Kids Get Down in the Dirt “Down Under”

Australia’s first mini excavator park recently celebrated its first birthday and is continuing to go from strength to strength.

Thunderbird Park is an adventure playground style park located between Brisbane and the Gold Coast in the Tamborine Mountain area in Queensland.  

One of its latest attractions is Dig IT, an adventure zone where youngsters can get “Hands On” with mini excavators (under controlled supervision) and other construction themed activities for the kids and big kids alike.

Clearly inspired by the success of Diggerland here in the UK and in the USA, this is a great way to introduce the youngsters to the joy of digger driving from a very young age, and might even inspire them to take up a career on the machines in the future, which of course as we all know, is much needed young blood, with many veteran operators finally hanging up the keys and heading for retirement.

1.7-tonne Caterpillar 301.7 mini excavators, supplied by local dealers Hastings Deering, appear to be their chosen machines at the attraction, and there are four different activity zones available, including:

The Dig IT Zone: Where you can be trained on the machine digging in the dirt.

The Demolition Zone: Where you are invited to use a Cat excavator with a wrecking ball to knock over the Dig IT towers!

The Claw & Croc Zone: In this zone there are two challenges to attempt, moving and stacking tyres using a grab claw, and alternatively a variation on hooking a duck, in this instance hooking a floating crocodile.

The RC Zone: In this zone the kids are invited to operate 1.14 scale remote control construction machines.

It all looks like a great family fun day out in a very picturesque part of the country.

Checkout this video showcasing one family’s day out at the attraction.