Tuesday 12 June 2012

Illawarra Fly Launches New School Holiday Program


Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventures
The Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventures is an exciting tourist attraction near Wollongong in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. They have recently launched iFly 4 Kids with teams of kids in awe of the lifesize dinosaur, a Dwarf Allosaurus, that wandered the Illawarra Fly grounds along with the baby dinosaurs.

"The kids had a ball and were running around screaming as the dinosaur walked around the visitors information centre" says Neredith Elliott GM Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventures "They were both amazed and terrified of the life like prehistoric animals".

The dinosaur show is part of the ERTH performance that will be running in early July. To complement The Fly's environmental treetop walk experience, Illawarra Fly launched its iFly4 Kids program. iFly 4 Kids is a series of school holiday programs with a different theme for each of the holidays. It's dedicated to delivering relevant, educational, environmental, inspirational, high quality entertainment for children and families.

"We are looking at ways to provide a different offering for our visitors" says Neredith Elliott GM Illawarra Fly "It's important for us to keep reinventing ourselves to gain return visitation as well as increase the number of new people that visit us and the region"

The new school holiday programs, collectively known as iFly 4 Kids, is expected to increase visitation to the region bringing with it economic benefits to other businesses in the area.

"We expect visitation to increase threefold during these events" says Elliott "We start with the Erth Dinosaur life size puppet show in July where kids can pat the dinosaurs and see them in action, then we are bringing snow to the Southern Highlands in September".

Steve Rosa, Southern Highlands Tourism Manager said "I'm so pleased to have such a premier attraction in our area. The iFly 4 Kids program will rejuvenate, reinvent and showcase the Southern Highlands"

Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventures
"Historically the Southern Highlands wasn't a family destination but with our rebranding of the region, the iFly 4 Kids program will be a star attraction in our new campaign".

"This is a great opportunity for local businesses to really embrace this new product line up and build business around it. The expected increase in visitation brings more spend to the community" says Elliott.

Each of these events will attract new visitors to the region and will also increase repeat visitation. "We are hoping to attract more people from Sydney and Canberra. I don't think they realize how close we are to them and these events will help create more awareness of the Southern Highlands and South Coast regions".

To be presented each and every school holidays, the iFly 4 Kids program is expected to provide kids with a knock out series of activities that will offer families a great day out during each school holiday period. It's a great chance for Grandparents, & parents, to bring the kids for an exciting day out. Illawarra Fly is less than two hours from Sydney and Canberra.

"We've put together an amazing schedule of fun school holiday programs for kids" says Neredith Elliott GM Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk "For our launch event we are presenting Petting Zoo by Erth which is a fantastic show about Australian Mega Fauna that is in huge demand all around the world, kids love it"

The iFly 4 Kids tickets for all events are on sale now. The iFly 4 Kids program includes:
- July 5-7, 2012                    ERTH @ the Fly
- September 26-29 2012       Snow @ The Fly
- January 10-14, 2013           Circus @ The Fly
- April 17-20, 2013               Stars on The Fly

ERTH @ the Fly, July School Holidays

The inaugural iFly 4 Kids program kicks off in July with Erths' Petting Zoo from July 5-7. Erth is an internationally renowned Australian theatre company that create incredible, large scale, life like puppets of Australian mega-fauna. Erth will bring their celebrated show 'Petting Zoo' to the Illawarra Fly for a series of performances.

"We are so thrilled to be bringing this show to Illawarra Fly" says Elliott "we are so lucky to get the show as it is in huge demand around the world, we've managed to secure it as part of an international tour".

Petting Zoo is a unique show allowing audience interaction with prehistoric Australian dinosaurs in a Zoo like environment. Kids and parents can pat the lifelike young dinosaurs which are lively, animated and affectionate. The star of the show is the Dwarf Allosaurus (155 million years old), a fearsome carnivore at the top of the food chain with dramatic and abundant teeth to rip into its prey. Its size is similar to T Rex.

