Explore the Blenheim Palace & estate with tea served in The Orangery for two! ...

Great value heli tourism trips with bubbly & chocolates included from helipads & airports around the UK. ...

Take the BMW i 8 for a blast & get a taste of the future of motoring! This incredible new hybrid car from BMW sets the standard for 'green' driving into the next decade even though it looks nothing like what you might think an environmentally-friendly would be like... Let's face it you wouldn't think the words hybrid & BMW would ever be seen together but since showing off the concept car in 2009 the i 8 has grown into a full production car that unsurprisingly won Car Design of the Year in 2014 when it was unleashed onto the public. One thing's for sure as soon as we clapped eyes on the i 8 we realised that BMW had completely blown the image of electric cars being small & just a little bit eccentric out of the water. The BMW i 8 is most definitely a pioneering member of the saintly supercar category. So it looks the part but how does the i 8 drive? Well it is surprisingly agile & thanks to be four wheel drive (the electric motors driving the front two the petrol one driving t... ...

Fancy driving the i 8? This is BMW's fancy pants electric sports car & it's coming to a race track near you! These experiences at a selection of race circuits around the country give you the chance to feel all that electric power under your feet. You know how concept cars usually bear no resemblance to the actual production car? In this case the BMW i 8 coupe is as delightfully futuristic looking in the flesh as it was back in 2008 when the idea of a plug-in hybrid high performance BMW was first introduced to the world. Back then you'd have probably said: " It looks great but it'll never catch on". & now look at us. From plug-in city cars to Formula E racing electrified motoring is everywhere. The i 8 neatly shows us that eco-responsible doesn't mean boring as you'll find out when you get to take the impressive i 8 for a spin. Funky butterfly doors open to reveal a typically neat precise & gadget-filled cockpit. This car certainly has style leaning on the sporty heritage of BMW.... ...

Your BMWi 8 driving thrill is going to be thoroughly electrifying! These very unique super driving experiences available at North Weald Llandow & Blyton Park will see you driving BMW's big plug-in hybrid car the i 8. This is your chance to taste the future of motoring. Indeed electric cars of tomorrow are right here right now. They're making a serious impression on the tracks at the likes of North Weald in Essex Blyton in Lincolnshire & Llandow race circuit in South Wales. & not only that these Lithium-powered cars are actually giving quite a few supercars a run for their money. Could this spell the end of the traditional internal combustion engine we've known for decades? Well yes & no. As well as the onboard battery this car actually has an engine. & this gives you the best of both worlds as you'll find out when you get behind the BMWi 8 on your driving thrill. If you've never driven an electric car before we can bet that you'll be impressed by the acceleration. Many of us think an electric car will be slow & sluggish. But far from it. Think back to the last time you drove a Dodgem. As soon as you put your foot down you're off maximum 'speed' from the word go as you lurch off. & although it's simplistic (apologies to BMW i 8 boffins) it's kind of how an electric car works. In a normal car engine the mix of fuel air & spark builds up gradually to build up torque gradually. In an electric car it's all about electromotive force. You hit the throttle fully & you've got maximum voltage instantly & therefore maximum torque straight away. That's why when you accelerate in the BMWi 8 it goes straight away. & very quickly at that. You'll hit 0-60mph on the likes of the North Weald circuit in around 4.4 seconds. Impressive isn't it? Erase the image of little city cars pootling around on a full charge this is fully-charged electric motoring with some serious spark as you'll find out on your three or six lap BMWi 8 driving thrill. ...

What makes a BMW i 8 drive so different to all the other sports car experiences we have on offer? Well to put it simply the i 8 is an electric car. But make no mistake this is not a teeny car that pootles around to the supermarket this is an eco-car that has serious sports car looks! Undoubtedly BMW has pushed the technology boat well & truly out with the i 8. Originally appearing on the scene as the Vision Efficient Dynamics' concept car no-one thought the actual production version would bear any resemblance to that crazy design but we're delighted to say this road going green car does indeed look incredibly futuristic right down to the amazing butterfly-opening doors. & just look at those seemingly 'floating' rear panels. Nice. And if you've seen the film Mission Impossible IV: Ghost Protocol you'll know just how cool this BMW looks at night. As hero Ethan Hunt played by Tom Cruise cruises the streets of Mumbai in his newly acquired BMW i 8 he is most definitely upstaged by th... ...

