Nanaimo’s Wild Play Elements Park is a perfect “fall” adventure

by Keith and Heather Nicol

Kids of all ages will have fun at WildPlay

        We are a big fan of adventure parks and zip lines and over the last number of years have sampled  these activities in many places across Canada from Newfoundland , Quebec, Ontario  and  Vancouver Island. But certainly one of the most varied parks we have visited is the WildPlay Elements Park in Nanaimo, B.C. We headed there from Courtenay on Saturday, October 22 and couldn’t have had a better experience. For one thing, in the fall the crowds have gone so you can pretty much go from Element to Element with minimal waiting. As well, the autumn leaves really add even more colour to the forest. And we can’t say enough good things about the staff – they were exceptionally friendly and very helpful.

Heather zipping 100 feet over the Nanaimo River

   One of the big attractions of the Nanaimo WildPlay Park is that it has 5 different activities for you to try. “We are best known for our 2 adrenaline charged elements- the Bungy Jump and Primal Swing” said Jessica Twiss the park’s guest services agent. “We have the only New Zealand style Bungy Jump in North America which uses a very stretchy cord which minimizes the impact of the jump on your body. We sometimes get 150 people per day in the summer coming from all over just to do this activity!  And the Primal Swing couldn’t have a better setting over the Nanaimo River“ she told us. We were after a bit tamer activities so we opted to do the DragonFly ziplines, the heart stopping Primal Swing and the Monkido Adventure Park.  

 

Keith on the Monkido Course negotiating a log obstacle

     We started with the ziplines and they have a beautiful setting over Nanaimo River. One zip is 300 feet long and the other is 600 feet and we loved the elevated view over the river. From there we headed to the Monkido Adventure Park with its wobbly logs, cable crossings, and many other obstacles. There are over 50 “games” in all (if you do all 4 courses) but we stopped at after the third course since we had booked the Primal Swing to finish our day. The Monkido Adventure Park starts off easy which is great for kids and others just getting a feel of it. The staff makes sure that you know the safety routine of clipping in and out of the safety cables that run along the entire course. This Saturday the Adventure Park was getting an impressive variety of people from an 11 year old girl’s birthday party to groups of teenagers to small groups of adults. The fact that you can go at your own pace is great and our most memorable obstacle was the swinging into the cargo net from a rope swing and then climbing up the net to the platform.  Our final adventure was the Primal Swing which starts from a bridge located 150 feet above the river. The launching process involves lots of harnesses and safety clips and then you push off arcing through the air at 140 km/hour toward the river only to swing up again. Even the unloading process is  exciting as you are gradually lowered down into the boat and taken to shore. Perhaps this isn't as tame as we thought!!

For the Primal Swing you launch off the bridge 150 feet above the Nanaimo River

  The Nanaimo WildPlay Elements Park has 2 adventures we didn’t try- the Bungy Jump and the “What’s to Fear” Jump  but we are saving those until next time. Thanks to all of the staff – Jessica, Alyssa, Jake, Edward, Erin, Ariel and Steve—you did a great job. This park is open for a few more weeks this year so go and check it out. For more information see: wildplay.com.