The Young and The Restless | May you escape the maze

Let’s just say that if we ever experience a real-life Hunger Games-type scenario, you probably don’t want me on your team.

My kids, on the other hand, might just be my saviours.

We’ve visited a few Victorian mazes in our time.

The giant maze, made of wooden wall panels, at A Maze ’N Things on Phillip Island, has more than 2km of passageways to get lost in, as it leads you to confusing twists and turns and frustrating dead ends.

You can spend hours lost in this thing, so if you’re booked to do other activities at the entertainment venue, I suggest you do them first before stepping foot inside the maze.

That way, at least if you find yourself still lost after closing time, someone will come and rescue you. Hopefully!

I should mention that the decision to enter sizeable and seriously constructed mazes probably shouldn’t be made lightly for anxious people.

If you find yourself utterly lost within, rational thought can quickly slip away as panic sets in, especially if you find yourself alone.

You may even need a child to help you escape.

Mind you, they’ll probably find their own way out first and only come back to help you on their second time through, all the while questioning slightly condescendingly if you really couldn’t find your own way out.

The maze inside Ballarat’s charming medieval tourist attraction Kryal Castle has been on the grounds since the old-fashioned amusement park was first constructed.

Circular in shape, this labyrinth is built from large grey brick and full of character.

Creaky atmospheric signs warn you to beware as you search for the treasure within.

If you’re me though, you’d be searching for the exit at the other end before you could be tempted by any treasure deeper within that tangle of perplexing pathways.

Then you have hedge mazes, which are a sight to behold.

Giving off aristocratic English garden vibes, there are two picturesque ones we’ve visited not far from home in recent times.

One is the Avenel Maze in the Strathbogie Ranges with a theme that pays tribute to the legend of Ned Kelly, also educating visitors on the bushranger’s history with an interactive quiz, with answers to it found inside the maze.

This venue has multiple mazes on the grounds, including a rock labyrinth, a ‘Gaol Break Maze’ and a knot maze, where you shackle and unshackle ropes to find the path around the web.

There’s also mini golf, barbecues and a licensed café to make it a whole day out.

The other hedge maze we visited is the absolutely stunning Brookfield Maze at Myrrhee.

Giant chess, fountains, hedge sculptures, shady spaces and a short walk down to the creek behind the property will have you wondering if you have in fact stepped through a portal to the grounds of Downton Abbey or on set of Alice in Wonderland, but without the smoking caterpillar.

When (if) you find your way to the centre of this delightful living maze, there is a viewing platform for an elevated view of the maze and grounds, and, at the risk of telling a poor dad-pun, it’s an a-maze-ing one.

When we visited it was cold and raining — not the most pleasant of days to be outdoors (let alone lost in a maze you can’t get out of, but I was the only one in our party who had that problem) — however, it did make everything look even greener, more luscious and incredibly picture-perfect.

There is a licensed café on the grounds there, too, so the perfect little spot to take the family for a short scenic weekend drive to for lunch.

I’ve forever said that I’m a creative, not an intellectual, which I’ve often thought is why I’m stumped by puzzles, but apparently the two hemispheres of your brain that control the different functions (left for analytical and logical thinking, right for creativity) are both required to solve puzzles.

If you asked me though, I’d probably suggest the biggest prerequisite is just to be a kid.

Whatever the recipe, if the puzzle we’re talking about is a maze, there is apparently a tried and true knack to getting out of them.

Some say you should always turn left, but according to thenaturalnavigator.com, all you need to do is “touch the wall or hedge with the hand nearest to it, left or right. Keep that same hand touching the wall and keep walking. This may take you on a horribly long route, but it will eventually get you out”.

I possibly should’ve Googled up that little gem BEFORE paying any visits to mazes, but now that I have, I’m going to find us another to explore and test the theory without telling the kids what I’m doing.

Maybe, just maybe, I’ll beat them out this time.