when it comes to adventure and being wacky games

TRIED THE BATHTUB RACE, YET?

    That and a few other sports certainly are way up there when it comes to adventure and being wacky. They are pursued in destinations across the world. Instead of museum tours and lazy beach breaks, put these on your travel itinerary... 

1. CHEESE ROLLING IN ENGLAND Contestants stand at the start on top of a hill, roll a wheel of cheese down it. They throw and roll themselves too, to try and to beat the cheese to the bottom. Warning: can cause a few injuries, so wear protective clothing! 

2. SNOWKITING IN GERMANY Fuse snowboarding and parasailing and you get ‘snowkiting’ — a challenging, fun sport, guided by the sails of a large kite. Try it in Norway, Greenland or the French Alps. 

3. PÈTANQUE IN FRANCE Pronounced ‘pay-tonk’, this is a game where where the goal is, while standing inside a starting circle with both feet on the ground, to throw hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet. It’s played by people in France during a summer vacation.
4. CABER TOSSING IN SCOTLAND A traditional athletic sport, this involves tossing a large wooden log or pole called caber. Part of the highland games, it will leave you feeling you have accomplished something. You can also try Tug o’War and Wellie Boot Tossing. 

5. HORNUSSING IN SWITZERLAND A cross between golf, tennis and baseball, hornussing involves swinging a pole with a wooden head and hitting a rubber puck while the opposing team tries to deflect it with large paddles. It is played on a field. 

6. ORIENTEERING IN SWEDEN A navigational skill sport, you use a map and compass to move from point to point along a pre-determined route. 

 
7. CROQUET IN NEW ZEALAND A strategy sport that entails hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops, croquet is for the genteel lot. Alice and the queen played it in Wonderland and you can do so across the world, too. 

8. BOSSABALL IN SPAIN A new sport, bossaball — a mix of volleyball and gymnastics — is played on an inflatable court with a trampoline! Imagine bouncing up high as you come down and smash the ball over the net! It’s very popular in Brazil, Belgium and Spain. 

9. BATHTUB RACING, BRITISH COLUMBIA Want to try the bathtub boat? It’s used in bathtub racing where you compete in a water race in your bathtub! The floatable tub has a certain race design, of course! 

 
10. TOUGH MUDDER IN SYDNEY If you’re squeamish about dirt and muck, avoid this sport. You have to be extremely fit for Tough Mudder, that involves you struggling through miles and miles of muddy track. There are obstacles on the way, too. Events take place around the world and people undertake functional workouts before trying this. So, what are you ‘game’ to try? 

Snowkiting is a fun, winter sport

A family playing Pètanque in France