At the weekend the sun was out and we decided to make the most of…
A Day Karting
I am always on the look out for new things to do with my son and in the last school holidays I decided we would take him karting. We are lucky enough to be reasonably near Karting North East, an outdoor centre where you can go karting, drive road buggies or 4×4 or take part in paintball or archery sessions. They offer junior karting sessions for children aged eight and above, you need to book in advance. The session costs £20 for 15 minutes driving time and up to six children can take part. My son took his friend with him.
We did take a bit of a scenic route on our way to the centre, I am sure we went round the same roundabout three times. We did get there in plenty of time to take part in our session. After paying the two boys were taken though to a room where they had to watch an instructional video. The video explained what to watch out for, what to do if they went off the road and what the various flags mean.
The boys watched intently and after watching the supervisor asked them some questions. They then had to get ready. Stylish jump suits, balaclavas and crash helmets were provided. Once they were kitted out they looked like proper racing drivers.
They were taken out to the track where they got into the karts. The karts were started by pulling a cord on the back and they then could drive round the track. They were started separately so one of them got a head start. The track was huge with lots of twists and turns allowing them to practice cornering.
There is plenty of green land surrounding the track and we were able to sit at a picnic table and watch as they drove round. They seemed to enjoying themselves, racing around the track trying to catch each other up.
I did wonder if the hills in the background were for the 4×4 track, it would be great fun to try and scale those in a land rover. Fifteen minutes does not sound long but they managed to get around the track quite a few times. At the end of the session the man waved the flags to tell them to go into the pit. In the excitement both of them had forgotten what this means and drove past the pits. They had to be stopped and told but got another lap round the track.
Both the boys really enjoyed the day and talked about it all the way home. It is definitely something different to do and gives them valuable experience driving. I am sure that we will visit again during the holidays.
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