The Eden Project

One of the aims of our holiday in Devon was to take a trip to the Eden Project. None of us had been, despite it celebrating its 10th birthday this year. We converted some more Clubcard vouchers into tickets so it was a cheapish day out, barring the petrol for the nearly 70 mile trip from where we were staying.

We got there early and got round the Rainforest biome early as we had been advised. I am so glad we did - it was hot and getting hotter all the time but it wasn't too packed. Everywhere we went, it seemed that we were just ahead of the crowd as it would fill up after we arrived. We tried to brave the Rainforest Lookout right at the top of the biome but I don't do well with heights and despite giving it a go, we got up two flights of steps and the children both freaked. I offered them the chance to turn back and they took it, something I was mightly relieved about! Missy Woo even came down one flight of steps on her bottom rather than having to look down. We let my husband go up by himself but even he came down slightly shaking as it was even scarier at the top so I was glad I took them back down. The children loved looking at the plants and insisted on taking photos, more of which later. We found it funny that we saw several robins around who must have made their way in from outside! The displays were well organised and appealed to the children as well as adults.

After we came out, we went into the bakery in the link building, which seems to be the nicest and best place to eat, with a relaxed atmosphere. You take a board and help yourself to whatever you want, order hot drinks from some of the staff then go and pay at the end. Top prices seemed to be about six pounds, which included the most enormous foccaccia sandwich - easily shared between two people. We actually bought the biggest scone I have ever seen which I covered with jam and cream; it fed three of us!

After the Rainforest, the Mediterranean biome was much more relaxed - and smaller too. We sat for quite a while listening to some songs. And lots more photos got taken!

Beyond the biomes, we wandered around outside and Monkey and I took the landtrain as we decided not to wait when we arrived. We all enjoyed the Core too, playing with the exhibits, like the giant Seed statue and the Plant Processor, and watching the films.  We came back via the picnic/play area and stopped for another coffee in the Apple Cafe at the Visitor Centre, which was not as good as the bakery, largely because no-one seemed to be clearing tables and it looked a mess. We found the shop really expensive so we skipped off home after that, though we got slightly lost as we missed the turning back to the A390 within the grounds (Eden Project, please note - make the A390 exit sign more obvious, like adding Liskeard or Plymouth so people know it's the right way to go!).

Our tips (some of these were passed on to me by the good folk of Twitter):

- Get there early and round the Rainforest biome first before it's busy.
- Use the park and ride to save your legs; we were quite close but some of the car parks are a very long way from the entrance.
- Take on loads of water when in the Rainforest biome - there are water fountains around and places to sit.
- Don't attempt to go up to the lookout if you remotely have a problem with heights.
- Wear loose, light clothing because you WILL get hot in the rainforest.
- You can buy an annual pass for the same price as a day visit but you can't do this if you use Clubcard vouchers.
- You can save money by booking tickets online, more if you select the date of your visit. You also get a discount if you arrive on foot, by bike or public transport (but you have to buy tickets on the door to get this discount).
- There are plenty of accessible routes but you will miss some parts if you have a buggy as there are lots of steps, or have a lot of lifting to do. If you can manage without one - I know that's not always possible - I'd recommend you leave it behind.
- Eat at the Eden Bakery - the food seemed the nicest, there were fewer queues, more seating space and the atmosphere was more relaxed. The food in the Mediterranean biome looked nice too.

I've put together a little slideshow of the best photos from our trip. They were mostly taken by the children - I've left off a lot of chopping off of heads and photos through wire mesh etc! But still, there are some nice photos in there and they did really well. It's great that you can do that with digital photography. Apologies that one is on its side but try as I might, Slide won't rotate it even though it says it is.

Enjoy...

We think the Eden Project is a great day out for people of all ages - it's educational as well as fun and pretty much everybody will get something out of it. It is a whole day out - we were there from just after 10 until 4 - so the £60 for a family of four to get in is worth it, especially as most things are included in the price. And if you can make use of the annual pass and visit more than once, it then becomes a bargain!

