No, it's you, strapped to a harness and suspended midair, held back momentarily by fear but carried forwards by adrenaline as you fly gracefully through the trees.
Or, at least as graceful as your nerves will allow as you fight to find your intrepid self.
Experience nervousness, excitement and self-trust simultaneously at Trees Adventure Lane Poole Park, Western Australia's first treetop obstacle course adventure. Calling Perth home after 4 other successful parks established in Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmania, its Lane Poole Park location is situated 100 kilometres from Perth city, at the Nanga Mill on Nanga Road within Lane Poole Reserve near Dwellingup.
Climbing that obstacle course net is not as easy as it looks!
Bound by nothing except maybe acrophobia, Trees Adventure provides an exhilarating rush to thrill-seeking people of all ages possessing varying levels of fear and bravery. With 9 courses to choose from ranging in difficulty from 'I can do this with my eyes closed' to 'I'm SO not doing that even if you paid me!', there's a climb high up in the tree canopies to bound to challenge the bold and fearless or down low near the ground to comfort the fainthearted.
Western Australia's road trip views towards Trees Adventure
I step out of the 2 hour car ride to the Lane Poole Park with three people and it is only at this point that I wonder, as I stare upwards at a suspended bridge in the distance, whether I had made the wrong choice to come to a treetop obstacle climb with three people with varying degrees of height fear. A friendly word of advice from one of them during a moment of great valiance:
The registration process is simple as you make your way over to the 'office', a cabin nestled among the trees where staff members will check off your booking and understandably demand a waiver form to be completed. Waiver forms are encouraged to be filled in advance to speed up the registration process and can be found here.
Adventuring in the Trees at Lane Poole Reserve Park
When completed, participants are ushered to the side to select a helmet, put on gloves and be harnessed up by a staff member. From this point onward all eyes and ears need to be switched on as the ten minute training session doesn't include any spoon feeding of information; it is short, sharp and snappy. Making your way through the trees independently means you'll want to know exactly what and how to safely manoeuvre your own carabiners, latches, clips and other dangly bits hanging off you.
Home Tree at Lane Poole Reserve park, where most of the courses start
Less than five minutes later mastering the practice course on the ground, you're off to start exploring and conquering the world of adventure courses on your own. Collectively there are over 80 challenges in the air with over a kilometre's worth of flying foxes built within the beautiful pine and jarrah trees to swing, leap, climb, balance and fly through - remember to catch your breath as you take in the breathtaking view of the green surrounds as you ride an airborne skateboard!
Ziplining the flying foxes at Trees Adventure Lane Poole Reserve
One session runs for two hours, which includes the initial training session and the remainder spent clambering through cargo nets, balancing on moving rope bridges and hanging wooden planks and zipping between trees at uncomfortable speeds on your own accord. Before you even THINK about the 100 metre long flying fox, facing the first zipline is going to be nerve-racking so you might need to have someone give you a little nudge (literally!) to get going.
Obstacles in the trees at Trees Adventure Lane Poole Reserve
The more people there are sharing the course with you, the more traffic there will be up in the trees so overtaking is allowed to ease obstacle congestion. Regardless if you are on the 2 metre or 16 metre high obstacle, each high ropes course offer their own physical challenges that become increasingly difficult as your climb ascends into the tree canopies. You are never too far from the watchful eyes of the staff but confidence will have to be your best friend to get you to the finish lines, along with the Trees Adventure's state of the art interlocking safety system to keep you from plunging.
Although with that said, the red course I completed did end with a free-fall drop to plunge down willingly. That moment where you dangle your foot over the edge ready to make the jump might be the only point where you struggle with your sanity! Other than that defining moment, only the sky and your courage is the limit to you soaring through and high above the trees.
Bookings for Trees Adventure sessions are essential and can be made here. Spectators of climbers enjoy free entry while prices are $40 for adults, $35 for concessions, $35 for 8 to 17 year olds, $25 for 4 to 7 year olds and $60 for a three hour session for the truly undaunted. Early arrival of 20 minutes prior to your session start time is important to allow sufficient time to get geared up and get yourself physically and mentally prepared.
Trees Adventure Lane Poole Park is open all year round and is only closed on Christmas and New Year's Day. The park's opening hours are 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on weekends, public holidays and school holiday periods. Mondays are open for group bookings however the last session for all days is at 3pm. Get a taster of what the courses include by browsing through the options here.
Because adventure isn't dictated by the weather, Trees Adventure is an all-weather activity that forges ahead regardless of rain or shine. For comprehensive information on safety requirements, restrictions and important details before your climb, check the Trees Adventure website and Lane Poole Park's official website for specific details pertaining to the Perth park.
Don't forget to follow Trees Adventure on Facebook for the latest photos, updates and information about the park and definitely don't forget to leave that thing called fear at home - you're better off on your own here.
