I'd always heard rave reviews about how much fun Go Ape was but had never bitten the bullet and had a go. I've been to Sherwood Pines before for my 10k race, to go for walks, seen the Go Ape hut thought it looked exciting but never given it a try. Today was going to change that.
We arrived at Sherwood Pines parked up and headed for the little cafe on site. I had packed well for the rainy weather but was in desperate need of a soothing warm cup of tea and a bacon sandwich (weekend treat of course!).
Whilst we strolled about the grounds I decided to wear my brand new Superdry zip through cagoule up jacket. It's very lightweight so ideal for what I was after as we went for a walk. It certainly kept me nice and dry, plus I like the coral neon touches to a cute black zip up coat. I love to walk and be outside but I tend to find some of the 'fashion' (I say that very lightly) is quite boring and a bit blah. You often think of outdoor wear rather old fashioned, so me wearing something fashionable from Superdry for outdoors activities, was a rare and delightful experience. My Go Ape Outfit
Cagoule - Superdry Zip Through Cagoule - £44.99 Rucksack - Accessorize Dotty Rucksack - £32.00 Topshop - MOTO Mint Acid Wash Leigh Jeans - £38.00 Tshirt - Superdry Slouch Stripe Tshirt - £19.99 Trainers - Converse Blue Dainty Carolina Shoes - £43.00 Go Ape - Standard Go Ape Tree Top Adventure Ticket - £30.00 Bacon Sandwich & Cuppa - Sherwood Cafe - Worth every penny
Once we had walked off our bacon sandwiches we headed to go ape. By this time the wind had picked up, it was now cold and it had started spitting. Joy. I changed to my padded jacket and slowly my nerves kicked in. Like my quad biking trip I was worried I wouldn't be good enough or wouldn't be able to take part.
We were there early so I took the opportunity (as always) to pose... but this time with the Go Ape... Ape!
The rest of the group we were aping with arrived and we were soon strapped into our harnesses. Next we were given a talk about what clips did what, shortly followed by a quick go on the demonstration area near the office.
After a team talk and a brief showcase that if you did slip, the harness held you up. I think this clarification eased everyone's thoughts.
We were ready to rumble. My nerves had gone as I felt I was ready and confident about what I was doing. The only downfall was with the group we were in, the family in front of us were taking ages to navigate themselves along the equipment, meaning there was a massive backlog of people waiting to get on their tree top adventure. This was extremely frustrating as even the next group of people booked on were waiting eagerly to take part. I obviously am always the first to stamp my feet so I kindly asked the family if they would let myself and my partner go past before we started the next Ape section, luckily they happily agreed and off we went.
I found this part of the entire experience absolutely fantastic. I'm not a huge fan of heights but I was undoubtedly so secure that the fear never even crossed my mind. There were different routes you could take for different challenges; easy or difficult. I attempted some difficult ones and it really did take all my concentration. There was a big Tarzan swing going into a large net which was really scary but the adrenalin rush was worth every second! The challenges got harder and more interesting as we went on, so in total we spent around 2 hours with the talks and the trek before zip wiring our way back down from the trees. Can't fault it! If you want a great experience and haven't tried this I really recommend it! Luckily Go Ape is in a number of locations across the country and you don't have to just take part in the Tree Top Adventure, there is also Tree Top Junior for kids and Forest Segways.
