Proof that opening your mind and others to the joys of random was at show again in Bracknell, this time not on 2 wheels but up in the trees. If I hadn't applied those tickets for the Segwaying I may never have tried that or ended up with yet another stupid grin on my face at experiencing yet another fantastic new experience.
Much as I love them, most of my workmates hate the thought of anything more adventurous then ordering a new drink at the pub. True to form, only one brave soul and her boyfriend were up for the Go Ape. For the clueless, Go Ape is a high wire thing amongst the trees with 5 separate areas. Each area starts off with a dreaded rope ladder climb, ends in a zip wire to the bottom (the best bit) and a host of obstacles in between. Not being a huge fan of ladders full stop, climbing up one that was constantly moving wasn't what I'd call the highlight of the day! Further ahead was the first of 2 tarzan swings where you have to put your faith solely in your equipment for the first time. Rules are you've g
ot to be attached to something at all times to prevent you from falling. Sound advice I thought. I'm surprised the instructors don't have palpitations at times though as after the training section which is about 2 feet off the ground, you're on your own and plenty of people start off attaching and unattaching their carabines in all the wrong order.
After watching Abi and Sean the month before, I knew that kids in the group meant waiting so I got us to the front :) Going through the course it's amazing how your height and build come to your rescue at certain times and go against you in others. Early sections were designed for the vertically challenged methinks but no matter what you're build, the whole 2 - 3 hours worth involves one hell of a lot of bending, sliding and crouching.
For some reason the zipwire section is the least scariest proposition of the course and definitely the best bit. If you're facing the right way you've got a good chance of looking rather graceful when you land. Happily I was born awkward so took great pleasure in landing bum first and getting what seemed like half the forest's wood chippings in my shoes and down my trousers! Unfortunately Helen found the ladders bit even harder then I did and decided to bow out half way through. Although she put on a brave face and said she'd still enjoyed the day you could tell she was still gutted she couldn't get herself to finish the course. Bless her though, she got some great footage of me and her fella Owen coming down the zip wires.
The Prospect faithful assure me they'll be up for doing the Go Ape another day when they're free. I'll believe it when I see it but I'd definitely go again, this time with some sort of padded trousers methinks, those straps can half chafe in certain parts of the course...
Rossifer x
