Before 2017, I had never been to Center Parcs. I'd never really been away during Winter at all to be honest; the idea was a novelty. With my birthday being at the beginning of January, I'm used to everyone being too skint, stuffed and exhausted from Christmas and New Year to do anything during that month.
This year, however, Sam suggested that we go away for my birthday, and so on January 23rd, (a year to the day of my boob job), we packed up the van and headed off to Sherwood Forest for the week, eager to leave the usual January blues behind.
We stayed in "Cedar", in a studio apartment with underfloor heating. We were quite fortunate in where we had been placed; our cabin was in a block of two as opposed to our neighbours' blocks of five. A small, natural hill ran between us and our neighbours, shielding us from view, covered in shrubs and bushes which played host to a multitude of birds and rodents. A floor-to-ceiling window in the lounge allowed us to spy on the majesty of nature from the sofa, and the Pine trees provided Sam with the perfect backdrop for his smoke breaks as it were.
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| Behold, the majesty of nature... |
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| Jeffrey |
He had never seen a Pheasant in the wild before, so you can imagine how happy we both were to see the same one every single day during our stay. We named him Jeffrey. There were also hundreds of squirrels, including the fattest one I've ever seen. We also saw a Woodpecker and some Eurasian Jays, as well as a multitude of Robins.
In some ways, it was a holiday of many firsts - it marked the first time I had been on a bike for at least 5 years. Sam's mum and dad let us borrow their bikes and I started the week nervously wobbling around the forest screaming "you're spooking me, you're spooking me!" if Sam came too close. I was convinced that it was only a matter of time before I accidentally ran somebody's child over. By the end of the week, though, I felt confident enough to consider taking my helmet off.
I didn't though.
Safety first, kids.
Not being the sportiest person around, I was worried that Center Parcs might be wasted on me, and that the week would just prove to be an expensive camp-out, but there's actually quite a lot to do if you don't fancy fencing or caving. We played a couple of games of badminton, and Sam wiped the floor with me at pool and bowling. We also cycled over to the Country Club once or twice, where Sam treated us to a hot chocolate.
It was great to get some winter sunshine and exercise. It made a nice change to the monotony of the workplace after the Christmas break.
10/10, would Center Parc again.
