This spectacular ecoadventure attraction immerses visitors in the ancient Gondwana rainforest while suspended high above the forest floor. Behind this groundbreaking achievement stands innovative surveying technology from Aptella that made the seemingly impossible not just possible, but crucially precise.
“The project we worked on is called Happitat Adventure Park, the world’s first cliff park,” explains Michael Neururer, Director of Naviq, the visionary company behind this extraordinary venture. “We were able to secure the most amazing location in the world, which is at Binabara, up at the Lamington National Park, Gold Coast, Hinterland.”
What makes Happitat truly revolutionary is its complete integration with the natural cliff environment. “It’s an adventure park fully suspended on a 200 metre vertical cliff face that has viewing platforms, suspension bridges, climbing routes, mega zip lines,” Neururer continues. “You can walk along the cliff and experience the geology of this beautiful area.”
This innovative attraction offers visitors several unique experiences, including the thrilling “Cloud Walker” suspension bridge, scenic viewing platforms with panoramic vistas of the Gold Coast and hinterland, and the heart pounding “Mega-Zip” adventure that sends participants flying alongside the cliff face. As Australia’s newest eco-tourism attraction, Happitat combines adrenaline pumping activities with education about the ancient Gondwana rainforest ecosystem, providing a perfect balance of excitement and environmental appreciation.
Translating this ambitious vision into reality presented unprecedented engineering challenges. Constructing platforms, bridges, and zip lines on a sheer vertical face requires precision that leaves absolutely no room for error. Each anchor point must be placed with perfect accuracy, every cable tension calculated to the millimeter, and all while working in one of nature’s most unforgiving environments.
“This project is very unique, unlike any project I’ve ever done before, so technology was crucial to execute this project,” notes Leon Worsley, Engineer at Naviq.
The complexity demanded specialised equipment capable of delivering extraordinary accuracy in difficult conditions. After careful evaluation, Naviq partnered with Aptella to implement the Topcon GT total station—a decision that would prove transformative.
“It’s a super complex project that we’ve partnered up with Naviq for,” explains Mitchell Laughlin, Market Development Manager at Aptella. “It required two days of onsite training, so the initial day was helping establish site control and the second day was setting out all of their hold down bolts for the platforms to land on.”
The precision requirements for a project where lives would literally hang in the balance exceeded standard construction tolerances by orders of magnitude. Every connection point needed to be perfect—not just for construction efficiency, but for the long-term safety of visitors.
“Naviq decided to go with the Topcon GT because it met their needs on site, gave them the ability to work with one-person operation as well as shoot long distances and to the accuracy that was required, which is sub 5mm,” Laughlin adds.
This sub 5mm accuracy might seem like engineering overkill until you consider the implications of even slight miscalculations when anchoring structures to a cliff face. The slightest deviation could compromise structural integrity or create dangerous misalignments in cable systems—risks that Naviq refused to take.
Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of using the Topcon GT was the seamless integration of digital modeling with real-world implementation. Rather than constantly shuttling between office computers and the cliff face, engineers could access complete digital plans right at the work site.
“It was a matter of holding a tablet. Having the full model in there and all anchor points was just so easy to use, so easy to set,” Neururer enthuses. This capability transformed the workflow, allowing immediate verification that installation points matched design specifications—a critical advantage when working in a challenging vertical environment.
The system’s one person operation capability proved especially valuable given the limited space available on temporary platforms and harness systems. A single Naviq employee could accomplish tasks that would traditionally require multiple team members, enhancing both safety and efficiency.
Even the most sophisticated technology requires expert support, particularly when applied to pioneering projects. The partnership between Naviq and Aptella extended far beyond equipment provision, becoming a collaborative problem-solving relationship.
“The service and support that Aptella has provided has been second to none,” Worsley affirms. Tokara is Aptella’s award-winning remote access and support service that enables support technicians to login to a customer’s device when they need assistance in the field. This ability to provide fast, live troubleshooting over the phone whilst updating settings remotely proved invaluable as the team encountered the inevitable challenges of working in unexplored territory.
Neururer elaborates on this crucial aspect: “There were many situations where I was hanging off a rope and then suddenly I had an issue or something I couldn’t work out, and then just being able to quickly call them and see everything happening on my tablet right in front of me, just solving the problem. It also allowed me to actually learn while an expert was doing it.”
This real time remote assistance eliminated what could have been costly delays and allowed the Naviq team to build capacity and expertise throughout the project. “They’re very excited for this partnership and I’m ready for more,” concludes Neururer.
Due to open in mid 2025, Happitat Adventure Park stands as a testament to what becomes possible when visionary design meets precision engineering technology. Adventure seekers can now experience the thrill of suspended walkways and zip lines against the backdrop of stunning Gold Coast vistas, likely unaware of the technological innovation that made their adventure possible.
The park’s carefully designed experiences cater to various adventure appetites—from the gentle exploration of the Cloud Walker suspension bridge to the adrenaline rush of the 100m free-fall jump platform. Each element has been engineered to provide maximum excitement while maintaining harmony with the surrounding World Heritage listed rainforest, creating what the park calls “Adventure in Paradise.”
For the construction and adventure tourism industries, the project establishes new benchmarks for what can be achieved in extreme environments. The methodology developed using the Topcon GT total station has opened new frontiers for precision construction in challenging settings, potentially influencing approaches to everything from ecological research facilities to infrastructure in previously inaccessible locations.
The Happitat project demonstrates that when innovation, expertise, and the right technology converge, even the most vertical challenges can be overcome—one precisely placed anchor point at a time.
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