20 statues of student scientists.
They make up the first two locations of MOUA; two more – near Palm Island and Magnetic Island – are due to be finished by the end of 2021. All were designed and constructed by underwater sculptor, Jason deCaires Taylor (in consultation with local community groups and traditional owners), who has previously launched projects all over the world, including the Bahamas and Spain. We spoke to him about MOUA.
How did you become an underwater sculptor? After I finished my degree in arts I went to Australia and learned to become a dive instructor on the Great Barrier Reef and taught diving there for some time. Then I moved to other countries around the world, but still really wanted to get back into the arts.
What attracted you to the Museum of Underwater Art? I’ve done lots of other projects around the world, but I’ve never done a substantial project in the Pacific Ocean, and it’s been a great ambition of mine. The diversity of life in the Pacific is much greater than in many of the other places I’ve worked. Queensland is also quite a special place for me because I lived there.
Tell us about Ocean Siren, the statue displayed above the water, just off the Strand in Townsville. I wanted to connect art and science in one piece. Ocean Siren changes colour according to water temperature data and it reflects how the ocean temperature can change. I was keen to show an urban community what’s happening out on the reef, so it connects the community to the reef as well.
You’ve also created Coral Greenhouse at John Brewer Reef, off Townsville. What’s special about that? This is a very different project to some of my previous ones. In the past it’s been about drawing tourists away from reefs. In the Caribbean, for instance, there are very few pristine reefs left. This was a very different proposition. This project was more about drawing people out to the reef to showcase how it is still in fantastic condition and has some of the most amazing corals in the world.
There are statues of 20 schoolchildren in the Greenhouse, too. When we talk about reefs we’re very much talking about what we’re leaving for younger generations. But I also wanted to encourage more youth into exploring the underwater world. Plus, I wanted the local communities – school students, especially – to become ambassadors for the reef.
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