Elveden Forest, Suffolk
Trip two of this year happened in late February when I went to Center Parcs with Sam and my in laws, Pat and Clive. Center Parcs has different locations around England and every time I told someone I was going they would quickly respond with “which one?!”. We stayed at the Elveden forest resort, which is only a couple of hours from where we live. This woodland place is filled with plenty of outdoor and indoor activities, and was everything that I was told it would be. Sam and his family have been going to Center Parcs since he was just 2 years old, so it had a lot to live up to for me. I had never been anywhere like Center Parcs before. I think the best way to describe it would be a very active weekend away in the woods. Since the grounds are massive the easiest thing to do is cycle everywhere you go (not my favourite thing in the world but it was all part of the experience). Plus my bum went numb after about the fist 10 minutes of riding. This was also a really special trip for me as I was meant to go here last year with the entire Hayward group, including my little nephew George, but couldn’t because I was still in New York waiting for my visa. My brother in law, John, Vicky, and little George could not make the trip this year because of the long awaited arrival of my niece Alice.
The cabin was so quaint and the perfect size for the four of us. Since it is a family resort Sam and I slept in the “kids room” that had two twin size beds but could easily be pushed together (and yes Sam fell into the gap a good few times). The size of the cabins depends on the amount of people staying in them. There are also the insanely expensive “tree house” cabins that are complete with a hot tub and game room, and can sleep about 20 people or something crazy like that. All the cabins come with their own kitchenette, which is perfect for saving some money from the restaurants on resort and making your own meals (although I was very fond of the Bella Italia and American diner). There is also a convenient little supermarket in the middle of everything where you can get all your essentials for a dinner in. The cabins had a fireplace, that I found was perfect for roasting marshmallows inside on one of our cold winter’s night. I should also mention how this was the first time ANYONE other than me had ever had s’mores before! If you’re not American a s’more consists of graham crackers, usually Hershey’s chocolate bar (any chocolate will do), and a marshmellow that should have been roasted on the fire. And you better believe roasting marshmallows has its own art form. Since they didn’t have graham crackers at the supermarket, I had to improvise and used Digestive cookies, the ones coated with milk chocolate (genius I know). Apparently a s’more is more American than I thought because even the name was troublesome for my British family members to say. And of course the “s’more what?” pun happened a few times.
On the first day we were eager to get to the indoor pool. This was the mecca of Center Parcs. It is always fairly packed, but always fun. I quickly turned into a child running from each water slide to the next and down the rapids pushing little kids out of the way as I slid past them (no children were harmed in my recklessness). This was definitely all of our favourite thing to do at Center Parcs. There is also the treacherous water slide called the Cyclone. The first time I went on it with the rest of the family, I thought I was going to go flying off the tube! I was shot up into the air, after taking a solid 15 foot drop down into the swirling room of water. It also didn’t help that Sam kept freaking me out by saying “are you holding on tight enough?!” the entire time we were on the ride.
On one of the rainier days at Center Parcs we took it easy and played some mini golf. If you know me at all you’ll know that even in family fun environments, the minute any competition happens I’m all in guns blazing (and especially when it comes to mini golf). Since there was an unfair amount of wind happening whenever I seemed to putt the ball, there was an unfortunate amount of swear words that came from my mouth. Luckily there weren’t any children close by. After loosing at that, I had to blow off some steam at one of the arcades and beat Sam at air hockey and Mario Kart, to bring my sprits back up. But don’t even get me started on how horrible I was at bowling the next day!
The other activity we took part in during the weekend was the exhilarating outdoor activity called The Drop. By far this was the most thrill seeking thing I have ever done (I’m not very fond of heights). The Drop consisted of a bunch of… well drops, throwing yourself off of high platforms. Some of them were free falls and others were with harnesses. The tallest free fall drop was from 10 meters (33 feet!) high onto a giant inflatable bag (absolutely zero harness or protective gear). I honestly couldn’t even believe I did it after struggling to jump off of the first platform that was 4.5 meters (almost 15 feet). And as the brochure states, it is not for the fainthearted. Again I unintentionally let out a few swear words while jumping off the edge (sorry mom). What didn’t help my fear was the fact that there was a little girl doing the experience with her dad, and she was easily flying off the platforms with zero fear in her. She was even impressing the instructors.
The free falling onto the bag is usually the last part of the activity, but since the weather was pretty windy that day it had to be done first in case it got any worse. It was so windy that all previous sessions of that activity that day were cancelled (this just added to the fear of jumping for me). The instructors were really great and once they got to know us better they were having a real laugh with us. Then came the part where we were supposed to jump off the platform with our harness on and hang from a punching bag for a few seconds. The instructors thought that it would be really funny to extend how long Sam and I held on for. Then they went even further and asked us to let go of the bag with our legs and continue holding on. I was surprised how long I was able to hold on for, but when I heard loud gasps from below I was wondering what I had done wrong. But low and behold my husband who does not like to follow instructions because he “misheard” them let go of the bag with his arms instead of his legs and was dangling upside down with his harness wires wrapped all around him. I had never seen someone’s facial expressions change so quickly as the instructors went from laughing to panic. But whatever Sam, I was just waiting for the overdue signal for me to let go of the bag HELLO PEOPLE! Some of us did listen to the directions. I knew he would be fine.
It really was an incredible experience and being someone who is not too fond of heights, I was getting more courageous after each drop falling backwards and forwards, and not wanting to death grip my harness. It had given me a little adrenaline junkie feel, and we’re already planning on giving their zip line experience a go next time we are at Center Parcs in October. That will be an exciting trip since it will be for Sam’s birthday and we will finally have all the Haywards with us, even little Alice! Hopefully we can go back during the warmer months too, so that we can do some of the water sports like kayaking and paddle boarding in the lake.
I could really go on talking about this place for ages. There is just so much to take in there. I just loved being able to go on relaxing long walks, eating at all of the different types of restaurants each day, getting bags of candy at the sweet shop, seeing wildlife right outside your window, and enjoying a fun weekend away with family (just to name a few). I feel like everyone takes away something memorable there. Some people remember it for the hot chocolates at the main bars, the diner, or the potent smell of chlorine in the recreation building. But for me it was just the calming sense of not having a time table and doing as you feel throughout the day. No one dresses up there (besides for going to the bar or to eat at night). Most of the day was spent in sweats or leggings and sneakers (athleisure attire is the best). 
Even as a group of adults going it was still an unforgettable trip. This place really had so much to offer and loads of bars to hang out at night. As part of their birthday present, we got Pat and Clive a massage package at the spa. I will 100% be doing that next time, as they highly recommended it. Even though I think most people would go to Center Parcs in the warmer months, I think going in the winter was still fantastic. We were able to have those cozy nights in by the fire having a few drinks and playing board games. I can see why Sam loves this place so much. I have a feeling this place will become a tradition for Sam and I and our future family trips to come.
