Extreme Go-ape

Today we went to the Adrenalin-Forest, just north of Christchurch, the Kiwi version of Go-Ape. For those that don’t know Go-Ape is an assault course that takes place 5-20m high in the air. It is set up so that there are a series of platforms on tall trees with walkways between which require varying levels of skill (or nerve) to cross. We have done it twice in the UK. The first time in Wales we were terrified but managed to do everything we attempted (we had to leave early) and then the second time in Mansfield we managed to complete it entirely. At this point we felt like we had conquered, in a small way, both mine and Andrea’s fear of heights. Surely that meant we could handle anything that New Zealand would throw at us?? How wrong we were...

There were six different courses, starting at an easy level and ending at a so-called ‘extreme’ level. When we arrived we were quickly given a safety briefing on the course dangers and the gear you wear (brief being a good description as it lasted less than 2 minutes!). The idea is that you have two clips attached to you so that you are theoretically always strapped onto the designated safety lines. We started well, level 1 was fairly easy with a couple of tricky manoeuvres towards the end. As we progressed to levels 2 and 3 things became dramatically harder. I actually lost my footing and fell at one stage, but luckily I was holding on tight and had the safety harnesses were all attached. By the time we reached level 4 we had moved way past our comfort zone and it was now considerably trickier than anything we had encountered in the UK. We were some 15m high and attempting some crossings 20-30m in length (which meant there was a lot of movement on the wires). We finally wimped out at a flying fox crossing which required you to hold onto a zip wire with your hands only. We were lowered down by an assistant and slightly disappointed with ourselves that we hadn‘t made it further. Next time maybe...


One of the tamer sections of the 'extreme run', before peeps disappear into the treeline

Today was our last activity day in Christchurch as tomorrow night we are heading back to Sydney and we have a few admin style jobs to do during the day. Unfortunately it can’t be fun and games all the time! We are also attempting to repay Em and Paul and their excellent cooking whilst we have been here by cooking a meal for them and their accommodating kiwi housemates (Kim and Lindsay). I have been dropping some subtle hints so that I lower their expectations considerably. The culinary skills required to conjure up pasta and sausages isn’t particularly impressive.