You may have heard about Minimum Wines through the grapevine - the vegan, low-sulphur and carbon-negative winemaker from Toolamba revolutionising winemaking.
Sustainability
How Live Wire Park became Australia’s most sustainable adventure park
Embracing the sun, the rain, and a sustainable mindset, Live Wire Park is on a mission to show action and adventure need not cost the Earth.
There’s a touch of The Swiss Family Robinson about Live Wire Park.
Maybe it’s the smiling children swinging deftly from branch to branch, the abundance of treetop platforms towering high above the ground, or the people soaring through the rainforest and smoothly down to the ground.
Or it might be the park’s pervasive ethos of existing in harmony with the planet, where people can get back to nature without harming it says creator and managing director, Luke Nisbet.
“The reason why we built the park, fundamentally, is so that people can take a break from their screens,” he says. “It's basically a big playground for people of all ages.”
The arboreal attractions at Live Wire Park were constructed with minimal impact on the forest.
Eco-friendly outdoor adventuring
The idea for the park started, like many good ideas do, over a couple of beers that Nesbit was having with his father. Live Wire Park is a family business, with Nesbit’s grandmother owning a property not far from where the park is located just outside of Lorne.
Nisbet was looking to create something that gave people joy and an escape from the humdrum of everyday life, but at the same time wouldn’t detract from the environment in which it was built. “You can have best of both worlds,” he says.
Even so, Live Wire Park is a bit of a rarity, with no real template for such a park existing when planning and construction began.
That’s because the Live Wire is completely off-grid and sustainable, the only such park of its kind in Australia. To achieve that goal, Live Wire relies on solar power, collecting sunlight and storing it in a three-tonne battery bank.
It’s not the only natural resource collected and repurposed. Rainwater is also collected for use throughout the park, and sewerage is treated on site. “Not only is it sustainable... it’s self-contained as well” Nisbet says.
Live Wire Park’s attractions include a number of high ropes courses, climbs, rope swings and zip lines strung between the colossal blue gums.
One challenge the park had to contend with was how to safely construct its activities in its dense forest location without harming the trees.
“We've obviously got to look after our trees,” says Nisbet. “We have tree protectors around each and every anchor point.”
“The only thing that I can really think of that had any impact was the workers coming to and from the park,” he says. “But that was it. Everything was basically built by hand and the materials that we uses were from sustainable sources as well.”
Live Wire Park's Shockwave Zip Coaster is 525-metres-long and can reach speeds of up to 40kph.
Green time, not screen time
Live Wire Park specialises in outdoor experiences and activities to get your blood pumping and your adrenaline racing.
If you’ve ever attempted a high ropes course you’ll get the idea. For adults, the main attraction is the Super Circuit, a 53-activity treetop trail featuring challenging mid-air crossings between trees, vertical climbs, and rope swings.
There’s plenty of fun for the kids too, with the Short Circuit course providing child-friendly arboreal challenges and thrills.
If that all sounds a bit too physical for your liking, don’t fret. “If you can basically climb a ladder, then you can participate,” says Nisbet, adding that there are also less strenuous activities on offer so that everyone, no matter their age or ability, can enjoy the park.
The Canopy Circuit is Live Wire’s 120-metre-long, wheelchair accessible elevated walk through the rainforest, letting you enjoy nature without strapping into a harness. It’s also a good opportunity to try and spot one of the park’s resident koalas, countless birds or even a kangaroo or echidna.
For less challenging thrills there’s also the Spring Circuit, a netted, five-zone trampoline course likewise suspended off the ground and suitable for children through to adults.
And then of course there’s the Shockwave Zip Coaster, a 525m zipline rollercoaster where guests are suspended from a zipline and rocketed through the forest at up to 40kph. There’s very little energy required on your part, with gravity doing all the work as you race towards the ground.
Though it’s big on sustainability (and there are QR codes throughout the park for guests to learn more), Nisbet says the main thing they want visitors to have is a laugh and “a bit of old fashioned, outdoor fun.”
“To know that it's sustainable, it's definitely a plus.”