When you head out into the open sea with your body board it's the surf versus you in a wet suit & a set of fins! Lying on the board just above the waves means that you can get closer to the power of the sea & enjoy the thrill of wave riding. Body Boarding is real surfing as you are powered along by the breaking waves but it's also a great introduction if you want to progress to standing on a board. Both are fun but body boarding is an easier way to start for beginners. We could say it's the perfect solution for wannabe surfers who have yet to find their balance but it is in fact a wave sport in its own right.A body board is a lot shorter than a traditional surf board making it easier to control in the water. You choose a strong-looking wave from those rolling in & as it approaches you pull your upper body onto the board & kick hard with your fins. If your timing is right you catch the wave & the result is a noisy foaming high-speed ride as you sweep in towards the shore. With no standing up (and less falling off) you can maximise your time just riding the waves. You'll be taught by a qualified coach how to paddle your way through the breaking waves & catch the perfect roller to hurtle you towards the beach on your board. Waves may be easy to catch & ride
- but body boarding is a tough sport to master. That's where the skills you will be taught on your lesson come in as they will equip you to get off to a flying start in the water. The instructors for this activity are mobile in & around the Newquay area so you can be sure that they'll select the beach with the best body-boarding conditions on the day as you'll soon learn weather conditions (especially on & off-shore winds) play a massive part in where the bodyboarders go to play. Intothe Blue offers a selection of surfing related activities please see our main surfing lessons page for more information on this thrilling water sports.
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Gather a gang of you together & try the tricky challenge of body zorbing! As an exclusive small group of six you will be taking part in a round of playground games. Now that all sounds pretty straight forward doesn't it? But don't forget you might find yourself slightly hindered by the rather bulbous bubble that covers you from your bonce to your knees! This all means that those simple playtime games like Last One Standing & British Bulldog that you all used to play at school suddenly become a roly-poly bouncing bubbling melting pot of chaos. Peering out of the plastic at your team mates & your opponents it's all about that simple strategy of trying to stay upright as you get to grips the crazy concept of bodyzorbing. You might even get to play a little zorb football during your session. But remember your usual fancy footwork serves for nothing as you can't even see what your feet are doing let alone dribble past defenders like Ronaldo. Despite being bulky these body zorbs are actually quite light though so you will be able to run around. Getting the ball in the back of the net however is a whole new ummm…ball game! Indeed where it all get really tricky for all these body zorbing games is when you fall over & you try to get back up again. With your feet dangling somewhat unceremoniously mid-air it's takes a fait bit of rolling around & flailing of limbs to get back upright in your body zorb. We can only describe it as being a bit like an unfortunate hedgehog that lands on their back. Still makes for good videos & photos though. Standby social media! The vouchers we have are for groups of six body zorbers to take part in the playground showdown at this venue near Harrogate in Yorkshire. & if you're wondering who this crazy sport of body zorbing is for we can confidently say anyone & everyone
- as long as you don't mind making a bit of a fool of yourself thanks to the rather large inflatable sphere over your head!
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On a quiet residential street you'll find this epic 737 flight simulator! Barnsley now has its very own simulated flight facility thanks to one very skilled & passionate aviation fan called David. This Boeing 737-800NG simulator is the fruit of many many hours of labour for David Naylor. Having been made redundant he decided to turn his childhood dream into reality by building his own simulator. Constructed using a genuine Boeing 737 cockpit the result is pretty amazing. The simulator might not actually move but with control loading & flight feel you'll totally feel that moment of reverse thrust & every bump on the tarmac. Even handling a steep turn in the air will instinctively have you leaning to one side! It's realistic because so much of this sim is real. The throttle quadrant the speedbrake the reverse thrust levers & the flaps area all original & working. The Primary & Navigational Flight Displays all work too as does the MCP (the autopilot). & before your... ...

Earn your (virtual) four stripes when you captain this flight simulator in Derbyshire! Just north of Mansfield & over the border into Derbyshire is where you'll find this professional Boeing 737-800 flight simulator. & although you might only be a virtual airline pilot it is all very very realistic. The flight deck is just like a real Boeing cockpit & with the full 220 degree wrap around screen & High Definition graphic software you'll believe you are actually there sitting on stand at somewhere like London's Heathrow Airport. The simulator itself might not move but for the aviation geeks amongst you this realistic flight simulator has motorised throttle & moving trim wheels fully functioning PFDs (that's Primary Flight Displays) hydraulics electrics APU (that's the Auxiliary Power Unit) bleed air oxygen & pressurisation systems. Oh & then there's the fully working FMC (Flight Management Computer) & MCP (that's the autopilot). Who'd have thought an airline pilot's life would be filled with so many three-letter acronyms to remember before they've even flown anywhere? Indeed stepping up to the flight deck & into the left hand captain's seat if you ever thought pilot's had a easy life with their feet up whilst the autopilot did all the hard work think again. As the precious cargo of passengers are boarding the captain & first officer are busy doing route briefings entering the data into the Flight Management Computer & executing a pre-flight checklist. What we love about these simulated flight sessions in Derbyshire is that on the longer experiences you will follow those airline Standard Operating Procedures (yes you guessed it
- SOPs!). That means you get to do all those critical checks & controls before you 'take off' & again when you have completed your landing checks & given the cabin crew the 'doors to arrival & crosscheck' comm&. You get a complete insight into what a typical 'day at the office for a Boeing driver' involves. Of course if you want an atypical day in the life of a pilot this flight simulator in Derbyshire can be programmed to replicate scenarios such as a series of air pockets (that's turbulence to you & us) flying in a holding stack awaiting clearance to land or even an in-fight emergency & divert to the nearest airport. It doesn't happen very often but it's all in a day's work for a (virtual) airline pilot!
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