Welcome – at last we seem to have some sunshine here in the UK – I am writing this from our gazebo in the garden!  It’s a shame the weather didn’t quite come up to scratch earlier in the week as we have recently returned from a mid-week break to Centre Parcs – not that the weather matters too much there – but holidays just feel much better when you have the sun on your back I’m sure you will agree!

For those who have not experienced a Centre Parcs short break I hope you may find my account might edge you into taking a trip.  There are now 5 Centre Parc villages dotted around the country – Sherwood Forest, Longleat Forest, Elveden Forest, Whinfell Forest in the Lake District and the newest of the bunch is to be found at Woburn Forest, which opened 2/3 years ago.  We always stay at Elveden Forest as it is a scenic hour and a half drive away and once the car is parked, the stresses of everyday life just fall away.

As a family we were smitten with the concept of staying in the forest when my son, the youngest of my 3 children, pleaded with us to go as his friends had recounted many great stories of happy times spent there.  This was about 16 years ago and we have been going back every year since!  Nowadays, with the children grown up and with some of them flown the nest, it is an ideal opportunity for us to regroup and spend some quality time together without day to day distractions.  For the past few years we have rented a villa that caters for dogs, and although our own darling dog (Lilly, a cocker spaniel) passed away last Christmas, my eldest daughter now has a dog who as very much a family member, joined us this year too!

Hubby, who some may say is a slight exercise junkie, usually cycles the 75-odd mile journey, leaving around 8 in the morning.  By the time the rest of us are packed up and ready we make our way at a much more respectable time of around 10am.  We all arrive before lunch and meet up at Starbucks by the lake where we can sit outside and begin to relax.

 

Quite often my first afternoon is spent in one of my favourite places in the world – the Aqua Sana spa!  A little piece of heaven.  I normally start off in the sauna and then work my way around the various steam rooms – the Indian blossom room, the Turkish Hamman, the Japanese salt steam room, the Greek herbal bath, the Balinese Multi-steam bath – these are interspersed with multi-sensory showers, spa pool, relaxation and sitting and contemplating in the Japanese garden and sitting watching the treetops on the outdoor terrace –

I always finish off my session in the meditation room – just 3 hours of sheer bliss!  I like to fit in 2 spa sessions if I can and this year as it was our wedding anniversary we also went for a couples afternoon spa with afternoon tea – all very lovely:)

We also found time for some bowling, badminton, tennis and table tennis – which I particularly love to play as I learnt when I was a child on my holidays down in Kent and although I can’t profess to play with great skill I do enjoy a good game and was instructed on the benefits of learning to add spin to the shots!

For me I love the beach – I was brought up on beach holidays in the 1970s and have never lost the love of feeling the sand beneath my toes!  So one morning as the men were playing golf I took myself off early to sit on the beach area near the main lake for some special ‘me’ time to catch up on some reading and dreaming.  I met some geese at the beach!

From there I visited the pottery painting studio which is held in the hotel.  I have enjoyed this before and found it very therapeutic – for a small fee you can choose any number of items on display to paint up in a variety of colours and patterns and then the items is fired overnight and you collect your piece the following day.  This time I chose a herb planter and saucer to go in my newly decorated kitchen and although it is not perfect, I really enjoy the process of adding on the colour and decoration – very relaxing and creative.

We also found some time to share some lovely meals – the pancake house is a family favourite – I enjoyed a savoury goats cheese and red onion pancake followed by a sweet one with some added ice-cream – luckily we were very active during the week to counteract the calories!  A family tradition is to get up early and run a course around the perimeter of the complex – this is just over 3 miles – and as I hadn’t done too much training this year – I was a little worried but luckily I made it round without stopping – especially as we had a handicap race this year – with a time for our first run and then being timed again a couple of days later – and I’m pleased to say we all improved our times, even if we were still feeling a little sore!

Another family tradition we have is a couple of family quiz nights throughout our stay – preparing a quiz can take weeks of preparation – and the quiz master often gets shouted down if there are too many science and maths questions but it is all good fun and good bonding experience.

I must also mention the swimming – the pool is one area that cannot be missed – the whole area is a host of excitement with huge buddha statues and giant plants adding to the atmosphere.  I love the lazy river area where you swim round with an undercurrent whilst looking up into the plants – it is nice and relaxing – from there we normally take ourselves up to the deep end where we swim a few widths of the pool before the wave machine kicks in.  There are a couple of lovely waterfalls and lots of plants again in this area.  One of our favourite rides to go on is the white water rapids – a great experience to find yourself whizzing down – this year we had some ducks visiting the mid-way pool point as an added bonus!  For the brave there is a relatively new ride called Tropical Cyclone – I got away with not going on it this year as you find yourself in a rubber dingy suddenly dropping at great force down the tube!  Good fun but not for the faint-hearted!

Pool images courtesy of Google Images

As you can no doubt tell, I really enjoyed my break and it is always with sadness that we leave, but in the knowledge that it won’t be long before we are back, living the adventures all over again!