Throw an arrow

Robin Hood must have known a thing or two about how to have fun, so we thought we'd try being merry folk with a touch of archery, enlisting the help of ‘funologists’ Hamish and Angie Beard.

A self-confessed Peter Pan, if anyone’s going to bring a smile to your face it’s Hamish and his menu of crazy activities that must have had the neighbours wondering what was going on when the couple first moved into the picturesque property near Blenheim.

From catapult firing and air rifle shooting to ninja star and axe throwing, the Beards, whose motto is ‘As much fun as you can handle’ have more than a
few strings to their bow in helping visitors relive their childhoods.

Our party ranged in age from 20s to 70s, but I was jumping for joy like a five-year-old after scoring a bullseye, having tamed the power of a 20lb bow to thwack dead centre in the target. 

This is traditional archery using long bows, recurve bows, hybrid bows and horse bows, some so polished and ornate they’re like pieces of art. Kids’ birthday parties, stag and hen dos, corporate functions – the Beards have catered to all abilities.  

“We’ve had people in their 80s have a ball doing this,” Hamish told us, pinning balloons to our targets as an extra challenge.

They fluttered in the wind, but there were more whoops of joy as arrows successfully struck their inflated targets.

If the neighbours were in, I apologise for the noise, but for a moment I lost myself in uninhibited celebration – something that as adults we so rarely have chance to do.