Paintball Hawkesbury

The Hawkesbury is north-west Sydney's rural fringe, spread around Windsor and Richmond, and it offers what an inner-city venue cannot: real bush to play in. For groups willing to make a day of it, that means large outdoor battlefields rather than an indoor arena, and an outing that feels like a proper escape from the city. On Party Hero, the Hawkesbury paintball operator listed so far is Action Paintball Games Yarramundi, at 770 Springwood Road in Yarramundi, less than an hour's drive from the Sydney CBD.

How a Hawkesbury paintball day comes together:

• Getting there: the Hawkesbury is car-based, so plan to drive, with parking on site at Yarramundi; a minibus keeps a bucks or work group together.
• The experience: more than 12 bush battlefields, including a two-storey castle, a jungle-style field with 500 metres of trenches, and ruins and a temple for bush sniping.
• Group size: fixed-price packs cover up to five players with extras added, bucks and corporate packages cover 10 players with 10,000 shared paintballs, and 14 or more deposited players can book a private field.
• Booking lead time: book ahead, and give yourself time to collect parental consent forms for any players aged 12 to 17.
• Food and drinks: hot food, cheese toasties, coffee, tea, snacks and cold drinks are available on site, or bring your own food to the covered tabled areas.

Prices start from $89 per person. Because individual packages play until 3pm, this works best as a daytime activity, which suits a bucks party that moves on to dinner in the evening or a corporate team day. All players get a marker, a full-face thermal mask, an ammo harness and upper-body armour, and free hot showers mean nobody has to drive home covered in paint.