SCHOOL HOLIDAY FUN - GUMBUYA WORLD

School Holidays… we’ve not come to the stage that there’s just a few weeks left of the school holdiays… a lot of things have already been done, and visited, and the toys given for Xmas, while (hopefully), still being played with, are no longer sufficient to keep the kids entertained all day long. Oh what to do… We’ve visited several different theme parks over the last few weeks, which the kids are sure to love, and which makes for great family trips too… let’s start with Gumbuya World..


Gumbuya World is is a fun and adventure park located just 50 minutes Melbourne, and features not just one, but four different adventure zones;

• Wildlife Trail 
• Outback Explorers
• Oz Adventure 
• Oasis Springs 

The Wildlife Trail is like a mini zoo, yet featuring more than 50 species of animals including reptiles, koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, birds as well as a petting zoo. 

My boys really loved the petting zoo, getting up and close with rabbits, and little pigs, and also hand-feeding the kangaroos in the walk-through enclosure. 

And my husband made good friends with a beautiful bird in the walk through aviary. 

In the Outback Explorers, there is lots of fun for the smaller kids, including pirate ships, dodgem cars, train-ride through the park, truck ride, berry twirling ride and playground. Our little boys especially loved the dodgem cars, but also had heaps of fun on the truck ride, and loved sitting down for a rest during the train ride through the park, and pointing out where they wanted to go next. 

Then there’s the Oz Adventure zone, which is the adventure zone for the older crowd. The rides include the Rebel, Mining Race Coaster, Rush Hour and Tree Swing, and they are all are twisting and turning fast and high, so definitely for the more mature thrill seekers. 

Finally, there’s the Oasis Springs, which no doubt is the key attraction, and especially during the warmer months. 

It is simply the ultimate water world, where you can have fun with the huge water slides, including the Taipan, which is a 180m two in one slide, with lots of spirals and turns. There’s also Typhoon Island with 5 platforms of water fun including a giant bucket that slowly fills up and tips out and tips the water out when you least expect it. There’s also water guns, spray nozzles and mini slides, so perfect for all ages. 

Or you can simply drift around Oasis Spring in an inflatable ring (provided free of charge), on the 300 metre Lazy River, or you can relax in the heated rock pools, catch the perfect wave and learn to surf at Surf’s Up, or you can simply soak up the sun in one of the many sun lounges, or if you like, you can hire a cabana for an afternoon snooze, and to get out of the sun for a bit. 

Apart from all the fun my family had, I really loved that the park is absolute immaculate. Not a leaf out of order, no rubbish anywhere, it was simply a joy to walk around in the park. The Zoo enclosures were fantastic and again the cleanliness was impressive too.

One reason for this is likely that you’r not allowed to bring in food or drinks - which I do find is a negative, and the only negative I have about Gumbuya World. Yes there are nice cafeterias and places you could eat, with a good variety of food, but I would have at least liked being able to bring in my little boys water bottles to keep them hydrated. And having to purchase food and drinks for the family, adds to the expense that may consequently stop people from visiting the park. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed my octopus and chips, my husband his burger, and my boys their hotdogs.

We are lucky that Gumbuya World is on the ‘right’ side of the city for us, so it took us less 25 minutes to get there, but even so, it is less than an hours drive out of Melbourne, and definitely a drive worth taking. Your kids will thank you for it, and will beg to go back again and again, and especially seeing the park is still growing with a new attraction, the Woolshed will coming soon.


For more information and to purchase tickets, visit Gumbuya World