Last week we had the Australian Amusement, Leisure and Recreation Association conference on the Sunshine Coast and it provided a chance for us to put a spotlight on some of our ‘man made’ attractions such as Australia Zoo, Aussie World, and Sea Life, as well as the proposed $450 million Actventure integrated water park.
Even our most famous manufactured attraction – the Big Pineapple – will return to the national limelight in a few weeks when it holds the Big Pineapple Music Festival, delivering a harvest of great musical acts along with thousands of visitors.
Blending our natural and man-made attractions is definitely a strength of the Sunshine Coast. The Ginger Factory is a great example, as is Australia Zoo, which blends Steve Irwin’s Hollywood charisma with the Irwin family’s tireless commitment to conservation.
In fact, we are hopeful that Steve’s Hollywood pedigree will help the Sunshine Coast become a more popular setting for films, TV and advertisements.
To some extent that is already happening with the premiere next week of BOAR, which was shot around the Sunshine Coast by celebrated Nambour-born film producer and director, Christopher Lee Sun. The red-carpet launch at the Majestic Cinemas Nambour is expected to attract many of the stars of the film, which includes some of Australia’s finest acting talent such as John Jarratt, Ernie Dingo, Simone Buchanan, Steve Bisley and Chris Haywood.
BOAR might not be Babe, Peppa Pig or even Picnic at Hanging Rock – it is about a wild boar with rampaging tendencies – but crocodiles have propelled Top End tourism for decades and in between the action scenes, audiences will get to see our dramatic scenery.
Hopefully this will attract other producers to the Sunshine Coast because we really do have some spectacular scenery that could translate very dramatically to the big screen. I’m thinking car videos along the Blackall Range, Planet of the Apes for the Glass House Mountains, and a James Bond chase scene along the Great Beach Drive ending up with a climax in the Carlo Sandblow. The possibilities are endless.