Here's some fantastic clips of Petting Zoo:

Erth @ the Fly - July 5, 6, 7       10am, 12.30pm, 3pm
Ticket price (includes Treetop Walk): Child $ 15, Adult $ 32, Senior $ 26, Under 5 $ 5. For Groups of 10 or more: Child $ 13, Adult $ 24

Snow @ the Fly, September School Holidays

For four days only the Illawarra Fly will become a Winter Wonderland. We are creating a real snow play space with a two lane tubing hill and a snow ball
throwing area. Kids will have a ball playing with real fresh snow! With six hour long sessions per day Mum & Dad can have a cup of coffee and
watch on while the kids have a ball or make a snow ball!

"The winter always seems to drag on and on, so we decided to make something of it and found a company that can lay down real snow. So for four days the Fly will be a Winter Wonderland!" said Neredith Elliot, GM Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk. "The snow is refreshed in between sessions and at the end of each day, so our Winter Wonderland will always look and feel just like real snow!" she added.

Session dates & times: -  September 26,27,28,29 9:00, 10:45, 12:00, 13:15, 14:30, 15:45
Ticket price (includes Treetop Walk): Child $ 15, Adult $ 32, Senior $ 26, Under 5 $ 5. For Groups of 10 or more: Child $ 13, Adult $ 24

Circus @ the Fly, January 10-14, 2013

Circus Monoxide's Harvey's Troupe is a Wollongong-based circus troupe serious about becoming the next big thing in contemporary circus. Brimming with youthful creativity and energy, Harvey's Troupe produces bold modern circus and they teach kids how to do it too.

Over four days members of Harvey's Troupe will host aerial workshops for kids (5-8 & 8-12 years old. Each workshop is an introduction to classic aerial apparatus - the trapeze and tissue - kids will learn to ascend and fly safely, then try a variety of holds and tricks. Then Harvey's Troupe will present their incredible aerial show Lyra at 2pm.

January 10-14  Aerial workshops are at: 10am for 5-8 year olds, 11am for 8-12 year olds, Lyra performance at 2pm each day

Ticket price (includes Treetop Walk): Child $ 15, Adult $ 32, Senior $ 26, Under 5 $ 5. For Groups of 10 or more: Child $ 13, Adult $ 24

Stars on the Fly, April 17-20, 2013
This is an exciting after-hours event run over four nights only. The night will be broken into four parts. On arrival guests will enjoy a bbq dinner followed by a special twilight guided treetop walk. Then the guests will be divided into three groups to participate in three sessions: Star-Gazing on the Fly, Spotlighting in the bush or Indigenous Storytelling. The groups will rotate between each 30 minute session before meeting back at the visitors centre
for a wrap-up. Places will be pre-booked and numbers limited to 100 people per night over four nights. Each event will be hosted by a specialist in the area and guests are offered a rare opportunity to be part of the Australian rainforest after dark.

April 17, 18, 19, 20   7pm
Cost : Child $16 including BBQ dinner & entry to the Fly, Adult $ 39 including BBQ dinner and entry to the Fly

Illawarra Fly General Information

Located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, less than two hours from Sydney or Canberra, Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventures offers a unique way to experience the rainforest with breathtaking views from the Illawarra Escarpment overlooking the beautiful South Coast from Wollongong to Kiama.

Illawarra Fly is at Knights Hill, near Robertson in the Southern Highlands above the South Coast - why not take a tour of the Grand Pacific Drive, take in the Fly, head to Robertson and check out the famous Pie shop then cruise back home. It's a relaxing, interesting and fun day out, or take a break and spend a few days.

Enjoy the panoramic views high above the escarpment across the South Coast. "The 45m tower is a big hit being one of the highest points to view the beautiful coastline, with views from the Fly to the Coast which is over 50km away you can literally see for miles" says Elliott.

Not only can kids have fun over the school holidays, they get to learn about the rainforest with interpretive signage and they also get to burn off energy.
After your awe-inspiring walk, take in the ambience of café 106 and enjoy the varied menu with a coffee or glass of wine.

Head to Illawarra Fly for the school holidays with loads of entertainment and fun.

More information on Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventures can be found at http://www.illawarrafly.com/ or phone 02 4885 1010

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