Paradise Country & Outback Spectacular

28 October 2022

Entry signage to Paradise Country on the Gold Coast

When I came across the Village Roadshow Theme Park Paradise Country, I knew I needed to visit as part of exploring existing agriculture engagement initiatives in Australia. Advertised as an "authentic Aussie farm experience" the theme park is not only open to the public, and part of the Village Roadshow Theme Park Passes, but also hosts school excursions as part of their education program. 

Students watching the Ranger Talk at Paradise Country

The Education Team at Village Roadshow Theme Parks organised for me to join a Year 3 excursion at Paradise Country with a school from Brisbane. Visiting Paradise Country with the students gave me a great insight into the Theme Park and how it was engaging students, schools and tourists. The students visited the Farm Yard Nursery with sheep, goats and chickens, watched arena shows on Stockmen, Working Dogs, Stock Horses, and preparing Billy Tea, had a presentation from a Ranger, met a Koala, went on a Wildlife Walk with lots of kangaroos, and finished the day with 'Shaun's Tractor Ride'.

The students were super engaged with the Ranger Talk and enjoyed the short live shows and presentations. The park itself is a mixture of old farm machinery together with Shaun the Sheep statues and references. For those visiting the park, there was a strong focus on wildlife, particularly with the additional experiences including Meerkat and Koala Encounters, and Wildlife Photos.

Paradise Country offers school excursions on a daily basis for Primary Schools across Queensland and northern NSW. The excursions are curriculum linked with the programming focusing on science outcomes such as living things and caring for the environment, and history outcomes such as knowledge of how technology has changed people's lives. In discussing the excursion with the visiting teacher, she shared that it was their second year visiting Paradise Country and the program was part of their Science Unit.

My visit to Paradise Country was certainly enlightening. And probably left me with more questions than answers... how do we balance entertainment with education? What is the role of entertainment and tourism venues to represent agriculture? How do we celebrate our history whilst still portraying an industry that is innovative and diverse?

And on the topic of entertainment, and celebrating an innovative and resilient industry, in the evening I headed to the Australian Outback Spectacular's Heartland show. 

Scene in the Australian Outback Spectacular's Heartland Show

​The show was amazing! A great storyline highlighting the resilience of Australian farmers, and respectfully acknowledging the toll of drought on their mental health and communities. I loved that it also touched on Climate Change, farmers adapting through technology, and the ideas of the next generation. The production, animals, set and cast were all very well done. And unforgettable with a real helicopter suspended from the roof for 'mustering'!