Having a fear of heights, I decided that today was going to be the day I would conquer it by zipping across the tree tops in the Dandenong ranges.
The trees adventures is easy to book online with 45 per person and you get a car parking spot if you carpool (eco-friendly with at least two people per booking). It comprises 5 tree-top obstacles and flying foxes that weave through the sublime canopy of Glen Harrows gardens.
There are four courses - the green - up to 4 m high for children under 10, the blue (intermediate) - short and long courses with 21 challenges, 6 flying foxes up to 10 m high, red (upper intermediate) - 17 challenges, 3 flying foxes up to 12 m high, and black diamond (advanced) with 19 challenges, 6 flying foxes up to 15 m high.
Me being scared really wanted to go on the green, but I sucked in my fear, and went for the blue intermediate course. Strapped in my harness, wearing my big-sized gloves and my small blue helmet, I listened to the safety briefing, practiced latching on with my clips and doing a very low flying fox.
Now for the blue short track which is meant to take 15 minutes. It started off with a flying fox. Uh-oh, seemed quite easy. Then there were tightropes (quite scary as my feet are SO LARGE), walking on boulders, weaving underneath stuff while trying to get on the other side, walking on wooden steps that sway/wobble as you walk and then the flying fox, where my glove got stuck in the clip, I stopped moving, hung in mid-air for a while in fear, watched my glove fall to the ground, and then had to go backwards and pull myself all the way to the end. Quite scary. So MANY flying foxes. Phew - finished it. And then decided to take on the blue long course. Wow - this one seemed to go on forever. There were these see-saw wooden steps that just freaked me out. Then, there was this green rope and no one was sure what to do with it. My friend tried to swing across like tarzan but didn't go with enough momentum and then just had to pull himself across. I just walked on this blue strap like a tightrope (I do not ever want to be an acrobat - EVER). Wow - that took around 45 minutes and then I was pooped and quite scared but felt a sense of achievement. Such a nice sunny day but chilly but a great day to be out in nature.
Definitely recommend it as a team building activity, for groups of kids or even families! read more