Leyland Brothers World

If you weren’t able to travel all over the countryside, the Leyland brothers would bring it to you – not only through their travel films and the popular TV series Ask the Leylands, but, for two short years, in the theme park they designed and helped build. Soon after the opening in 1990, on their TV special A Look at Mike and Mal's World, they took their viewers on a tour of Leyland Brothers World. 

This excerpt gives a good snapshot of what the brothers’ creation offered visitors as we follow a sugar-cane train around a circuit of the park to take in the sights. The most notable feature was a 1:40 scale replica of Uluru (Ayers Rock), which housed a replica of an outback town with food outlets (and merchandise chosen by Margie and Laraine, the brothers’ wives). Mike and Mal also proudly show off a 1:40 replica of Sydney Harbour Bridge, positioned near the rock so you could see their relative sizes. Queensland is represented by the cane train, and Victoria by a replica Allosaurus bought from the travelling Bicentennial Roadshow. 

We can also see the endearingly lo-fi pedal-powered playground and the lake, which began as a dam but was swelled by heavy rains during the park’s construction. 

The expense of building in those rains, as well as soaring interest rates, brought the receivers in. Under the stress of losing their investment and declaring themselves bankrupt, the brothers’ relationship, after 29 years of building their careers together, broke down. ‘In hindsight, Leyland Brothers World was a huge mistake, the biggest mistake we ever made,’ Mal later told the ABC’s Australian Story. This excerpt stands as a poignant testimony to the joy they felt in its opening days.  

The Uluru replica survived as The Rock Roadhouse until its destruction in 2018 by, you guessed it, a fire.