Hollybank Wilderness Adventures – Family Fun in Tasmania

We have just spent the day at Hollybank Wilderness Adventures near Launceston in Tasmania, and are still buzzing from the experience!

I’ve always been a bit of an adrenaline lover, skydiving and bunjy jumping as a youngster, and it’s something I thought we wouldn’t be able to do while travelling with little kids. But Hollybank Wilderness Adventure made it possible – even with Arthur who is only 3.

Hollybank is nature play at it’s most extreme, where you can experience the feeling of flying through the trees on a secure zipline, or climbing like a monkey through one of their rope courses up in the canopy.

Hollybank Wilderness Adventures Experiences

We chose to do the 10am zipline tree top adventure tour (there are several times available throughout the day) then to tackle the ropes in the afternoon. The zipline adventure can be done during the day, or at certain times of year there is also a twilight option meaning you can fly by the light of the moon. It’s a 3 hour experience so make sure you eat well beforehand. Arthur was too excited to eat breakfast, but about half way through the course he declared he was hungry and couldn’t understand why we hadn’t brought a picnic! Once you’re up in the sky you’re secured on the cables for the duration (about 2 hours) so making sure everyone has been to the toilet first is also recommended.

When we arrived at Hollybank Wilderness Adventures the first thing we did was to sign in, get weighed and try and eat our body weight in complimentary candy canes that were on the desk (well, it is Christmas). The tour is suitable for ages 3-80+, and kids under 8 or under 35kgs need to ride tandem with an adult. Max weight (single or tandem) is 135kgs. Once the paperwork was done we headed into the training room, where our lovely guides Emily and Harrison introduced themselves, let us know what to expect on the tour and got us kitted out with our zipline gear.

Helmets and safety gear in place, we then headed out to the training ground, where we got to see how to fly and land, and have a practice go before the real deal in the trees. There was a light drizzle on the day we visited, meaning the landing pads were a little slippery which added to the overall adrenaline! The tree top adventure park is an all weather activity – only in very high winds will they close the zipline down for safety reasons.

After full training we went on a lovely bush walk to the first station, where we were clicked in to the zipline with our team. One by one we watched as fellow flyers dropped off the first platform, a short and low cable to ease us all in gently to the experience. Emily and Harrison were wonderful with the kids, and the more nervous members of the group. In his true ‘I fear nothing’ style, Arthur was grinning the whole way around the course (apart from the moment he realised he needed a snack!) After a few hesitant moments from Renner, who is almost 5 and understands a bit more about the reality of hanging 20metres up by a small cable, he was also laughing and joining in the fun.

There are 7 cable spans in total at Hollybank Wilderness Adventures, ranging in length from 15m – 400m and up to 50m in height above the forest floor. Some of the runs are high speed, while others are more relaxed letting you enjoy the 360′ views. My favourite run was the penultimate one, which soared high over the Piper River and made us feel like eagles.

There were lots of stops at the ‘cloud stations’ along the way to educate us about the forest, and to entertain us with fun stories and games. Our guides were also equipped with a camera, snapping photos of us during the tour which are included in the ticket and emailed out at the end of the day. You can borrow see-through phone pouches from reception too that can attach to your safety gear if you want to take your own photos or videos too.

Hitting the Ropes

After the tour it was time for lunch (Arthur was pleased!) There’s a cafe onsite and also picnic tables where you can bring your own food. After lunch we headed back to reception where we met Hamish, our ropes guide for the afternoon. We suited up in our safety gear again and headed out to the training course, where we were shown how to use our cables and carabiners before heading to the treetops. The course is only suitable for ages 4+, so Arthur had an ice cream with dad while me and Renner hit the ropes.

There are 4 courses available, starting at the yellow course for 4-7 year olds up to the scary black course for over 13s. Kids on the yellow course need to be supervised from the ground, so I watched Ren tackle the courses for half an hour before having a go myself. The courses include climbs, ziplines, obstacles, drops, nets, wobbly bridges and more. I’ve not had so much fun in ages, it was just the right amount of scary and silly (like riding saddle back over a zipline through the trees!).

I got as far as the red course which challenged me to the max, but I’m determined one day to return and give the black one a go. The red course ended in a 15m jump to the ground, and while the ground came rushing towards me memories of bungy jumping as a teenager came rushing back too. The adrenaline was awesome, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little bit like a ninja warrior (although I’m absolutely certain I didn’t look like one!)

If you’re taking the kids to Hollybank Wilderness Adventures don’t miss the chance to have a go yourself. Unless you’re afraid of heights that is, then I’d recommend watching loved ones from the ground and maybe giving their forest Segway tour a go which sailed past us as we were enjoying the ropes and looked like brilliant fun too.

Hollybank Wilderness Adventures is open 7 days, pre-booking is essential and you can do this by calling them on 03 6395 1390 or heading to their website.

You can see all the highlights of our day in our video below…..

If you’re exploring Tasmania with kids and love wildlife, don’t miss a visit to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary

———————————————-

We were guests of Hollybank Wilderness Adventures for the purpose of this review, but all thoughts and opinions are our own.