Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventures — Attraction in Knights Hill

As someone who had already experienced the Treetop Walk portion of this attraction with my partner, I thought I might bring my family along to try out the Zipline Tour as well. Unfortunately, I witnessed a disturbing situation which spoiled my experience at Illawarra Fly.

After helping us get strapped into our harnesses, the guides took our group, including a dad and his 4 children, down to the Zipline starting point. While the guides were explaining final safety instructions to us, one of the older boys with the dad mentioned that his little sister (who looked to be around 6 years old), needed to use the bathroom. One of the guides said that there were no toilets nearby and that we didn't have time to go back, and in response to the boy suggesting that he and his little sister walk back by themselves to the toilets, he responded "there's nothing we can do". This girl looked very upset and distressed throughout the entirety of the tour, eventually losing control of her bladder part-way through the experience. Even as an outside observer, this whole situation was excruciating to watch and I cannot imagine how mortified and uncomfortable that little girl must have felt. I presume that the family left straight after the tour as I did not see them on the Treetop Walk afterwards.

While I understand that the parent of these kids must accept part of the blame for not checking whether they might want to visit the bathroom prior to getting harnesses on, I am appalled at the lack of alternatives and empathy provided by the guides in this situation. As an activity that is advertised as "suitable for ages 4+", we might at least expect a warning at the safety briefing that "there are no toilets closer to the starting point, so anyone needing to use the bathroom should go beforehand". Even politely letting the brother of the little girl know that they can head back to the bathroom like he asked, but would need to join the next tour, could have been an appropriate solution. Not to mention, there is a clear hygiene issue with reusing a harness that has been soaked with urine.

In future, I hope staff involved with the Zipline Tour at Illawarra Fly will make a stronger effort to cater towards the children that they claim this activity is...

The sun shone its warm rays down upon the tall trees as we arrived but under the top canopy of leaves, the atmosphere changed and the air was considerably cooler. Beautiful coloured butterflies fluttered this way and that, in a lazily carefree way that made the whole area seem tranquil and relaxed. Little lizards scuttled through the leaves outside the visitors centre and the staff were friendly and helpful. We set up the path towards the tree top walk to the sounds of the best Australian Symphony, courtesy of the birds. The trees soared up into the heavens, the forest grew thicker and more mysterious as we encountered signs warning of Jabberwockys and we could feel ourselves wandering deeper and deeper into the misty cool, moss-covered rainforest. All of a sudden we arrived at a steel walkway and we knew our adventures into the treetops had begun! The zing of people flying throughout the trees on the zipline is heard and laughter and shouts of joy. We are skipping that part today but it looks scary yet fun. Walking around high in the air gives you the feeling of flying as you break through the canopy and into the heat of the sun! The view is breathtaking and the air so incredibly fresh. I was pushing my boundaries with heights when we suddenly arrived at ‘The Tower’. I’m not sure how I made it up there but the view was stunning and took my breath away. It wasn’t too busy on the day we were there but I can imagine if it was more crowded it would have been harder to take our time and wander as slow as we did. By the end my heart was beating out of my chest with a mixture of fear and exhilaration, it certainly is quite high and you are able to see down through the metal grate walkways and into the rainforest below, which I wasn’t expecting. Also some walkways do tend to sway slightly and some even are designed to bounce gently up and down .. nope, I gave those a miss. I loved every second of being here and was almost sad to return out of the forest and back into civilisation. I am thankful however that we didn’t encounter a Jabberwocky and thankfully the snakes knew to stay hidden 😂 Ill never forget this...

I've done the treetop walk a few times and have now just done the zipline experience.

The treetop walk is fun and if you're not one for heights you might want to skip it, but it's fun to do. There are a series of "walks" to do, which are essentially a bunch of metal walkways with a mesh floor (so you can see through it clearly) that's around 10m off the ground. (That's my guesstimate.) The metal bridges wobble a bit as you walk on them, but it's great to be able to see all the fauna below. Beautiful views and you can climb a tower (note that the circular stairs feel wobbly as you go up / down them, and the tower platform at the top feels a bit wobbly too as people move about it) for an even more elevated view.

The zipline experience was fun to do but it wasn't very long. I like that it's open to young children which means a whole family can enjoy the experience together. You're "clipped" in the whole time, so it's perfectly safe, but again, if you're not okay with heights, you're not going to enjoy it. There's 3 ziplines and two suspension bridges on this experience, and the suspension bridges do move a lot. Two guides attend the course with you, talking and demonstrating everything. My only wish was that it was longer... but there are other places for climbing and playing amongst the trees. Regardless, be sure that you book ahead for the zipline experience.

Good on-site facilities but be prepared to walk. It's mostly flat but there are some hills to walk down and up. There is an onsite cafe but you'll want to skip it if you're vegan - I only saw 3 vegan options on the menu: Vegetable wrap, a salad, and hot chips. The little gift shop is small but is packed full of various items that you'd expect to find in a gift shop. Plenty of onsite parking.

Would like to note that when I went yesterday, they had a Gruffalo experience set up for the kids (and us adults who know and love the book). There were signs and houses for the fox, owl, snake and mouse, along the walkway.

Overall, it's worth a visit. Would give it 5 stars if the zipline experience was longer and if the cafe had more...