wild buggy

Wild Buggy – driving adventure park

What would you get if you crossed a monster truck with a go-kart?  Wild Buggy!

When:  weekdays 10am – 5pm, weekends 9.30am – 5pm

Where:  433-453 Boundary Road, HEATHERTON

Cost:  starts from $29, for 7 years and older, click here for detailswild buggy

Wild Buggy allows you to test your driving skills, your nerve and let loose behind the wheel in ways you never normally would – and for kids who would love the chance to get behind the wheel, it’s a thrill.

So what does it involve?  Well everyone who drives is accompanied by an instructor – they tell you everything you need to know about the buggy and the course as you go along.  It’s also like having your own coach as they are very encouraging!

For drivers with a driving license the instructor has a set of brake and accelerator pedals so they can take over if, for example, you forget to brake.  For drivers without a license, the instructor also has a steering wheel and they fully control the braking and accelerating (and possibly more steering than they let on.).  My kids were adamant they did all the steering, so maybe they did – either way, the only person who lost control the morning we were there was a proper grown-up (i.e. someone older than me).  You can see the diversion off-course in my video.

A session can be 10, 15 or 20 minutes long.  We had a 15-minute session which is enough time for about 8 laps.

Unless you’re driving a truck on a farm or in the bush it’s pretty unlikely that you will encounter a course like the one at Wild Buggy – let alone a track where you can feel confident about driving through the giant puddle at top speed and flying over jumps.  Driving up stairs was a new one for me too.

After watching Charlie (9) and his friend do their session, Immi (11) and I couldn’t wait to get our helmets on and out there too.  The first couple of laps were taken a little tentatively – but after that, it was all about getting as much speed as possible (and then taking the foot off) to get air on the jumps etc.  We had a ball.

We also spied party rooms – now that would be a party to get the playground buzzing!