How handy for Wicksteed to be literally on the way to Great Yarmouth where I was heading for a long weekend (and the CF-Live).
CF needs the park guide updating, and as I'm the "official family park guide writer", it all worked out nicely. It got us [super]1[/super]/[sub]3[/sub] of the way to Yarmouth and a day at one of my favourite family parks.
It's a really odd place to be fair. It's like each "ride area" has just kind of been left to grew in the wild corners of the park, but it works. You have the lovely large grassy area in the middle and the rides around the edges.
We camped overnight to make the most of everything and it was actually a good site. The toilet/shower block looked new and it was large and clean - something you do pray for when you're camping. The weather was dreary and overcast and very windy, but apart from a couple of very light showers, the rain generally held off (another plus if you're camping).
We spent the evening looking for food. I didn't bring any cooking kit due to the boot being packed already. The park food places all shut down at 5:00 (we arrived about 4:45) so had to hunt elsewhere. The Tesco Cafe was now a Costa and the family budget didn't feel up to Nandos or Pizza Hut. So we ended up with dirty McDonalds and a couple of bags of Tesco breakfast type stuff (and some nice cider on 2-4-£5.
The evening was spent wandering the park for something to do. There are some odd statues around:
But it's kind of cool as well - though the grass getting there was very boggy.
There were also very cute and fluffy ducklings. I've seen photos of yellow ducklings and knew they had to exist (otherwise it means Tom and Jerry is a lie), but I've never seen one in the flesh... Erm... feathers before:
We also had a very quick trek around the "Nature Trail" which is just off the bottom of the camp site. I'll detail that later as I didn't have my camera on me
Then the dark set in, so it was time to pitch a tent:
And sit and watch the moon and drink a couple of ciders before sleep:
The next morning was really early one. Tents and seven years olds don't mix, simply because they wake as soon as it's light. So it was a quick wash and dressed and then out for a pre-six a.m. stroll around the nature trail. The best time to go and to see wildlife anyway apparently.
We spotted a couple of rabbits and a heron, but that was it. The morning was dull and a little chilly - not good weather for snakes. Also, aforementioned seven year old's version of "quiet" is not close to anyone else's dictionary definition
It's essentially a short walk around a largish lake. Sadly there's a lot of signs of human contamination (empty beer bottles littered and the like), but it's really very picturesque and "wild:
We came out on the Park's railway track. With no trains due for a couple of hours, the kids had the excitement of walking the tracks:
So did the geese... They were fowl!
Both geese and swans had young with them and were very nasty if you came anywhere near them. Unfortunately, they gave you no choice. As you walked they moved towards you and then hissed and flapped are you for getting too close. They didn't understand "if you had stayed back over there instead of intercepting me, it wouldn't be an issue"
Ahhhh, the stupid woman with the bread may have something to do with this
We milled around at the park for a long time after packing up and waited for opening to get wristbands.
I'll have to carry on next week with the actual park stuff when I've shifted this stinking cold, I'm not going to do it any justice carrying on now
CF needs the park guide updating, and as I'm the "official family park guide writer", it all worked out nicely. It got us [super]1[/super]/[sub]3[/sub] of the way to Yarmouth and a day at one of my favourite family parks.
It's a really odd place to be fair. It's like each "ride area" has just kind of been left to grew in the wild corners of the park, but it works. You have the lovely large grassy area in the middle and the rides around the edges.
We camped overnight to make the most of everything and it was actually a good site. The toilet/shower block looked new and it was large and clean - something you do pray for when you're camping. The weather was dreary and overcast and very windy, but apart from a couple of very light showers, the rain generally held off (another plus if you're camping).
We spent the evening looking for food. I didn't bring any cooking kit due to the boot being packed already. The park food places all shut down at 5:00 (we arrived about 4:45) so had to hunt elsewhere. The Tesco Cafe was now a Costa and the family budget didn't feel up to Nandos or Pizza Hut. So we ended up with dirty McDonalds and a couple of bags of Tesco breakfast type stuff (and some nice cider on 2-4-£5.
The evening was spent wandering the park for something to do. There are some odd statues around:
But it's kind of cool as well - though the grass getting there was very boggy.
There were also very cute and fluffy ducklings. I've seen photos of yellow ducklings and knew they had to exist (otherwise it means Tom and Jerry is a lie), but I've never seen one in the flesh... Erm... feathers before:
We also had a very quick trek around the "Nature Trail" which is just off the bottom of the camp site. I'll detail that later as I didn't have my camera on me
Then the dark set in, so it was time to pitch a tent:
And sit and watch the moon and drink a couple of ciders before sleep:
The next morning was really early one. Tents and seven years olds don't mix, simply because they wake as soon as it's light. So it was a quick wash and dressed and then out for a pre-six a.m. stroll around the nature trail. The best time to go and to see wildlife anyway apparently.
We spotted a couple of rabbits and a heron, but that was it. The morning was dull and a little chilly - not good weather for snakes. Also, aforementioned seven year old's version of "quiet" is not close to anyone else's dictionary definition
It's essentially a short walk around a largish lake. Sadly there's a lot of signs of human contamination (empty beer bottles littered and the like), but it's really very picturesque and "wild:
We came out on the Park's railway track. With no trains due for a couple of hours, the kids had the excitement of walking the tracks:
So did the geese... They were fowl!
Both geese and swans had young with them and were very nasty if you came anywhere near them. Unfortunately, they gave you no choice. As you walked they moved towards you and then hissed and flapped are you for getting too close. They didn't understand "if you had stayed back over there instead of intercepting me, it wouldn't be an issue"
Ahhhh, the stupid woman with the bread may have something to do with this
We milled around at the park for a long time after packing up and waited for opening to get wristbands.
I'll have to carry on next week with the actual park stuff when I've shifted this stinking cold, I'm not going to do it any justice carrying on now