Silent Sunday

Bekonscot Model Village

All the fun of the fair

Bekonscot is probably the place I first went on school trips. As a child, we visited several times as it's a short drive from where I grew up. I fond memories of visits there and as a child, I found it captivating.

For all the times we've visited family "back home", we've never taken the children there. We never seem to have the time to go in short trips down to my mother's but she mentioned it a few times in our last visits but they never came off. This time though, we planned to take them there if the weather was right and thankfully, the weather forecast for today was good - although it started badly as it was raining a little at 9am but sunny by 11am when we set off.

Missy Woo gets up close and personal

All the way there, the children were obviously struggling with a concept of what a model village was and what they could do there. I explained that the houses were much smaller than normal and Monkey said "but how can there be shops?" (Guess who had just been given a shiny £2 coin by my mum's neighbour that was burning a hole in his pocket?) I tried to explain that the buildings were so small that noone could go inside them, and they couldn't really see the point of the place!

Monkey stops long enough for me to take a pic!

After a bit of driving round, we found a suitable parking place. (I'll come back to that). We arrived just after 12 which seemed to be when a lot of people arrived. Bekonscot accept Clubcard rewards so we got in for a lot less than the full price (a family ticket is £26.00). The children had their photograph taken and then we took them into the village and once they could actually see the models, they got what a model village really was. And they were captivated as I was when I was a small child. Their eyes shone with excitement and I had to contain them from running around (they have signs announcing "No running please" around the place). For every turn of the path, they discovered new things. And to Monkey's delight, there were model trains running around the place. Our visit was punctured with "Mummy, look at this!", "Look, a train!", "What's that, Mummy?" as they passed from scene to scene. I was so thrilled that they too were taking enjoyment from something I remember so clearly enjoying from my own childhood.

When we stopped for lunch at the tea room / picnic area, the children decided to spend some of their shiny new coins on ice lollies and they learned a lesson in queueing after they hung around the front and the lady sent them to the back of the queue.  And they nearly forgot to pay!

After a quick run round the children's playground, they were off again around the rest of the village, climbing the viewing platform that allows you to look across the whole of the model village. The village is well organised throughout with a one way system in operation for most of it but it can get clogged up in places as the paths are narrow - if you are going with a buggy, I would recommend taking the smallest and narrowest one you own! Towards the end are remote controlled boats, and a light railway which costs a pound each and takes you on a short trip round the garden area. All of this was of course topped off with a visit to the souvenir shop, where I got off lightly - Monkey found a model plane (not totally relevant apart from the planes flying overhead in and out of Heathrow) and Missy Woo a fetching purple wallet which will actually have use when she has toast money to take to school.

From the viewing gallery

Our visit took us about two hours although you could stay longer if you went round again. Beyond the village, everything does seem pretty organised and well thought out (apart from the ticket office, which seemed pretty slow). They have a shed where you can store your picnics, the picnic area has a sheltered part to shade from rain or sun and there is even a glasshouse style shed for indoor picnics in case that doesn't provide enough shelter. You don't feel ripped off anywhere at all - I like that they give all their profits to charity too.

If you ever go, these would be my tips:

- There is limited free parking just beyond and opposite the entrance which is likely to fill up quickly.
- If that is full, do NOT park in Waitrose car park just beyond it.There were signs up saying you are likely to get fined. There is a 2 hour limit for parking there but I guess you could avoid by visiting the shop. Possibly.
- If you don't get there early enough to bag a space, I would suggest arriving after 12. There is on street parking on the roads beyond Warwick Road on yellow lines where you can't park between 11am and 12 noon and that's only a few minutes walk away. No need to park in pay and display car parks.
- Don't fret if you don't fancy doing a picnic. The tea room looked pretty decent and the prices weren't extortionate. We bought 4 drinks and a sandwich which came to £8. I spied pieces of pizza for 99p.  I didn't tell the children, bad mummy!

Today felt like I stepped back in time and I saw Bekonscot through the children's eyes again. It has an enduring, timeless quality to it where it feels like it harks back to a forgotten age that perhaps lives on only in Enid Blyton books but it still delights children with its variety and feels familiar to them. It's changed and moved with the times but essentially, it's still the same as it was when I was small, a very very long time ago.

