Go Ape

Smee and I had initially planned to join JT, G and some others for some primate climbing action.  But... Smee had to dawdle off to the Antipodes and miss out on some super super fun!  Rumours are rife owing to his incessant fear of heights that he did not in fact head to the southern hemisphere but rather he was serving self-imposed witness protection to avoid any form of height-related activities.  Hmm I do wonder....

There are several Go Ape courses around the UK and we opted for one at the Bedgebury Park.  The drive was a pleasant one hour or so out of London into the English countryside and I am happy to report that nothing eventuated from the close encounter involving Sweemo nearly colliding with a mother duck and her ducklings.

We were pretty lucky with today's sparkling weather and it made more for enjoying our lakeside picnic amongst the ducks.

Here's a friendly duck asking me for food.  *quack quack*

After fueling up, we headed to the course ready for some ropes and flying fox action. 

I shook hands with Mr. Ape and it's also good to know that I qualify for the course.

Being a girl and gym-bunnie in my previous life, I brought along my gym gloves to ensure that I wouldn't get callouses on my hands.  Everyone bagged me!  But a-ha!  I shall have the last laugh!

After being assisted into our harnesses, we were then taken through a safety demonstration of how to ensure that we don't plunge down 10 metres and hurt ourselves.  I could barely contain my excitement!  *clap clap clap*

 This little baby is all that exists between me and me going splat on the ground.

For anyone who is scared of heights, this is really a good way to help get over the fear.  After the demonstration, it is your own responsibility to ensure you are correctly attached to the zipwires.  The guides are available from the ground but they are not physically up there to monitor and strap you on.  Just try not to think of that  infamous opening scene from the movie Cliffhanger :P

The swinging walkbridge and the wooden tunnel.... which was very painful to crawl through on your knees.  I got bruises!  

The rope bridge.... miss that rope and fall to your death!  Ok, ok you only fall as far as the safety harness will go... which is about 30cms.  But still, that'll give you a jolt!

This picture doesn't really demonstrate the height between the rope bridge and the ground, but trust me, it is pretty far up and you don't really want to fall from there.

Making my way across another wooden/rope bridge....  ever so gracefully.

The entire course took about 3 hours to complete but I swear I could have kept going.  It partly takes so long because you're waiting for the slow pokes in front of you to hurry the f*&^k up!  The highlights of the course were the tarzan swings onto a rope cargo ladder (my smashing into them gave me more bruising!) and the flying foxes *thumbs up*. 

Here's a vid of JT making her way down the flying fox and not sticking her landing.

If you don't happen to land on your feet, then it can be pretty messy with all the tanbark flying around and into your shoes, socks, pockets and undies.  I had tanbark go where tanbark has never gone before!  (Not a nice feeling but hey, you gotta put up with it).

Here's a video of my view while going down the flying fox. 

I was doing pretty well until about the 11 second mark when my body began turning left.  The camera wavers as I start kicking my legs around in a desperate bid to remain forward-facing but alas, I scare away a dog as I land backwards.  My silent trip down the flying fox is broken with a delayed yelp. 

Yay!  We finished the course!

Hungry from all the energy expenditure, we stopped by the first pub we saw which as it turns out, serves really good food!  I'm not usually one for the typical pub food fare, but the menu at the Green Cross Inn and the food we saw coming out of the kitchen was very tempting indeed.

Outside the Green Cross Inn.  It's like a gingerbread house!



One of the dishes we saw being ordered by many of the other patrons was the avocado and crab bake.  We'll have 6 of those thanks waiter.  It was a bit heavy for a starter and I could feel that my arteries were now clogged with cheddar but it was delish!  I ordered the fish pie as my main and while it was nice and such a generous portion that I was unable to finish it, I felt envious for not ordering the baby back ribs, pork roast or crab!  Mmmm num nums. 

If I'm ever out that way again, I'll be sure to pop in for a meal here.  So yes, if you're after a different kind of day out, do the Go Ape course.  I can't wait to go again!  (And yes, unlike some others, I did not have any callouses on my hands *nyah!!*)