I must be one of the few people that have never been to Centre Parcs
I don’t know why, I have never been, I know so many people that love it, I guess there as always the pull of jumping on a plane to catch some sun and that pull won over the possibility of rain on a UK break
But this year that all changed, for Christmas last year my mum offered to pay for us all to spend a weekend at Centre Parcs in Elvedon Forest, Suffolk, as its exactly half way from them in Norfolk and us in Essex
It was hard finding a date that 5 adults and 2 children could all agree on, but we eventually found one and we booked for a weekend in late September
I was really looking forward to trying out some different activities, I liked the idea of the tree rope climbing and getting back on a bike for the first time in 25yrs (last time i was on one was May 1989, I came off and broke my arm weeks before doing my GCSE;s my parents weren’t impressed.
Unfortunately my sister hadn’t been keen to book activities, she was worried that the boys may change their mind or that they wouldn’t want to do things outdoors if the weather didn’t go our way, so we missed out on a few things but we still had a really good time, my mum and I walked loads, I managed a run 2 of the 3 mornings & got myself lost both times & I tried a Hula Hoop class, I’d be lying if I said it was a success, I was rubbish, it took me over half the class to be able to keep the hoop up for more than 20 seconds but by the end of the class I was hula-ing with 2 hoops so I was happy even if some of the class were on 9!!
But the highlight of my weekend was getting back on a bike, I was nervous first of all and tried my nephews before booking one for myself but I am so glad I did, I volunteered to do all the shop runs for groceries, & done 2 4 mile rides with my mum and my nephews, 2 10ks on my own, a 5k on my own and also a 4 mile night ride with my brother in law and nephew, I absolutely loved the nighttime cycling and it has really made me want a bike of my own, but after my accident I don’t think I will ever feel confident enough to ride on the road and I find the laws about cycling on pavement confusing, I also loved the fact that we got my mum out and on a bike, although she felt safe on her tricycle it was by far the hardest work of all our bikes
I had really wanted to the tree climbing but because we left booking very late there were no spots left, however as we walked past one morning we heard one family trying to cancel 3 spots for the next day so the boys bought their places from the family and headed up into the skies
They done so well, especially as there were time when they were literally hanging around up in the air due to others being unable to complete the course and having to be rescued (that wouldv’e been me) & the highlight for them all was the zipwire over the lake at the end
Even little Ernie had a fab time, at 16 I was a little bit worried how he would find all the walking, he is fine with short walks but everything here was either a walk or a cycle away but he loved it and when the others left a little early on the Sunday evening, after exploring every room of our villa to make sure they wasn’t hiding he decided it was time to take a nap and catch up on some much needed Zzzzz’s
I loved our little villa and am definitely a Centre Parcs convert now & can’t wait for my next visit
Project Healthy Fit Me 