Hello, welcome back. It the end of half term for me and even though I have had 7 months off school because of lockdown, it was lovely to get a break.

My family and I went up to Nethy Bridge, near Aviemore and Grantown-on-Spey, for the first week. We go there every year and because we know the area it was easy just to sit down and relax!

I am not going to tell you EVERYTHING I did that week but there was one particular activity that we had not done before that I thought I would share with you.

Zip Lining:

On the Monday of our trip we got up early and drove about 1 hour to Alvie Estate 4 miles from Aviemore, near Kincraig. We were going on a zip wiring trail through the pine forest through the estate and over the Alvie Gorge.

My dad wasn’t going to do the trail as his back wasn’t too good but it meant he could walk the dog. Mum and I were a bit worried as both of us struggle with heights but my sister was however, not fazed at all!

We met at the Estate Office and were given a harness, gloves and helmet. Then we walked about 5-10 mins up to the top of the zip trail. We were heading on the Zip Adventure trail which included 17 self-guided zip wires with a permanently connected safety system.

Before we started the Zip Adventure, an instructor explained and showed us how to move ourselves along the line. Once we tried it ourselves on a Zip Guide we understood we would be attached at all times until the end of the course. After our safety briefing, we set off!

The first few lines were just to get us started and to ease us into it but once we had got the hang of it, we were off by ourselves across the gorge and through the the forest.

Even though I was worried about the height, I had loads of fun and forgot about it. We flew over the gorge and the little waterfalls and it was incredibly enjoyable.

About half way through our zip guide met us to check up on how we were doing. Of course we were fine and she surprised us by asking, if at the end, we wanted to go round the trail again. Um yess!

Because of the whole Covid-19 thing, they also had to adapt, like everyone else. They reduced group sizes meaning we got round the course in about half the time people usually would. So as a bonus we were allowed around again.

It was great to have that opportunity as we felt in control and knew what to do and could enjoy it in the full.

Other Courses:

Overhead of the zip line was a different course called the Zip Trek which is 14 zip lines long but has much longer wires and was much higher.

The Trek course is more in the tree tops and after we finished the Zip Adventure course, my sister and I kept going on about how much we wanted to do the other course. We just wanted to stay in the trees!

We actually did consider booking the second trail, we enjoyed it that much, but sadly it was fully booked for the next two weeks.

The whole zip line course was so much fun and would 100% recommend if you are ever up near Alvie. I very much enjoyed going over the gorge and guiding myself through the course plus the instructors were lovely and easy going. Definitely will be going again!!! Even if it isn’t to experience the zip park again, as they offer so many other activities including white water rafting, gorge walking and archery.

Half Term Summed Up:

Our Nethy Bridge trip was so refreshing. To get away from everything was really lovely. We did lots of walking and cycling and just spending quality time outside. Even the dog looked healthier by the end!!

I hope you enjoyed this blog and I you have ever visited Zip Trek Park let me know your experience!

If you have anything specific you want to read about let me know on my Instagram or FaceBook!

Love Martha B X