As someone who usually spends Saturday afternoons catching up on Netflix, I had a slight initial feeling of dread about spending my weekend flying through the air on a zip wire.

However, when I was invited for an adventure day out with my colleagues on Saturday at the Go Ape in Trent Park, which was only a 10 minute walk from Cockfosters Station, I (excuse the pun) jumped at the chance.

Before we started the tree top adventure, we met our instructor David, who made us repeat the Go Ape mantra to “stay attached”, in order to make sure we always stayed clipped onto the wires around the tree trunks to prevent falling and being injured.

The second obstacle course involved climbing up a never ending rope ladder before walking across a tightrope to practice what it felt like to hang mid-air, with only a harness for support.

The feeling of exhilaration after the first zip wire did not last for long after forgetting to land gracefully on my feet and instead dropping with a thud to the ground.

I picked myself up amid the sounds of laughter from my friends and realised that there were another three assault courses to go- each more challenging than the last and reaching heights up to 16m.

Arms aching and legs like jelly, I pushed on knowing I had plenty of support from the staff and my friends below me on the ground to help me overcome my fears.

Each assault course was different. After climbing up the trees, we had to balance on shaky wooden beams and walk across rickety bridges before each zip wire task that involved racing each other on the Skateboard zip or soaring through the air on the Tarzan Swing.

The biggest zip wire was saved for last, giving you a view of the whole park while travelling 120m along the air.

We ended the day by getting certificates to say we were now part of the Go Ape tribe and took endless photos to show how muddy we were.

Reflecting on the success of the afternoon and picking out endless wood chippings from my hair, my final thought was: “Where is the nearest pub?”