Exploring the abandoned Dismal Swamp visitor centre, left to be claimed by nature and vandalism.
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- Dismal Swamp Adventure Park.
A once very popular but now abandoned and derelict tourist attraction hidden behind locked gates in the Tarkine forests of Northwest Tasmania.
All signage was removed and if you hadn’t been there in its heydays, you wouldn’t know it was there at all.
Dismal Swamp first opened in 2014, owned by the state government and operated by Forestry Tasmania, I’ve heard that it’s now in the hands of Parks and Wildlife.
The adventure parks life was short lived and was a casualty of Covid19 and financial difficulties, closing in 2019.
It featured an amazing architectural visitor information centre and cafe on a platform above the forest, with a 110 metre slide down into the rainforest below, where there were walkways through the swamp featuring artwork, that may still be lost in the forest or possibly removed.
The site is quickly being reclaimed by Mother Nature and has been subject to very heavy and senseless vandalism in recent times. Every bit of glass in the building has been smashed, doors kicked in, and any equipment in the building trashed. Why people get their frills from doing this is beyond me, they must be very sad individuals.
When I was there today wandering around, it felt very remote and lonely, it was sad thinking back to when we visited the place several years ago when it was still operating and bustling with people. Today apart from a black snake and the birds singing, there was no one else around.
There has been a lot of media attention about the abandoned venue lately, and the government is talking about repurposing it, but sadly I think it’s going to be sitting empty for a long time while being handballed around government departments, hopefully not getting more trashed in the meantime.
Today’s excursion (6 hour round trip) was in the planning for a long time, but I thought I’d better get down there now before it was locked down or demolished, who knows what is planned for the site, but with the attention it’s now getting, it’s only a matter of time before something happens to it.
I couldn’t find the old track down into the swamp today to check out the artwork/sculptures as it’s all but overgrown, and after seeing a snake near the entrance I wasn’t keen to bush bash my way down. Might have to go back another day and clamber down the slide.
I remember working on it back in 2003/4 can't comprehend why spend millions of dollars to build it only to shut it down to be smashed up by vandalism
@@jasoncook8788 absolute waste of tax payers money letting it go like this, if hate to see it now.
No reasons given?
I'm not surprised it closed. The last time I was there, the service was truly dismal. There was only a couple of people there. Nobody wanted to look after us. It was like we were interrupting their social life.
Pity, coz the site and facilities were good.
I only ever went there once back when it was relatively new, back then it was ok, but I think it went downhill pretty quickly, and ended up like this.
This is what happens when politicians are not held responsible. But they can find money for a football team
@@tangofox7124 exactly correct, and now they are talking about re purposing it and wasting more money on it.
Go devils, fantastic having a footy club
What a waste it could be turned into glamping sites or holiday stays sad to see tazzy turn out like this I used to live in Tasmania in Hobart haven't been back in 13 years this is sad
@@catb-w5212 I agree, it would make great camping and the old building could be a cafe and admin building.
I once worked for a furniture manufacturer who allowed a guy to live on site as a security guard and gave him a bit of money everyweek to get any intruders to get the hell away from the property at night and had a german shepard to bark as the security to keep people off the property. He was supplied with a mobile phone to call the cops if thieves would not take the hint to get lost and theive elsewhere. It cost the bussiness owner next to nothing. Obviously the state government is deliberately allowing the facilities to be smashed to pieces and vandalised because they could not care less and the facility means less than nothing to them despite still being worth several million dollars. The public should be disgusted with current state politicians deliberately allowing the place to be smashed into garbage.
I think the government was just hoping it would be forgotten about and they wouldn’t have to deal with it. But my videos and some Media attention in recent months has made them accountable for the waste and now they claim to have funding and a plan for the place, yet it still sits abandoned months later.
I was there in 2005 and there was two tour buses full of people and the place was nicely organised and the staff were very friendly and went out of their way to get everyone food and the like. Such a waste to see it like this now... It's not quite the same as Abbott's Peak where there's a full facility for accommodation that lies abandoned. Both these ventures were built around the same time, early 2000's but there just wasn't enough tourists interested in these attractions!
@@ScottEvans-vk7hse yes that’s around same time that I went there, it was thriving back then, I was shocked to see it like this.
Parks and Wildlife. Homeless Tasmanians.
If the state government had any sense they would employ 2 or 3 people to look after, tidy , and mend the place a bit. Could employ them as wildlife or park rangers or the like. Nothing stopping that from happening other than an extreme lack of commonsence and no interest in doing anything with the place on the part of the state government. Even a caretaker to look after the place rather than deliberately abandoning the place to make certain it is destroyed would have made sense for the state government to do. It still has value, so the state government will have to ignore the place to ensure its continued vandalisation.
That’s what it seems like, it wasn’t until recent times when it made main stream media that the government came up with some sort of plan for the place, but months later it still sits empty.
Beautiful. LIKE bottom pressed.
Thank you ❤️
Sad they closed it down. I wonder why? Always wanted to do the slide down.
