Professionals Serendipity 
Thunderbird Park is undeniably one of Tamborine Mountain’s most famous attractions. Offering a host of fun adventures, it has been a staple of mo untain tourism for over three decades. Judi Minnikin, managing director of both the park and Cedar Creek Lodges, shares the secrets behind the business’s rousing success.
by Kyle Hitchmough
What do you do here?
Jack of all trades I suppose! I’ve been here for 20 years and when I started I had a staff of about 8, and now we have 80. I oversee, but I’m still very much involved with the conference business.
What was the first activity offered here? What drew you personally to take over this business?
The thunder eggs is why Thunderbird Park was created, and that goes back some decades before we arrived. Thunderbird Park started for camping and thunder egg fossicking, and that was it. In the 80s, the motel was developed up on the hill. There was a shop which did quite well and there was just a very basic café and a tavern—which is now a conference center.
What is your most recent activity?
My husband and I decided we would expand into a variety of adventure-style activities, and so we went out looking for the appropriate operators to run those activities. It couldn’t stagnate, we had to go out and make it happen. The latest activity added is the Treetop Challenge juniors’ adventure ropes course that opened last year. It’s absolutely fabulous for little ones, and they also have the Canyon Flyer zip line guided tours, which goes right over our canyon from up near the Skywalk.
Do you have plans to add more activities and attractions?
Yes, we do. Certainly, we have the land, we have the passion. We currently have two brands here: Thunderbird Park, where everything is located and Cedar Creek Lodges. We host 140 weddings a year, over 100 conferences and it’s a popular destination just for Cedar Creek Lodges. We market them separately however many of the Cedar Creek Lodges visitors actually enjoy Thunderbird Park activities. It’s very closely linked.
You have a spectrum of activities here: from fossicking for thunder eggs to an entire mini-golf course. Where did the inspiration for the wide variety come from?
There are three styles of adventure activities. There’s the soft, the medium, and the hard activities. A soft adventure activity is mini golf. Every age group can play it, families play together, it’s just fabulous. The medium activities would be horse riding, and then the hard adventure, like the black course in the Treetop Challenge. We want to have something for everybody. It falls into place because they’re separately owned and operated, which was part of our business plan. The real Thunderbird Park is about hosting these various attractions. We sold the thunder egg fossicking activity about five years ago.
What do you think is your most popular attraction?
I think they’re all popular in their own way. Treetop Challenge, with its three activities built into one, is definitely the hero activity though.
What actually goes into the day-to-day of keeping a place like this running? What’s the average day for you?
There is no average day when you’re in hospitality, every day is a new day. The drought has had its impact, though we’re handling it, bringing in the water… I’m also very involved with the Chamber of Commerce and head up the tourism committee for the mountain. I’ve just organized a radio campaign so I’ll be working on the ads, doing some quotes, seeing my staff… just making sure the place is ticking over. We do have a general manager and an assistant general manager, so I am becoming a little less hands-on. My role is mostly marketing. I suppose I work on the business more these days than I work in the business.
Can you describe your typical guest?
I’ve been asked that question so often, the ‘typical guest’, and there just isn’t one. Our return visitor is number one. It beats any of the advertising we do. Because of all our activities our guests are all so different. We cater for families which a lot of properties do not do. We have many weddings and conferences. They come here as a conference delegate or as a wedding guest and say “Okay, I need to come back and spend a few nights.”
What is it that you think a place like Thunderbird Park or Cedar Creek Lodges provides to the local community?
Employment. Eighty jobs in a small community and that’s just us. Treetop has over 30, then there’s Thunderbird Park and the other businesses, we probably have 120 odd jobs that are part of this property. We support all the trades and so much that we purchase comes from the local community.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
That there is the diversity in my day… I absolutely love working with my team. They’re good friends, and when I get asked the question whether retirement is on my agenda, it’s not. I can’t imagine not doing what I do and working with this team.
Anything else you’d like to go on the record?
Just that we are now working closely with Tamborine Mountain Landcare. 1% of our sales at the till at the kiosk, the bar and the restaurant, goes towards our local Landcare association. That’s our local community initiative that we started last September.
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Or email the writer at kyle.hitchmough@hotmail.com, and follow me on Twitter @realcasualrvws.
