What a Saturday we spent at Dalby Forest trying out the Tree Top Adventure. It was our family – Henry (5 years) and Eliza (3 years) and my brother and sister in law with their 3 children (Annie 11 years, Ed 13 years and Kitty 15 years). It was a great day out for all ages and the cousins had a fantastic time together.
Go Ape had kindly organised a fun packed day. This was what we had decided to do to spend time together during the Easter Holidays.
To start with, Charlie, Annie (11 years), Ed (13 years) and I headed into the Forest on Segways. After some training and a practice, we were let loose. It was awesome, I really enjoyed it, on a variety of terrain, up and down, round corners. We started off with speed restrictors on our Segways then once the two instructors (one leading the way and one at the back) were happy that we were competent, these were removed. It was a fun packed day and definitely a highlight for me. Richard and Kitty (15 years) went as part of the next group. Things didn’t go quite so smoothly here when Richard dived over the handle bars much to the embarrassment of his teenage daughter! He wasn’t hurt but should have been listening harder during the training and the safety talks. Rest assured, he paid more attention to the Tree Top Adventures training! The Segway guys were great fun and very kind to the children. They ensured we were all happy, within our comfort zones and having a lovely time. They really helped make it a great time. Children have to be 10 years and weigh 7 stone with adults able to supervise 3.
For the Tree Tops, we split into two groups. Jen took Henry on the Tree Tops Juniors whilst Richard, Kitty, Ed, Annie and I went on the Tree Tops Adventure. Sadly Eliza wasn’t quite big enough to go so Charlie stayed behind to look after her.
Children have to be 1 metre to do the Tree Top Juniors. Adults can supervise 2 children under 6. This lasted an hour and was fantastic. Henry loved it and cajoled a slightly nervous Aunty Jen along! The zip wire is over 90 metres and they went round multiple times so lots of zipping was enjoyed.
“The zip wire was the best, I was flying and I made shapes in the air…” “Swinging like a monkey through the trees” Henry, age 5.
“Tree Top Juniors – great that my 5 year old nephew could encourage me and get me over my fear of heights” Jen, adult.
We loved the Tree Tops Adventure. I have to admit, I was slightly concerned when Henry had chosen Aunty Jen to accompany him – I had thought Tree Top Juniors would be just fine for me, another one only so so with heights. I accompanied Annie and it was great – I loved the zipping!! The longest zip wire is 250 metres so there was lots to get your teeth into. The highest platform is 35 metres but I survived – can’t say I looked down much! Children have to be 10 years and 1.4 metres tall. The training was fantastic and they ensured we were competent before letting us loose. Annie was brilliant and loved it. Climbing the ladders is hard work but its worth the effort! At the really difficult parts of the course, there is an easier alternative which is no less fun! All of us thoroughly enjoyed it. One warning I do have is be prepared to be covered in wood chip! I couldn’t land the zip wires very well and I got wood chip everywhere! I am tempted to wear a boiler suit next time!
“What a great day, I had a lovely time and so nice to do fun things with my younger cousins” Kitty, age 15.
“Tree Top Adventures was my favourite, especially the zip wires which got bigger and bigger. I managed to land every zip wire too!” Annie, age 11.
“Tree Top Adventures – swinging through the trees like tarzan!” Ed, age 13.
Eliza was millimetres off being allowed on. This didn’t cause a problem as she enjoyed the nearby playground, watching ducks on the river and the barn owls from Whitby Falconers. Another option would have been to do The Highway Rat trail.
We were there from 10.15am to 4pm and had a thoroughly nice day. We took a picnic but there is food available in the Visitor Centre. The obligatory ice lolly came from there! We were lucky with the weather but did have our waterproofs just in case! Casual clothes, trainers / walking boots and a light coat were perfect. All in all, it was a wonderful day, helped by the lovely staff and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. There were no bored moments and no whingeing so all in all, it was great!
“Great staff who were very helpful with thorough training. Everything flowed, there was no rushing. It was beautifully planned.” Richard, adult.