Apparently it struggled financially and then Covid finished it off. Rumours are it’s going to be repurposed and the slide is going to be demolished.
Wow. I'm a Tasweegen and I have never heard of this place. What an absolute waste of money. There is no excuse for letting this go to ruin. This is why I don't vote. The amount of waste and idiocy in sectors of all governments is disgusting.
It is a waste and it’d taxpayers money going down the drain. I think the government was hoping it would just disappear and be forgotten about.
Hey catweasel, please vote, even just to throw the vote.
They rely on our complacency, which is why we don’t teach politics in schools.
Please reconsider voting 👍❤️
I remember going there , but did not go down the slide, though there was a 90 year old man went down while we there . Yeah , No !!!!!😅 Lovely place I was devastated when I heard it had been closed
@@lynneborradaile3243 apparently it’s on the verge of being repurposed for another use by the government.
I went down it at the age of 74. It was terrifying!!
Would be interesting to do a paranormal investigation there. Look out for skinwalkers.
I can only guess maybe possums have done it, I was surprised to see damage to the ceiling because it is very intact.
Luckily tax payers have bucket loads of spare cash and don't care how it's spent .....!!!
This is such a travesty. What a damning indictment on our government’s to let this multi million dollar investment go to ruin - and we have so many homeless Tasmanians.
@@harrietking8768 an absolute waste of a beautiful building and taxpayers money. It’s probably worse now, this video was taken at several months ago.
@Tassiephotographer
It’s absolutely criminal.
What a shame. Could be turned into something, even as a minimal centre without all the slides etc. Gosh, into overnight stays.
My biggest hate, is why people smash and destroy buildings like this.
@@cptlooney it’s pointless destruction, it’s so vulnerable to vandalism because of the location. It could have been put to another use, but now it needs a lot of money to rescue it.
@@Tassiephotographer Imagine if some one purchased it and made it a Overnight stay. All the resources are there.
@@cptlooney it would be a magic spot for an overnight stay for tourists etc, it could have a cafe or restaurant.
Slides?
What a shame. It doesn't seem that long since I went down that slide. It was one hell of a rough ride, you could almost feel yourself getting brain damage. The walk down the bottom was ok but the art installations had a bit of a Pissweak World vibe going on with it. As I see it, the problem is the far NW isn't promoted as a tourism drawcard so I can only imagine what a struggle it would've been to keep that place financially viable. If Stanley was pushed as hard as Cradle Mt or Freycinet then maybe it would've stood a chance. My suspicion is that the Tas Gov don't really want people seeing all the forestry plantations taking over the so-called Tarkine Wilderness but that's just my opinion.
I think you hit the nail on the head there, the Government just did promote it well enough for it to be a tourist destination, it struggled and died. I think what ever they try to do with it now will suffer the same fate, it’s too far out of the way to be taken seriously.
Very pretty place
thanks and greetings from riverside 7250... expose the truth
@@chrisbinckes2732 thank you, I think the government is trying to keep it all quiet, but they need to be made accountable for the waste of money.
@@Tassiephotographer it WILL happen...! the truth always rises
Wasted enough resources to build a small hospital...it's obvious they milked the money for this. Yet, I enjoy the eerie The Last of Us vibes.
@@Damien616 I’m sure they will scrape up some more tax payers money to waste on it sometime 😂
I'll watch in the morning, as I'm off to crash, plus youtube only has it at 720p, but I'm looking forward to it 🍻🍻🇦🇺🤝🇦🇺
Mines only running at 369 tonight, but the video is 1080 of it’ll let you play it at that.
@Tassiephotographer yeah understand, RUclips last night wouldn't let's us change the settings, but wow didn't realise how big this place was, appreciate the show 🇦🇺🤝🇦🇺👍😊
❤
dismal as in dismay, the name speaks for itself
Defies logic.
@@stuartgilbert3969 certainly does, I think it’s all too hard for the government pen pushers to deal with, so they have just let it sit there.
I loved that building, with its native timbers and beautiful design. So sad. I would love to buy it…..🥹🫶🏼
It was a very unique building, sad to see it so run down.
Will all the world be like this sometime? Greenery taking over again.
@@robertevans6596 would probably be a better place 😂
Why someone would trash it to that extent is beyond me, probably some greenie mob wanting it to stay closed
Senseless vandalism, an absolute waste, it’s probably worse now.
How green do they need it?
5:03 What kind of snake was that?
@@therespectedlex9794 I think it was a little tiger snake, highly venomous.
black racer, very inquisitive, but harmless.
@@haywoodify Thanks, but how do you know it's a black racer not a tiger snake?
I wasn’t hanging around to find out, it looked pretty angry that I disturbed it 🐍
Definitely a tiger snake. Blacker in colour at this time of year to absorb as much heat as possible. Oh, and very venomous.
Why wouldnt they put a care taker in there ?
@@FeralDingo123 exactly, they should have had someone there looking after the place.