Carpeway Gathering 5, Thursday 21st Nov 2019

Discovering Carpeway

When I saw the LinkedIn post from Carpeway in October my interest was piqued. The photos showed a lovely team of people having fun in the outdoors. Yes, I thought, I would like to go for walking adventures with other likeminded people. I’ll sign up! The email came through – this month we’re going to Hatchet Harry’s in Newcastle. Er, what? My first thought was – throwing axes?  This was no adventure walk, I’d probably decline….

But then actually, throwing axes around and potentially learning how to become a native Indian warrior princess sounded like something I might like to do.

Afterall, had I not written on my goal list back in January to do more fun stuff and try new things? Right, I’m booking my place!

I was pleased I had decided to join in, as it became apparent as the weeks went by that I was actually really excited to do this.

I told my family (I think they thought I was having a mid-life crisis) and my young son was impressed but asked me what will happen if the axe hits someone (thanks for the vote of confidence son!).

Hatchet Harry’s!

I arrived at Hatchet Harry’s, not really knowing anyone. I was soon greeted with friendly introductions and handshakes so felt immediately at ease. There were 14 of us, some new, like me, and others who had been with Carpeway from the start. We had a bit of time to get to know each other, then the games began.

We were divided into two large groups, each with an instructor who explained how to handle and throw the axe.

The Competition is on!

Two at a time we were ushered into a large cage with 2 target boards at one end. We got lots of attempts to try regular axe throwing, tomahawk throwing, underarm and two at a time! It was definitely harder than it looked but some of the group did amazingly well (I think they may have been secretly practising in their back gardens).

The competition was on but in the friendliest of ways, everyone cheered when others did impressive throws.

The guys at Hatchet Harry’s were really great and helped us with our technique-Unfortunately, I didn’t quite become a warrior princess but I did have lots of fun.

Afterwards, we went for lunch at Mile Castle Wetherspoons and then for a few drinks. This was a good chance to get to know people a bit more. I discovered Peter and I have a mutual love of wild animals and travel; Katy has two doggies and absolutely adores them; Sarah can tell me all about how to be aligned and in my flow; Barbara can’t sing for toffee (ha ha) and Terry loves to sing in caves!

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I could listen to these lot for hours!

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A Great Event

Will I come back – Yes. It was a great first event for me and I’m so glad I came along. I’m still eager to go on the adventure walk but equally up for more new activities to take me out of my comfort zone too. I also want to find out more about signing in caves (ha ha)

Thanks for reading – I’m now off to practice my axe throwing in the back garden.