School holidays for a couple of weeks over Easter, and we kicked it off by picking up a skateboard for Jake. He has a few friends who skate, and the Epic Skate Park is just a few stops up the road from the village, so that provides a good place to hang out, learn a few tricks, muck about, talk with friends and just generally not be at home or at work with Mum or Dad.
I had a bit of a go on the board myself when we got it back to the village (photographic evidence is not being made public), and it turns out that I can remember a thing or two — even though I must have been about 10 when I broke my arm coming down Maugham Drive in Bucklands Beach, and haven’t really been back on one since.
I managed a 180, a 360, going in a straight line, turning, and coming to a stop. Like playing the guitar, I think I’ll have about a week before Jake completely surpasses my level of skill.
Tomorrow is his first day hanging out at the skate park with a friend of his. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes.
Epic Skate Park’s a former bus depot (read the story about it here), the biggest indoor skate park in Europe, and something of a great music venue around these parts too. Big open space downstairs, smaller bar upstairs.
There’s a whole membership thing you have to do if you want to go there, and they get you to fill in a form with all your details — as well as a waiver that says you’re not going to sue them when you fall down and hurt yourself. I’m not going to say “if”. Let’s be honest: it’s “when”.
There’s a cafe where the skaters can stop for a break, a drink and a bite to eat, as well as a little library, if they just want to sit down and read for a bit. The park’s open 10 till 10 and it seems both well supervised and sociable.
It’s a really great thing to have in the community, and I can’t believe we were here two years before we really even noticed.
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