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Trip Report: Corin Forest


Richard
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Corin Forest is a tiny recreation park about an hour or so out of Canberra. I had a good half-day in Canberra and I haven't been to Corin Forest since 1993, so it made sense to me. We arrived Saturday (July 10) at about 10am. It was about 5ºC, so t-shirt weather for sure. The park really is something different to look at. When we arrived there was extensive fog around, and as a result of the bushfires, all the trees were charcoal black, so you can imagine how eerie it looked. If you're having trouble picturing it, check out the gallery. Because of this fog, and extensive rainfall, they couldn't get the toboggan trough dry, so we sat around for about two hours in their tacky cafe area. A nice open wood fire in the middle of the room was nice. We eventually got on the toboggan. It sported a brand new arsenal of toboggans, as only two old ones remained after the bushfires. This toboggan, like most around Australia (Jamberoo the only exception that comes immediately to mind), uses a four-wheel setup, which has its pros and cons. For one thing, wheels instead of sliders means it's much harder to bank properly around the corners - sliders simply coast up in the corners to the appropriate height whereas you must really lean into the turns or you'll take a stack. Speaking of stacks, it was on my first ride, where I leaned into a turn a bit too soon and I was going too fast, so my toboggan promptly tipped me and I was sliding down the trough on my shoulder. Because the joints are welded rather than bolted, it was nice and smooth, but remember the temperature I mentioned earlier, and we're talking nice stainless steel. Rather than do as they suggest and take my toboggan out of the trough and wait a bit, I just hopped straight back on and continued on my way, taking no overly special precautions so as to not let this happen again. Though it's one of the longest in Australia, I probably wouldn't rate it as one of the better ones. My favourite remains undeniably as Merimbula's Magic Mountain's, followed by Jamberoo's longer one. Onto my opinions on the park... As I've said, it's a small place. The owner's always around, and let's just say he runs a tight ship, including many practices I hardly agree with. The park carries no public liability insurance, which I'd have thought wasn't even allowed, and better yet proudly boasts this fact throughout on signage. Then there is this attitude throughout the park of "I own the place you're insignificant, so pay your money and get lost!" The disclaimer on Bobsled's information sign says "If you do not agree with these terms, you are not welcome here." or words to that effect. The normal wording would be "use of these facilities is subject to these terms..." but I guess not at Corin Forest. The owner keeps a megaphone inside, jumping at the chance to yell at kids that like the looks of the small pockets of snow the place has. He then told those of us around him that his sister wants to come and work at the park, but wants a Nazi soldiers helmet, a watchtower and twin 50 cal. machineguns and to "fire first, then ask questions". I know a joke when I hear it, but it goes to show his attitude. There's no way you can go anywhere as a tourism operator without a basic level of customer service. Believe it or not, telling customers such things, however jokingly, isn't what I'd see as appropriate. It really is stunningly close to how they do operate the place anyway - assuming the paying guess has done wrong and letting loose. They have a policy on their Toboggan, as most do, where you must come into the station area at walking pace. I'm not sure of their definition of walking pace, but the operator on the ride proceeded to yell at me because I seemingly wasn't going walking pace. My comment was something to the effect of "any slower and it'd be the walking pace of someone with no legs". I was told that if I did it again I wouldn't be allowed to ride again. Apart from the fact that I didn't do anything wrong, and was leaving after that ride anyway, it seems they're not looking for repeat riders (and at $6.60 per single ride, it's hardly cheap). The huge delays in the morning, and then the rude or just inappropriate nature of their operations really did leave a sour taste in my mouth. I remember my first visit, where the owner (same as the swastika-bearing guy with the megaphone mentioned earlier) made us, as a family, stand and read the info sign before being allowed to ride. I was glad to see this demeaning practice still in place. I'll get around to Luna Park etc. eventually. It seems I'll do it in reverse order. :)

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I totaly know what you mean about how strict the owner is at Corrin. I have only been their once and never did anything and their Toboggon price was absolutoly a Ripoff but i would pay up the $6.60 if the service was good. So Richard, did you do anything else in Canberra?

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I remember hearing it didn't have any PLI, which is kind of risky considering it has Australias steepest tobbogan, which is a recipe for accidents. Id have to say one of my favourite tobbogan is the one at alpine tobbogan park, the park was so well kept and the staff were nice nad the tobbogan is australias longest, which is pretty cool, it was a nice fast, but safe run and it has a really long lift, nad some sections of the lift went slightly downhill so the lift could get to the highest point on the site. Magic mountains was pretty good too, but the people in front were too slow, but toward the end of the day I got some good runs in. The one that was at Kinkuna Contry in Lakes Entrance was cool too, but it was a bit rough compared to others and it was a bit short. The one at thredbo wasnt as good as others i have been on because of the slow speed (There are brake signs on every section!) and because the height limit was higher than others so I had to ride with my slow going dad. It would be cool if parks opened alpine coasters, because they run on rails so there is zero risk off crashing and you can get to 40 kph.

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Thredbo's isn't all that bad. I quite liked it, and the fact that it's included in the cost of lift tickets means that it's a good thing to do walking by on your way back to the village at the end of the day. With the brake signs on them, one simple way to get around that is to ignore them. They're only recommendations, and so long as you keep the required distance behind the one in front and slow quick enough in the final straight you'll be fine. There's not a toboggan out there that isn't perfectly safe if you don't brake at all, provided you're familiar with the dynamics of the ride and know how to bank properly in the turns etc. I found the staff at Thredbo to be quite agressivetoo. Not to the extent of Corin, but I found it to be a bit much given what you pay. Then again, I'd probably say the same to a certain extent about the lifties at Thredbo too. Merimbula's is my personal favourite, because it picks up some tremendous speed in the last few turns, and is quite a challenge if going brakeless.

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You should really try the one at ATP next time your'e down Melbourne way, Its really long and good and I think from memory, it actually had a drop type thing, like on a waterslide. ATP also has a very well themed mini golf course with actual bunkers and water hazards, a pair of waterslides, Go Karts and this year they are getting bumper boats. I think ATPs is my personal favourite.

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