Lovers of the odd, the weird and the frankly bizarre will find plenty to keep them amazed and amused in this world-famous museum.
Robert Ripley started the ball rolling in 1918, when he began including odd facts gleaned from around the world in his newspaper cartoon strips. Books of his work were published under the name “Ripley’s Believe It or Not”, and almost a century later his oddball take on life has spawned a global phenomenon with a fanatical following.These shrines to the weird, the wacky and the plain tacky are compulsive viewing for anyone with a taste for the bizarre. The Australian Odditorium houses a wide-ranging collection of artefacts arranged over fifteen themed galleries, with 300-year-old exhibits sharing space with the latest interactive gadgets and videos. There’s even a smartphone app so you won’t miss any of the action.Go eyeball to eyeball with shrunken heads and scream your head off in the medieval torture chamber, or lose your inhibitions and your balance in the double spinning tunnel. The Recollections dance room lets you dance till you drop to classic disco beats, while the outer space laser show will take you to the stars, delivering a few surprises along the way. Take aim in the shooting gallery before checking out one of the collection’s prize exhibits – a famous artwork made entirely from toast!As you make your open-mouthed way around the galleries, keep a lookout for models of some of the freaky characters from Ripley’s books, including an Egyptian dwarf, a three-legged Italian, a long-necked Burmese woman, a man with twin pupils in each eye, and the world’s tallest and fattest men.Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is located in Cavill Mall in Surfers Paradise and is open day and night except after dark on New Year’s Eve. It’s an ideal place to visit on one of the Gold Coast’s rare rainy days, or simply to enjoy its air-conditioned spaces when the going outside gets too hot for comfort.
