Archery District

Archery is, by far, my favourite skill you get to learn at Zombie Survival Camp. The power of the bow bending to your strength, combined with the satisfying "thwack" of an arrow hitting the target always has me convinced that I'm the next Green Arrow. But Archery District adds a new and exciting element to this - movement. Not only do you have to aim at a moving target but you have to move around so that you don't become a target yourself.

The Archery District experience actually begins on their website. From here you can book your 1 hour session at a cost of $24.80 (plus tax) with each session consisting of a max 20 people. If you have a party definitely book in advance.

When you arrive at Archery District, you are greeted with a standard "life & death" waiver to sign (am I the only one who doesn't even bother reading these any more?). I sign the waiver and immediately begin to eye-down my competition. Half of the people are with Zombie Survival Camp, but the other 10 are part of a brithday party. I'm pretty confident that we'll be able to take these guys out.

Fifteen minutes before game time, Jess, our Archery District referee, goes through the rules and let's us all take two practice shots at a stationary target. I hit the target both times. My confidence is boosted +10 points.

It's now time to enter the arena, or in this case a well lit astro-turf field. If you've ever done indoor field paintball the set-up should seem famliar. The field has various inflatable obstacles to hide behind, black and yellow caution tape down the middle that mark out the "safe zones" and a bunch of arrows with what look like marshmallows at their tips. We don our protective helmets and grab our bows as Jess explains the first game.

For this first game we are divided into two teams (Zombie Camp vs Birthday Kids, naturally). The goal is not to necesarily hit all of your opponents, but to hit a special target in the middle of the field. The first team to knock down all five of their targets wins the round. Easy-peasy I think to myself. Jess starts the game and we all rush to the centre to grab our first arrows.

This is where the stress really kicks in. I grab my arrows, and rush to hide behind an obstacle but I am so pumped with adrenaline I can hardly knock my arrow into place. Once I've got my bow ready I peak out only to be greeted by arrows whizzing by. I realise that if I'm going to do this I have to be fast. I stand up, find a target, pull my arrow back and . . . it falls of. I'm so nervous that I can't steady my arrow on the shelf. Frustrated, I quickly let it fly, completely missing my target. I rush forward to grab another arrow but am stopped dead in my tracks as I'm hit on my toe (which barely hurt btw. The bows only have a 25lb draw weight, and the marshmallow padding at the end dulls any sort of pain). I take my spot against the wall as I watch my team fail and lose the round. -10 confidence points for getting hit by an arrow, and another -10 confidence points for my whole team losing. This is not going as I first expected.

However, armed with experience I know how to imrpove . . . except that the next game is different. Instead of a target, we need to protect our "VIP" member of the team, because if they're hit, then we all lose. Different objective requires a different strategy.

We cycle through 4 different games, which keeps the rounds fresh and exciting. By the end I'm so sweaty that my helmet begins to slide down my face, but I'm effectively taking out targets, while also dodging arrows coming my way. +50 confidence points.

The hour goes by quickly and in the end I'm sad to say that Zombie Survival Camp did not win a single round (those Birthday Kids must have practiced before hand). But eveyone had a great time, and as we leave we're already re-telling our "war stories" from the afternoon. As we discuss what we did right and what we did wrong, we're already planning our strategy for the next time we hit the Archery District field. Because we're definitely coming back, and next time it'll be personal.