Plenty of adventure on Vancouver Island, Canada golf trip

Sometimes you just have to push yourself, which was the case yesterday at a place called WildPlay Element Park in Nanaimo, British Columbia, about 75 miles north of Victoria on Vancouver Island.

This is a place for the young at heart. Here you get to experience bungee jumping off a bridge, canyon zipping, the King Swing and something called the Tree Course, which sounds like the most tame of them all.

After a very enjoyable round of golf at Duncan (B.C.) Meadows Golf Course with course owner Ming Hui, I ventured up the road to WildPlay.

I knew I was in trouble upon arrival. It appeared that most everyone was under 30 and in 100 times better shape than me.

I skipped the bungee death jump and King Swing (both take place about a mile above a river), for now at least, and went right to canyon zipping and the Tree Course. Canyon zipping is pretty fun, if you’re not afraid of heights. The guides hook you up to a harness, then attach a pulley from the harness to a steel cable that’s suspended over the canyon and river. You then straighten your arms and legs as they push you off, hoping for the best.

Piece of cake.

Now it was time for this Tree Course, which is a combination of self-guided zipping between trees and all sorts of other obstacles, all performed at skyscraper height in the trees.

There are four courses, each getting progressively harder. You climb trees, all the while securing clips cables to hopefully prevent certain death in case you should slip. At one juncture, there could be a series of rope ladders you cross, or a tightrope or something even more difficult. It takes about two grueling hours to complete.

Let me tell you, by the time I got to the fourth course, nearly all my strength was zapped. This workout involves every muscle in the body, including some I didn’t know I had. At one point, it was all I could do to make my way through a series of beams suspended by rope. For that one, I passed a young lady who said she just couldn’t on. I soon found out what she meant.

This morning, I’ve got all kinds of aches and pains as I prepare for my round on Jack Nicklaus’ new Valley Course at Bear Mountain Resort Golf Resort just outside of Victoria.

Welcome to middle age, eh?

And while I didn’t have enough courage (or stupidity) to bungee jump, I had no problem witnessing it. I saw one young man, with a T-shirt that read “Alcoholics Unanimous,” take the plunge to the river below. His sister told me he was getting married in a couple of days.

No further explanation needed.