Tree Surfing was a massive hit with my (almost) six year old and eight year old – they both didn’t want it to end.  Thankfully when it did end we still had the Enchanted Adventure Garden to play in.  The Adventure Garden is the Mornington Peninsula’s version of a theme park – all while enjoying nature, fresh air and a bit of exercise = winning formula.

When: 9.30am – 4.30pm during school holidays, check the website for other times

Where:  55 Purves Road ARTHURS SEAT 

Cost:  Nippers Course adults $39, kids $29 – includes same day entry to the Enchanted Adventure Garden.  Click here for more information.

Review

Wear enclosed shoes, bring a hair tie (if you have long hair) and prepare to have a load of fun.  We went mid week (thanks to a teachers planning day) and only encountered a few people at opening time.  Within our Tree Surfing group there were seven of us (the maximum people in any one session is 15).

Due to height restrictions (you need to be 135cm to do the Grand Course) we did the Nippers Course (5 years and over can go solo, 4 year olds must go with an adult).  In our group there were two four year olds – they had a couple of wobbly moments but did make it through the course with very little encouragement – and when we had the option to go again they jumped at it.  (FYI there is also a weight restriction of 120kg.)  For the record my six and eight year old would have happily done this without me – but there was no way I was missing out on the fun (and I’d definitely go again).

The clip system (from France) is designed so that once you are on a Course you can’t come off until you finish the Course.  On a few occasions we did have to wait whilst the two younger children (who were in front of us) navigated some of the more challenging climbs and this exercised Charlie’s patience muscle a bit more than he’s used to.  If you have older children who are a bit eager, don’t stand back and be shy when it comes to beginning the course – jump in front!  I reckon if we hadn’t been behind the other family we could have done the Course many more times, as it was we did it two and a half times in our hour (the course has two halves, so that was “5 goes”) and given it was our first visit it didn’t feel like we’d missed out – this is merely my reflection.

What was the best bit?  Well everything, especially riding like a flying fox to get back down to the ground.

Our session group was assigned Kyle to get us kitted up and onto the Course (he’s in the red jacket).  Kyle stayed with us throughout and made sure we were safe and knew what to do.  He had a harness attachment that allowed him to clip on and off so that if anyone got stuck he could whip over and help them out – he was having as much fun as we were!

Included with Tree Surfing is entrance into the Enchanted Adventure Garden – and so you really can make a day of it.

Now we just need to wait for Charlie to grow 14 more centimetres so that we can try out the Grand Course.