Michael Batson

St. Kilda, now a funky seaside suburb near Melbourne, has a chequered history full of gangsters, pimps, prostitutes, crooked cops and, well, pyromania. Many of its landmarks have a habit of burning down – the sea baths, the St Moritz Ice Rink, the pier kiosk and the Palace nightclub – have all been lost to fire. Some remain, including the iconic Luna Park, which opened in 1912 with 20,000 people attending the opening. With its distinctive smiley moonface entrance and the Scenic Railway, Luna Park has the oldest continually operating wooden roller-coaster in the world (and just one of two that requires a ride-on brake operator). The park is built on land leased from what is now the Department of Sustainability and Environment, which is responsible for about one-third of Victoria’s public lands. Maintenance is an expensive and necessary task.  Three full-time carpenters replace each beam of wood with a new one, meaning that very little of the original structure still stands. Maintenance chief, Mark Harrison, says ''It's like the Sydney Harbour Bridge: by the time you're finished at one end, you have to start again at the other.” Of the 81 Luna Parks that have existed around the world, Melbourne's is believed to be the oldest still in operation. Though it’s much changed, there are still rides aplenty guaranteed to make you dizzy. Harrison estimates that someone becomes ill every half-hour or so. ''We call it a 'code rainbow' over the radio,''