And the family make like Bear Grylls during an adventure in the West Midlands
Fiona Whitty
Taking off at the IFLY
Nervously inhaling a gulp of breath, I thrust out my arms and let my body fall forwards. The instructor’s last words spun around my head. “You’re about to feel what it’s like to fly,” he had grinned.
Within a split-second, gushing air flung me up so powerfully that the instructor had to grab hold of me to stop me soaring off.
Yep, I was flying… by the seat of my pants I’d say. I was experiencing an IFLY indoor skydive, one of the thrilling escapades at Bear Grylls Adventure in Birmingham (activities start at €25pp when booked at beargrylls adventure.com).
After a safety briefing and a lesson to learn the hand signals the instructor uses to communicate, we donned windproof jumpsuits and were guided into a vertical wind tunnel, a tube of fast-moving air designed to simulate what a skydiver feels jumping from a plane.
It’s a crazy sensation as the air whips underneath you; despite having an instructor there to steady you, you’re more worried about being catapulted to the ceiling than plunging to the floor.
The optional extra of a “high fly” – where you both spiral to the top – gives you an added thrill and confirms IFLY as a truly fun and novel activity for all.
Husband Tim and I had taken along kids Freddie, 10, Rosie, 13, and Harvey, 18. Afterwards we all felt elated, dizzy, relieved, slightly in shock – and aching in places we never knew we had. Pure brilliance!
While there we also had a go at snorkelling among the 800 tropical fish, sharks and rays in the centre’s aquarium.
You’re inside a cage with acrylic bars so you can get close to the fish without feeling like their dinner. That said, it’s difficult to completely trust the 12 black ray sharks that seem to relish brushing past menacingly.
The Bear Grylls Adventure – the survival expert’s only activity centre – is housed in a huge hanger near Birmingham’s NEC and the Resorts World leisure area.
To recover we headed to nearby Sky By The Water, the Genting
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You’re more worried about being catapulted to the ceiling than falling