We hit new heights at this adventure fun park in Arthurs Seat, Victoria.
Tree surfing was an activity that I had never heard of in my life. It sounded ridiculous and I had no idea what it meant. My friend Cindy was the one to suggest we give it a try as we've always liked getting outdoors and finding fun stuff to do.
So we packed up the car and took off for the Enchanted Adventure Garden, located in the picturesque town of Arthurs Seat down on the Mornington Peninsula. This seaside suburb is absolutely gorgeous, and is the perfect example of where the bush meets the sea.
We'd done our research before heading down, and knew to wear comfortable clothing and closed-toe flat shoes (e.g. runners). They basically recommend you wear activewear which is exactly what we did.
There are a number of different tickets you can purchase as the park has much more to offer than just tree surfing. We bought the $60 day pass that included all the activities, except for the big zip line (which is an additional cost). You also have to choose a time to do the tree surfing as it's really popular, so we booked in for that later in the day.
First up was the tube slide. Now this is a fun activity that's a lot more challenging than it looks, because what goes down, must come up. In other words, you have to lug your own tube all the way back up to the top of the hill again!
Next up was the hedge maze. There are actually three mazes, but the traditional bordered hedge maze is the most popular. The maze is fun, although not terribly large or challenging. It was fun for a quick walk and is another attraction to see at the Gardens.
The grounds themselves are beautiful and there are lots of gardens, walks and things to see. There's also the canopy walk which was lovely, and the sculpture garden, so be sure to spend some time just wandering around.
Finally it was time for the main event - tree surfing!
There are five different courses, each one higher up and more difficult than the last. They are all a lot of fun but physically challenging. We would recommend to anyone that is thinking of going that you wear activewear (like us) and also bring along a pair of gloves to wear (something we didn’t think to bring and we definitely suffered for it!).
As you can see from the ridiculous look on my face, the tree surfing turned out to be quite a bit more challenging than I expected. Also keep in mind that if you're afraid of heights then this is probably not the activity for you. Especially considering the final obstacle on the last course requires you to jump off a platform and swing across to a rope ladder net. That feeling of free-falling had my stomach feeling like it was going to come out my ears!
At the end of the tree surfing you get to the fun part, which is a flying fox back down to the ground. The landing is surprisingly harder than it looks, but it was definitely a lot of fun.
Finally it was time to head on home, with our hands full of blisters and a feeling of achievement because we'd done the entire thing. We were physically exhausted because the five courses take at least an hour and you use quite a lot of upper body strength (which I certainly do not have).
On the way home we stopped on the way down the mountain at the lookout that has stunning views over the beach and the ocean. It was gorgeous and quite a lot of tourists had stopped as well.
Overall it was a fantastic day, and we both highly recommend you check it out. After all, it's not just for the kids!
Until next time,
Nat x