Lisa joined Jack Crane on 2SER breakfast this morning to explore Sydney's first outdoor amusement park, Wonderland City at Tamaramma. Originally known as the Royal Aquarium and Pleasure Grounds (or, misleadingly, the Bondi Aquarium), the park had swings, merry-go-rounds, a shooting gallery, water boats, punch and judy shows and a dance hall, as well as an aquarium and roller-coaster. The acquarium housed seals, a lone penguin, turtles, stingrays, and a couple of sharks but the biggest attraction was the Switchback Railway. A wooden rollercoaster ride, the Switchback ran high above the beach around the cliffs and drew huge crowds. Despite the thrills and pleasures of the park, the popularity of the Royal Aquarium and Pleasure Grounds waxed and waned during the 19th century until an entrepreneur took over the park in 1906. Renamed Wonderland City, the new park captured the imagination of early modern Sydney. It had all of the same amuseuments, including the roller-coaster and aquarium, but for the first time in Australia, it also had an open-air ice skating rink - right on the beach!

To top off these wonders, the park aslo had the Airem Scarem - an airship that tracked on a cable from cliff to cliff, and swept over the sea at high tide - an artificial lake, an alpine slide, a music hall for variety shows and two new stars, Alice the elephant and daredevil, Jack Lewis. To the horror of the weekend crowds, Lewis would rollerskate down a ramp, through a hoop of fire and land in a tank of sharks. Miraculously, the daredevil always survived unharmed! In its heyday, about 2000 people came every summer weekend to Tammarama to enjoy Wonderland City. The park employed over 160 people and there were 70 turnstiles. Wonderland burned bright, but was short-lived. The park closed in 1911. Tune in again next week as Lisa brings another Dictionary story to the airwaves on 2SER breakfast at 8:20am.