shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileAustralia

at Dreamworld, on the Gold Coast hinterland

Thunder River Rapids Ride

— — the river ride the country went quiet for.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.

— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand

— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines

— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall

— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround

— a note from the studio

“A river-rapids ride at Dreamworld in Coomera, Queensland, in operation from 1986 to October 2016. The ride was removed after the tragedy of 25 October that year, when four guests lost their lives. The site is now the Memorial Garden, a quiet planted enclosure within the park. The artwork holds the ride as it stood through three decades of Australian school holidays.

from the studio

— bring it home

Thunder River Rapids Ride, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?

One tile — square or rectangle.

How big?

the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand

6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb

Surface finish

A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.

How it sits

A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.

$58

Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.

— size

6 × 6 in

15 cm

— weighs

1.6 lb

solid in the hand

— surface

ceramic, hand-finished

art rests beneath a thin glossy finish

— from

Knoxville, TN

our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies

— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Thunder River Rapids Ride

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.

— the place

Thunder River Rapids Ride was a circular river-rafting attraction at Dreamworld, the theme park founded in 1981 on the Gold Coast hinterland near Coomera, Queensland. Built by Intamin and opened in 1986, the ride carried six-seat circular rafts down a conveyor-driven channel through synthetic rapids. Dreamworld sits roughly seventy kilometres south of Brisbane along the Pacific Motorway, in the Coomera district of the City of Gold Coast. The park belongs to Ardent Leisure Group and remains one of the largest theme parks in the Southern Hemisphere.

— informed by Wikipedia, Dreamworld

— the year

For thirty years the ride was a fixture of the Australian school holidays, particularly for families travelling north along the Queensland coast. Operations ended on 25 October 2016 after a fatal incident on the unload conveyor that took the lives of four guests. A coronial inquest delivered its findings in February 2020, and the operator was sentenced under workplace-safety laws later that year. The structure was dismantled in 2018, and Dreamworld set aside the footprint for the Memorial Garden that now occupies the site.

— informed by Wikipedia

— the silence

Where the rapids once turned, there is now a planted garden with seating and a small reflection wall, opened to the public in 2020. The garden carries the names of those who died and is maintained as a permanent part of the park rather than a temporary tribute. Visitors who knew the ride from childhood often pause there on their way through the park. The artwork remembers the place as it stood, without claim, in the years it was part of a family holiday.

— informed by Dreamworld memorial

— where

Australia · Coomera, Queensland

— within

Dreamworld

— position

-27.8634° S · 153.3149° E

— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.

at the lake

WhiteWater World

water park

3 km E

Coomera

town

1 km E

Pacific Motorway

highway

25 km E

Gold Coast

coast

70 km N

Brisbane

city

Thunder River Rapids Ride

WhiteWater World

Coomera

Pacific Motorway

Gold Coast

Brisbane

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Thunder River Rapids Ride — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

The ride opened at Dreamworld in 1986 and operated until 25 October 2016. It was permanently removed and the structure dismantled in 2018, after the incident that ended its run.

The ride stood inside Dreamworld in Coomera, Queensland, about seventy kilometres south of Brisbane and a short drive inland from the Gold Coast beaches. The park sits along the Pacific Motorway.

A circular river-rapids attraction built by Intamin, with six-seat round rafts that drifted down a conveyor-driven channel of synthetic whitewater. Similar rapids rides operate at theme parks around the world.

The footprint is now Dreamworld's Memorial Garden, a planted enclosure with seating and a reflection wall opened in 2020. It carries the names of the four guests who died and is permanently maintained.

It was a thirty-year fixture of school-holiday trips for families along the Queensland coast, and the 2016 incident reshaped Australian theme-park safety regulation. The coronial inquest delivered its findings in February 2020.

Yes. Comparable circular river-rapids attractions remain in operation at Silver Dollar City, Universal Studios Singapore, and several Six Flags parks. Dreamworld itself still operates other water rides built to current standards.

— about the piece in your home

For many Australians who visited the park as children, the rapids ride is a specific memory tied to a specific decade. A Small or Medium tile carries that quietly, without making the loss the subject.

The piece reads well in warm coastal-modern rooms, in quiet remembrance corners, and in studies with planted-timber detail. The tones lean green and slate rather than the bright primaries of the operating ride.

There is a slow shift toward art that holds personal history rather than decorating around it. This piece sits in that family, closer to a keepsake than to a poster of the park.

Above a console, the Large reads comfortably. Above a sofa, a four-tile Mural is the usual choice. The Keepsake works on a desk or a planted shelf in a remembrance corner.

Yes, in either the Dura Satin or Matte finish, both made for vertical installation in showers, backsplashes, and powder rooms. The Glossy finish is best reserved for dry wall display.

A soft microfibre cloth and water is enough. The colour lives inside the ceramic surface rather than on top, and the piece does not need polishing or sealing over time.

Yes. The piece is painted in-studio under Reid Wender's eye, with no third-party licensing. The reference is to the place as it stood at Dreamworld, not to any rights of the park or operator.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.