Well, you can probably imagine it … we’re in the mini-bus, perhaps feeling just that bit too excited as we made our way to Carlton Lodge, near Thirsk.
That’s where the sensibleness ended!
So what does Carlton Lodge do? And why did we go? And, more importantly, did we survive it ?!?!
It’s an activity centre about an hour’s drive from Scarborough.
The site includes tree climbing, axe-throwing, archery, kayaking and high ropes. Definitely a challenge if you’re not a fan of the great outdoors … however, most of us enjoy fresh air, blue skies (if we’re lucky) and the occasional dip in the water…
So we arrived and our energy levels just about bursting out of the mini-bus!
Like a bunch of excited teenagers … actually, most of us were an excited bunch of teenagers LOL … we checked in and headed for the water area.
Zip wire was the first activity, everyone was scared it was hard climbing the pole onto the platform but everyone managed it with lots of encouragement and positive vibes! Next on the activity list, raft building and kayaking.
So if you think of boating as being chilled out like Peasholm Lake and the laid-back dragon pedaloes, think again! All the water-based sports need safety kit and training before choosing your boat, donning your helmet and picking up your paddle!
And not only had water underneath the kayaks, we also had a dousing of rain from above. To be honest, we couldn’t have got any wetter if we’d tried.
And that’s when the fun began, because we all started to laugh … particularly when Sarah managed to roll in her kayak and go underwater. Sarah surfaced with a smile on her face!
After a meal and a bit of sleep, we then tackled axe-throwing and archery.
Axe-throwing is dangerous and you need a good eye … yet we were all okay … and then we came to the archery.
Believe it or not, this is actually quite hard! When you see it on the TV, it looks so easy as in archery they pull back the bow and let the arrow fly.
It’s no wonder it’s an Olympic sport because most of us had sore fingers and arms at the end of it.
Carlton Lodge offers lots of problem-solving activities, so there’s lots to do and we loved our visit.
We feel we hit the bulls-eye with this particular trip as we had a such a laugh, got out into the fresh air and learned to work as a team as well as acquire some new skills.
We’d like to thank the team at Carlton Lodge … we’re sure ‘we’ll be back!’