I wanna be an Ewok!

Geek question: Do you remember the Ewok village in Return of the Jedi? Cool, yes? Way up in the trees?

Well, we celebrated Ella-Jade's birthday party up in the trees at Trees Adventure, an exciting place not entirely unlike the Ewok village.

The park is close to Puffing Billy Railway in Belgrave and is home to many rare trees, having once been a horticultural park. The ropes courses and zip lines (flying foxes) are all skill rated:Green being the easiest for little ones, followed by Blue, then Red and finally Black: Short Black and Long Black (appropriate for Melbourne and it's coffee culture!)

In some places, it can get a bit tricky, and steps are often spaced farther and farther apart from each other as the courses get more difficult.

You are taught how to harness yourself into the safety system, and you carry your own zip line pully, so you just clip in, latch on and hold on for dear life!

This barrel was in the middle of Short Black. You had to rock the cradle towards the platform in order to step out of it.

Some courses were 5, then 10 metres of the ground, others were 20. At it's highest platform, you are at least 40 metres above the earth!

The girls ahead of me on our first course (Blue).

Scott hanging on on the  Red course. 

So, no furry teddy bear like creatures or huts, just lots of verdant forest and fun. Ella and her mates had a ridiculously good time,everybody had adrenalised, scary moments,  and almost everyone  is a new "height addict" now.