ESCAPE FROM Reality

Ingrid Nelson unleashed her inner Sherlock Holmes at Red Lock Escape Room’s brand new experience at Maroochydore, where you have one hour to escape an abandoned old asylum and seek revenge on evil Aunt Annie. Did she escape in time?

If you’re looking for a fun activity to do with the kids or friends over the holiday period, then don’t miss the Red Lock Escape Rooms newly-opened venue at the Sunshine Plaza.

It’s an ideal way to get the kids off the sofa and away from their devices and into an immersive world where they fight the clock to unravel clues, riddles and puzzles in order to escape on time.

Now I’m the first one to admit that my previous escape room experiences saw me fail miserably, so this time I brought in the young guns (my two daughters and a friend) for backup.

Before we enter the room, we are given the brief on our challenge, and right from the get-go, it sounds intriguing.

Aunt Annie’s Asylum was abandoned many years ago following rumours and tales of horrific treatment of its patients. To this day, the horrors that took place there have been covered up and justice has not been served. Our job as investigative journalists is to find the hidden confession left behind by evil Aunt Annie to finally seek revenge.

From the moment you enter the escape room, you are instantly transported to the old asylum. Clever use of dim lighting and props, combined with an old TV monitor showing patients locked inside their rooms, really sets the heart racing!

Without giving too much away, the clever clues and riddles are very well and most importantly had an hour of interactive fun. designed and it takes us almost a full hour to finally find the final piece of the puzzle. But not before we have jumped, screamed, squirmed, laughed and most importantly had an hour of interactive fun.

Red Lock Escape rooms is the brainchild of husband and wife team Michaela and Paul Harlin.

Initially launching the company as a mobile escape room, the business proved so popular they opened a popup store at the Sunshine Plaza, followed by a permanent venue at Noosa.

“We took the furniture and props to businesses and schools and ran the escape rooms for a week at a time,” says Paul. “We even drove to Cairns and did one for Microsoft.”

After running the pop-up store in the Sunshine Plaza for the past 18 months, the couple have recently opened their permanent new venue just in time for the Christmas holidays.

“It’s actually a great opportunity to come together as a family or with friends,” says Paul. “You get immersed into the atmosphere of the game and you work together as a team. It gets people off their phones. You feel like you are in the real environment.”

If horror is not your thing, or if you are looking for something to entertain the younger kids, there are lots of options available, including a brand new Christmas-themed room, perfect for a family to enjoy together.

Well suited for team bonding or corporate events, as well as birthday parties, Michaela says the new venue has plenty of room to accommodate small groups.

Red Lock Escape Rooms got the big thumbs up from my crew and I can highly recommend it as a fun adventure.

We made it out just in the nick of time and with my problem-solving confidence restored, I’m keen to experience the other Escape Rooms at this great new venue. Definitely one to add to summer holiday to-do list.

OTHER ESCAPE ROOM ADVENTURES INCLUDE:

STEAMPUNK TIME LAB ESCAPE ROOM:

The time travel machine is broken and you can’t get back. Your mission is to find the final piece of the time machine and deliver it back in time within 60 minutes.

AREA 51 ALIEN ESCAPE:

You have infiltrated the Area 51 Base Camp, only to find it deserted. All signs point to an imminent alien invasion! Trust us, you do not want to find out what they want... escape the room within 40 or 60 minutes before it’s too late!

THE CHRISTMAS MYSTERY ESCAPE ROOM: Oh no! One of the elves has stolen Santa’s naughty and nice lists! Your job is to find the Naughty and Nice lists and figure out which elf is the one who stole it within 40 minutes!

Nestled on the hillside of Buderim are two stunning properties with high hopes.

Aquila Retreat and Malumba Estate are the creations of Heidi Meyer, a selfconfessed ‘connector’ who loves to bring likeminded people together to make magic. Tick and tick – the Pyjama Summit brought together 25 likeminded and leading women (and one man – Martin Duncan) for a weekend of connection, collaboration and lots of laughs.

Heidi said she wanted to share her beautiful space with people she considered some of the most responsible and successful female leaders and fabulous men that she admired to come together, connect with one another, socialise safely, while participating in a conversation about a new shared vulnerability - COVID-19.

“We all see each other at plenty of networking events in and around town, but it occurred to me that I’d like to know these great people better and I thought many of them would also like to know one another better too,” she said. “The idea behind calling it a Pyjama Summit was to set a relaxed tone - there’s nothing like seeing one another in your pjs to fast track ‘knowing one another better’,” she said.

The guest list read like a who’s who of the Sunshine Coast and those who could make it, reaped the rewards.

Amongst us were authors and writers; keynote speakers, consultants, ballerinas, artists, chocolate-makers, photographers and more. What was special was that our level of success or career (and most of us had had many different versions of careers) didn’t define us. One thing we all had in common was a passion for people and community; the ability to overcome