We couldn’t help but smile as we approached Crealy Meadows. The rain we’d experienced much of the journey there just vanished to reveal bright skies. We’d checked in around 7pm on the Friday, greeted by cheery staff who instantly made us feel at home. Less than ten minutes later we were parked up and exploring our luxury safari cabin.
How are we in August already? I don’t know about you but it feels like this year has just flown by. Thank you so much for sharing your adventures with the #UKexplore community on Instagram. It’s been great to see what you’ve all been up to and I love seeing your photographs. Over 18,700 have been shared now which is just incredible.
I’ll never forget the time I turned my back for a few seconds only to discover POD had scaled a chair and was just about to launch herself off the table! She was about two at the time and she’s been a climber ever since. Every time we visit the Alice Holt forest she asks if she can do Go Ape Junior but she’s not been big enough until now. Last weekend however she finally got to give it a go. We were a little apprehensive however as her first tree top adventure at Center Parcs a few months ago really didn’t go to plan. POD ended up dangling from a zip wire, unable to go forwards or backwards, in monsoon-like rain!
On a recent trip to Pembrokeshire with friends, I was hoping we’d be able to visit the area I used to frequent as a child. Druidstone is an hour’s drive from Tenby beach which was not far from where we were staying. About the same distance too from Martin’s Haven where we’d taken a boat to look for around Skomer Island. Thankfully we did make it and I really hoped it would be the same as I remembered it.
How much do we adore the #UKexplore hashtag on Instagram? If you’ve not come across it before, #UKexplore is a wonderful community focused on outdoor adventures. Set up by Karen from Mini Travellers (& Fuelled by Latte) and Rachel at The Ordinary Lovely, over 17,000 photographs have been shared over the past year. Rachel’s time looking after #UKexplore has come to an end though *sniff* so I’ll be co-hosting with Karen from now on. Rachel has done an superb job growing this community so do check out her blog The Ordinary Lovely if you haven’t already.
Just before we set off for Wales, the temperature in Surrey had soared to almost 30 degrees. But we arrived in Pembrokeshire to a very different climate – it was cold, wet and windy! The weather took a turn for the worse on our first day so donning our waterproofs, we headed to a deserted Tenby beach. When I say deserted there was an ice-cream van circling the beach on the hunt for potential customers!
How fast are the weeks flying by at the moment? Crazy to think it’s almost the end of June. POD asked when she’ll be seven the other day and her birthday is just 6 months away – it doesn’t seem five minutes since her last one! She’s growing up way too fast that’s for sure, fiercely independent too. Not that that’s a bad thing of course. On the subject of birthdays, we were in Perranporth in Cornwall a few weeks ago to celebrate POD’s great uncle Greg’s 70th birthday. We’d not visited the area before as Greg had a cat (we’re allergic) so it was a treat to be able to go and explore too.
Yes I know spring is over and summer is well and truly here (we even have a paddling pool in the garden!) but I had to share these photographs from a trip to Bocketts Farm Park though. It’s a working farm and we always love it there but springtime is just a little bit special. Little did we know we’d end up seeing quite so much or that six year old POD would be so taken with a lamb she asked to bring it home!
If you’re looking for a staycation, Pembrokeshire is always a winner. Having camped in South Wales as a child, we headed there as a family recently for a long weekend with friends. Of course the heavens opened on our first day but that wasn’t going to stop us exploring or having fun. We’ve already posted about our boat trip around Skomer Island, where we saw hundreds of puffins and lots of seals, so here’s a nose at the seaside town of Tenby.
The early part of the school holidays was spent with friends in South Wales. Although it’s been years since I was in Pembrokeshire, much of the coastline we explored had a somewhat familiar feel about it. We even made it to the beach I used to go to as a child so the kids could catch fish in the rock pools. We also took a boat trip to the 750 acre Skomer Island which is renowned for its wildlife. It has the largest puffin colony in Southern Britain, the largest Manx-Shearwaters colony in the world and it’s one of the top places in Britain to see seals.
