I HAVE a friend who organises adventure holidays for families. She often posts images online of her children ski-ing, mountain biking, sailing, climbing and generally being go-getting in various countries.

While I admire their zest for life, I can't help wondering if they ever just spend an hour in the penny-push arcades, or playing cards in a caravan with rain beating on the roof.

The words 'adventure holiday' make my heart sink. I'd rather have a plate of chips in a seafront cafe than trek along Machu Picchu.

My first taste of an activity holiday was a school trip to the Lake District; a hellish week of canoeing (hated it), abseiling (surprisingly enjoyed it), potholing (half the class was crying in fear) and hiking (almost fun, until we encountered a bull in a field, resulting in mass hysteria). It all left me cold - literally, in the case of the watery pothole - and I decided I wasn't the cagoule and walking boots type.

I steered clear of active breaks until I went to New Zealand in my twenties with a friend who decided we should go paragliding. I was dreading it, but once I'd jumped off a mountain (in the arms of a strapping Kiwi instructor) and was soaring through the air, I loved every minute. Along with my adventurous friend, I also went jet-boating, horse-riding, whale-watching and trekking up glaciers, but still wasn't sure I was the cagoule and walking boots type.

A few years later I went ski-ing and soon decided that a week of ski bores spending all day on the slopes and all evening boasting about black runs wasn't for me.

I enjoyed other daredevil challenges though. As a 'have-a-go' feature writer, I've loop-the-looped (20 times continuously) in a two-seater 'plane, taken the controls of a helicopter on a flying lesson, swung from a trapeze and drifted for miles in a hot air balloon.

But as far as holidays go, it's museums, bus tours, gift shops and boutique hotels for me. I'm middle-aged; surely a stage of life where I can opt for culture and tea-shops over outdoor pursuits.

It seems I'm in the minority. Over-50s holiday specialist Saga has launched a 'Go For It' segment, revealing that a third of older people feel ‘more empowered and adventurous' than 10 years ago. Bucket lists are expanding, with travellers embracing physical challenges and once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

“I climbed Kilimanjaro with a woman who was doing it for her 50th birthday; she'd first read about it in a Michael Crichton essay aged 21 and wanted to do it ever since,” says Jae Hopkins of adventure travel specialists Exodus who are getting rising bookings from people aged 50-plus. Adventure company Explore say the average age of their customers in 2016 was 54, and they're seeing more travellers in their 50s and 60s. “They may be at a new stage of their lives and want to challenge themselves,” says MD Ashley Toft. “As people stay fit, and want to remain fit for longer, an adventure combining culture and activity is attractive. Cycling around Cuba, for instance, means you’re going fast enough to cover lots of the island but slow enough to soak up the views."

Good luck to anyone over 50 who wants to cycle around Cuba. Slumming it, with saddle sores, in roadside hostels is fun in your twenties - not so much in middle-age.

I'm all for people staying fit and embracing new experiences. Travel is a joy of my life, and I hope it continues for a long time. But I won't be wriggling through potholes or crossing the Himalayas by yak once I've turned 50.

Not when there's a lovely view to take in from a perfectly comfortable coach tour.

* I HAVE no desire to make my own plates - it’s up there with homemade pasta on the “life’s too short” list - so won’t be watching TV’s The Great Pottery Throw Down.

But an ad for the amateur potters show reminds me of a shameful incident from school. Aged about 10, I made a ceramic dinosaur which was so rubbish I stole someone else’s - a cute Flintstones-type creature - and took it home.

My parents were impressed and kept it for years. Whenever I looked at the wretched thing I guiltily recalled the girl who’d made it. Karen Roper, of Thorpe Middle School: I’m sorry.

* FORGET Game of Thrones - soon we’ll be glued to Bradford Council meetings from the comfort of our sofas.

Meetings are to be broadcast live online from City Hall. I welcome the chance to see democracy in action, but doubt it will make entertaining viewing. I covered endless council meetings as a young news reporter and, while some were lively and dramatic, others were interminably dull.

There was one memorable planning meeting when someone angry with the committee’s decision stormed out of the council chamber. We heard a key turn and realised she’d locked us all in! When a mild-mannered councillor jumped out of the window and ran round to unlock the door, it felt like a sitcom. Now that would have been worth watching.

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