I have not been paid to write this post - I just wrote it because I wanted to!

My Fitness Story... - Dave

Today's guest poster is Dave, who answered my plea for posts. Dave's take on weight loss is probably one familiar to many people - losing weight in the face of temptation of foods that aren't any good for you. His battle with himself appears to be the hardest of all. 

So weight loss. Its no easy thing. Going from a shocking 44inch waist to a 31inch waist in around 2 years might sound like a long time....but when your love of sweets, cakes, pizza and beer is as big as mine, it's tough. When I first started living on my own, it was take aways and pints every night or a trip to my local pub where you get pizza 2 for 1 and beer at the same time. Then I found it.....a love of hill walking and a tough other half who makes me hit the gym 3 or 4 times a week.

Ahhh the gym.....a place where folk in spandex make you feel bad by looking so good in it...and that’s just the guys. I try to hide myself away in a corner in my baggy shorts and XXL t-shirts to hide my smaller but still there gut.

A down side to this weight loss. Finding lumps under my skin, apparently a downside to being large and getting slim. They are merely lumps of fat left over that will be the last to go during my extreme slimming but upon feeling one on my what were rather large breasts, panic hit and I ran, nae sprinted, to my GP. Left feeling like a plonker with some antibiotics.

Weight loss is an uphill battle. The temptation of food, beer and sweets is far too much for me some days and I give in which results in feeling bad and having to work extra hard the next day to take it all off again.

So, yeah, I'm the man in your spin class that sweats too much and pants a lot...next time you see him, give him some respect; it's taking him more energy to drag his fat ass about trying to do something about it.

So moral of the story is “A big mountain of sugar is too much for one man. I can see now why God portions it out in those little packets.”

Thanks very much to Dave for taking the time to write this post. What I think this post demonstrates is the phrase "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". We all want to do the right thing, we WANT to do the right thing, but can we do it? Not always! 

Please do share experiences in the comments below. My guest posters really do appreciate the messages of support they get from readers.

If you would like to share your fitness story, then please contact me on Twitter or email me on the address on the About Me page. All contributions are really appreciated so do get in touch, even if you feel yours is not a worthwhile story. If it's a personal experience, it is. Do please join in - or ask your friends if you know someone has a story to tell, even if they don't blog.

I'll have a new episode in the My Fitness Story... series next week.

Something to save me fuel? Yes please!

So, as you read this, I'm on a bit of a road trip. On Tuesday, I drove from Lancashire to my mum's in Buckinghamshire with the children in the back. At the end of the week, I'll drive to Devon. A week later, I'll drive back to Bucks for a christening and then home to Lancashire in time for the start of the new term.

Phew.

I don't do this often anymore. Why? Cos I can't afford it. Petrol costs are astronomical these days. I can actually remember when petrol was 39p a litre. The thought of it being nearly a whole pound more 25 years later is horrific. And yes, I really am that old.

Exploring more with Hyundai

We were very lucky on Saturday to be guests of Hyundai at Knowsley Safari Park and try out their i40 Tourer on the Safari Drive. Are they mad?

The children were very excited about a trip to the safari park as they seem to like zoos. We got there and found our way to the Hyundai centre, where I checked in whilst the children did some colouring. They gave me a time slot and even better, unlimited ride wristbands for all of us! We grabbed a quick coffee and did a scout around at the rides which were not yet open. We discovered the children were big enough for all of the rides - something that has never happened before.

Then, it was time for our drive. I was pretty nervous as I've never driven a car that size. The biggest car I've ever owned was an Audi A4. I got Monkey to choose which car - he chose the shiny black one with the chrome fittings which turned out to be top of the range model! The chap showed me around the car - and oh, my God! How different? My car is 7 years old and the most electronic thing is a digital odometer! This had no key, touchscreen controls for everything, and an electronic handbrake! I'm quite comfortable with new technology but this was a bit daunting. It even had a rear parking camera - for which thank God!

Silent Sunday