A Day at TreeTops Coffs Harbour
We check out TreeTops Adventure Park, one of the Coffs Coast’s newest family attractions.
I recently surprised my two kids by taking them and a couple of their friends up to TreeTops Adventure Park in Coffs Harbour. After hearing rave reviews about the park, we had to check it out for ourselves and decided to make a day of it from our home base of Crescent Head.
As we drove into the lush Orara East State Forest (located surprisingly close to the centre of Coffs) the kids spotted TreeTop adventurers zipping around overhead and began to get excited. Entering the park, we were greeted by the lovely Jo, who harnessed the kids up, giving a concise safety talk before letting them loose in the trees.
TreeTops Adventure Park Coffs Coast is part of an elite group of just five TreeTop locations in NSW (including the Central Coast, Newcastle and two in Sydney). The multi-award winning and eco-friendly attraction includes a range of elevated tree top courses where participants move through suspension bridges, rope ladders, cargo nets and (my kids’ favourite) zip lines.
The award-winning parks are not only fantastic fun, they are also eco-friendly and designed to preserve the forest in its most natural state. Graded for difficulty, there are courses suitable for all ages (3 and up) and the set-up is impressively safe and simple. The kids are fitted with helmets and harnesses that are clipped onto a wire that runs throughout each course. When they finish a course, they simply unclip their harness and move to the next one. While Treetops’ staff provides ample supervision, parents are responsible for their kids and must be present at all times.
The Junior / Adult courses has four options to choose from. Image courtesy of TreeTops
Our tribe of kids, aged six to eight, had a choice of four courses to tackle, beginning with the relatively easy white followed by orange, yellow and purple. Watching the kids move from tentatively wobbling through the first couple of courses to flying down a long zipline on the purple course was an absolute joy, and the smiles when they conquered each were priceless.
What I love about this activity is that it gives kids the opportunity to feel safe while stretching themselves beyond their perceived limitations – immersed in the sights, sounds and scents of the beautiful forest. You can almost see them busting through their fears and coming out the other side; my eight-year-old, in particular, seemed surprised by her own courage. After a few rounds, the courses became easy for all the kids so they challenged themselves to do them faster, inventing different ways to move through each activity creatively. What fun!
Tackling the courses together was also a lovely bonding experience for my kids and their friends. This has to be one of my favourite family activities on the Coffs Coast – the only regret I have is not trying the adult course myself! We’ll definitely be back.
My kids and their friends loved every minute of their TreeTop experience
We rounded the day off it by stopping in at our favourite village, Sawtell, for lunch and an ice cream and by the time we got home to Crescent Head, all the kids were sound asleep. A day well spent.
TreeTops Adventure Park Coffs Coast offers special packages for birthday parties and groups. The park is open seven days a week. For more information contact [email protected] or visit TreeTops.com.au