Go Ape - it’s tree-mendous family fun in the forest

Then again, an hour or two later my thoughts turned to: “Why haven’t I done this before?”

And that is what Go Ape does to you when you are perched 30 feet up in the Thetford Forest treetops and then back down on terra firma.

It is frighteningly good fun for all the family – young and old.

The setting itself is stunning and there is so much to do in the forest itself: lots of signposted trails and an amazing play park with swings, slides and trimtrails before getting down to business at Go Ape.

It is on paper straightforward enough. An instructor fits you with a harness complete with trolley and carabiner which connect you to the safety wire. Some simple instructions, a little practice at hooking and unhooking the carabiner and off we went on the Treetop Adventure course, to make our way along the treetop crossings.

Which is when reality kicks in and there is no going back – particularly with an eight-year-old in front keen to speed ahead, and a six-year-old with mum just behind.

It then becomes an hour-long test of balance, strength, quick footing and a little courage to reach the end of a collection of crazy crossings amongst the forest’s leafy canopy.

I needn’t have worried about the two youngest members of the team, of course. For me every step caused things to sway and wobble, sometimes alarmingly and much to their amusement. Being 10 stones lighter and two feet shorter made for much smother crossings, even if they did struggle at times to reach.

It felt quite an achievement zipwiring back down to earth, although landing backwards, bottom first wasn’t by choice. And damp bark chippings are so unforgiving with beige shorts (make sure to read the advice about what to wear).

That wasn’t quite it though as we had signed up for Adventure Plus – an additional standalone section that turned out to be much higher (nine metres at the highest point) and made up of more challenging crossings – where we found ourselves crawling through a suspended net tunnel, crossing from tree to tree with just a cable to stand on and knotted ropes or pieces of wood to cling onto – and they were some of the simpler ones!

Still it was exhilarating shooting down an epic 100-metre-long zipwire, even if it was another backside-first landing.

Brad Barnes and family visited Go Ape in Thetford Forest (www.goape.co.uk)