Motor Madness with Faye & Oli

 Motor Madness 

It was the day we had all been waiting for, Formula Fast Indoor Karting!! Upon arrival we prepared for our session by donning fireproof racing suits, helmets and gloves. Next, we had our full safety introduction making sure we all knew the basic rules on the track. We had a tutorial on how to drive the 200cc Karts, a practice at driving them and then it was green lights for GO! Flags were waved to start the 25-minute race! Everyone started out slowly to get used to their Karts but quickly built-up speed. Some great overtakes and grease lightening speeds ensued!  Before we knew it the chequered flags were flown. Everyone took to this impressive sport, following lights, flags and instruction so well and showing great improvement to driving skill throughout.  

 After the racing had finished, we hit the podium enjoying our time in the spotlight.

We made the journey to the famous Silverstone Race Circuit. This track has been the home of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix since it’s inauguration in 1948. It also hosts the British round of Moto GP amongst many other events. Upon arrival we decided to stop for a hot drink in the museum café and come up with a plan of action. First, we walked down to the track and stadium section at Luffield Corner where you can take in a great view of the circuit at one of its most famous low speed corners. We also stood at Abbey Corner and the Hamilton Straight to view a fantastic mural featuring both Lewis Hamilton and David Coulthard. Next up we explored the fabulous museum, full of historic cars and information about the history of Silverstone, all the way back to its use as an airfield in World War II. Upon entry we were treated to an immersive experience of the Silverstone starting grid, taking us through decades worth of varying motorsport disciplines. 

Other highlights included getting to sit in old F1 car and getting to race on a very detailed Scalextric replica of Silverstone track! As we left the museum, we took part in a 3D cinema experience which featured racing around the Silverstone circuit with various different racing cars and bikes. What a thrill! 

We just couldn't get enough!  Simply Race Driving Simulator is a professional set up included a full array of steering wheels, pedals, racing bucket seats and massive screens. As beginners we opted for Formula 4 cars on Donnington racing circuit then the Red Bull Ring. The simulation was very realistic so this was as close to driving real racing cars as you can get! Plenty of thrills and spills ensued over the laps but once again we all showed improvement and some real racing pedigree! We climbed the podium for an awards ceremony and received our race stat printouts to take home.

After another drive we arrived at Vertigo VR in Milton Keynes. This virtual reality experience centre offered various rides starting with The Sphere. We each chose a different experience, put on our VR headsets, and got into their spherical chairs that moved around depending on which VR experience we had chosen. Hearing all the whoops of joy (and perhaps fear!) proved what a wild ride it really was! We had some drinks in Vertigo before we were ready for the 5d cinema experience. This short film featured fully moving chairs, water, smoke and bubbles as well as glasses to give that full 5d effect, it was awesome! 

 A fascinating morning was spent at Duxford Airfield and Imperial War Museum. Duxford is Britain’s largest aviation museum with over 200 aircraft, military vehicles and artillery all spread over 7 large hangars/exhibition buildings. First, we walked out onto the airfield to watch a World War II Spitfire take off! It was so loud and such a special sight to see. Next, we explored the Air Space hangar. This huge hangar was full of iconic British aircraft from the last 100+ years of aviation history. Some smaller planes were suspended from the ceiling and larger ones were on the ground floor including the famous Concorde which we even got to take a look inside!  I the American Air Museum we saw some of the best jets, bombers and stealth aircraft of all time. Next up we looked at the Land Warfare hangar with realistic mock ups depicting warzones from various wars throughout history. 

We headed to a meet at Cambridge Car Audio. Car enthusiasts  arrived in their droves with everything from muscle cars, pickups, hot hatches, classics, sports and supercars. Some of the friendly drivers allowed us to look in and even sit in some of their cars! You could really see how these speed machines were the pride and joy of their lucky owners. We learned about how Cambridge Car Audio builds custom speakers for their customers. Some of the sound install designs were very impressive and we even got to watch speaker housings being 3D printed in the workshop! 

Some complimentary drinks and snacks were enjoyed before all having a go on their in-house driving sim set up, showing off some of the skills we had gained over the last few days. 

Exmoor Activity Centre with Midi & Lesley

 Exmoor Activity Centre 

Everyone was very excited to hear that climbing was our first activity of the holiday. After being kitted up with helmets and harnesses, we followed Tiff to the outside climbing wall. We started with a team building session, where we took it in turns to be pulled in the air along the zip wire, hoisted upwards by other members of the group. It was great fun ringing the bell at the end before being lowered back down to the ground. From here we tackled two different climbing walls, everyone had a go and loved challenging themselves on the more difficult wall. Tiff then set us a further challenge of abseiling down the wall, again everyone took on the challenge. Some of us were very confident, others needed some reassurance, but we were all very brave and succeeded. 

We donned our life jackets headed through the woods to the lakeside. We all climbed into two canoes and set off from the jetty, paddling our way to the opposite side of the lake. Tiff had 2 fun games for us to play. One was to skilfully position the front of our canoes pointing to an imaginary 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock. The other was to rescue 'animals' from the lake - small floating objects thrown into the water for us to collect. Both were great fun indeed. 

It was then time for our cycle around the lake. Everyone was allocated a suitable bike - either a recumbent bike, ones with two seats side by side or the privilege of an electric one. And off we went, winding our way through the woods, following the track around the lake. Everyone managed really well and after one lap of the lake, we all agreed a second lap was needed. So off we went once more, negotiating the tricky corners with ease, pushing harder up the hills and speeding faster down them. A real challenge to the leg muscles indeed! 

Everyone was so excited for today! We got kitted out with our helmets, and then split into two groups. One for riding, one for a carriage ride. The first group were introduced to their horses, who were called Ruby, Henry, Moses, Poppy and Gordon. Everyone carefully mounted their respective horse, patiently waiting for each other to do so. 

Then it was off for several circuits of the arena, getting used to the feel of sitting on them and gaining confidence. We learnt how to stop our horses by saying 'woah'. From there we guided our horse through an obstacle of cones, gently pulling on the reins to the left and right to achieve the turns. We then progressed to a slightly faster walk, using all the instructions we'd learnt to control our horses to obey our commands. Once we'd dismounted, we helped to lead our horses back to their stable, and then were delighted to be asked to give them a gentle grooming session. Getting up close with them was very therapeutic indeed. 

An absorbing Halloween art session awaited us. There was lots of excellent focus from everyone, and masks, spooky pictures of bats, haunted houses and cats, plus pipe cleaner spiders were all carefully created. We took photos and felt very proud of our work. 

This morning's activity was crate stacking, which some of us had done before. We worked well as a team, along with some fabulous 'constructors' on the ground. The bar was set high by achieving a 9-crate stack, made to look very easy to us spectators.  What a morning it was, everyone had fun and encouraged each other along. 

Outside, we headed to the  Archery area. A quick demonstration by Lewis of how to hold the bow and load the arrow, meant we were aiming at the target very soon. We were given three arrows each to practice with, then progressed with two rounds of a further 3 arrows and kept a tally of our score. Then it was time for a silly game, where depending upon which colour of the target our arrows landed on, meant where we went on holiday, who we went with and what we did when we got there. Everyone was suitably amused! 

So much fun was had at the Halloween disco. We met Rosie the Witch who tried to entice us to eat a 'poisoned apple'. She was very captivating, and although we didn't accept her offer, she was marvellous at getting us all up to dance the night away in true JollyDays style.