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3 Aug 20, 07:31 PM |
#131
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Imagineer
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Sounds like you had a really wonderful day. I’ve only been to the Cotswold Wildlife Park once when ours were very young - I expect it’s changed a lot since then.
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3 Aug 20, 07:49 PM |
#132
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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It’s not changed a lot over the years to be honest. It’s been kept tidy and well maintained and there’s a few new areas, such as the lake walk through area which has viewing platforms for the wolves and wolverines, but it’s avoided adding too many distractions from the animals such as some other zoos seem to have done. So it’s a more relaxed place to visit and the animals have lots of room in their enclosures to roam. It’s definitely worth a visit
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4 Aug 20, 07:52 AM |
#133
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VIP Dibber
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The wildlife park looked good, and my heart panged when you said you were in the Cotswolds! How wonderful 🥰 am pleased you got to enjoy a meal out, that food looks fantastic especially the fish!
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4 Aug 20, 08:52 AM |
#134
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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We didn’t head into any of the villages so I’m not sure how busy they were but the pub we stopped at seemed very well prepared and very safe. There seemed less traffic in the area than an usual summer’s day so I feel there may have been less tourists than usual
I rarely choose ‘plain’ meals when out, preferring to order meals I don’t make at home, but the menu was limited so I picked the cod. It was possibly the best cod I’ve had out though so it was a good choice 😀 It was so nice to have a near normal day too |
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4 Aug 20, 09:43 AM |
#135
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Imagineer
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Ah the wildlife park sounds lovely and I'm glad it was less stressful than the previous trip! You've had some lovely weather too!
Have you ever been to Slimbridge wetland centre? I have never been but it looks nice and potentially easy to social distance... Maybe it will be my first trip out that isn't to an isolated beach or fields! |
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4 Aug 20, 10:21 AM |
#136
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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We’ve been so lucky with the weather, only one day wet in the whole two weeks and the weather for the Cotswolds was really hot, which we are comfortable with.
I’ve never been to Slimbridge, we have tried to go a few times but always had to change plans. Georgia was also supposed to go there with her uni course earlier this year but lockdown came so she didn’t get there either. It seems to be jinxed for us 😂 I would imagine Slimbridge would be a good place to go at the moment with lots of space |
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6 Aug 20, 04:09 PM |
#137
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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Ok, last day trip coming up and it’s
National Botanical Gardens of Wales, Llanarthne A bright, sunny Sunday and the last day of our holiday before DH returns to work. We last visited the Gardens when Georgia was around 2 years old so we were looking forward to the return visit. The gardens are only around 20 minutes away from our son’s house in Swansea so we had arranged to pick him and his fiancée up, as they are our family bubble group, and take them with us. I preordered our tickets online but this was not essential and the order was valid for a year so we didn’t have to book a specific day or time slot. The ticket also includes a return visit within 7 days which is good value if local enough to use it. The gardens are around an hour from home, although it took us slightly longer as we detoured to pick Justin and Emily up. We arrived at the gardens around 11am and there were signs up asking people to park 2m from the next car, which we did. The car park didn’t seem very busy and there was no queue to enter the Gardens. I simply quoted my order number and we entered. The Gardens are spacious and there was plenty of room to wander safely, it didn’t seem very busy which was surprising as it was a Sunday and there had been no limit on tickets sold. There was a one way system inside the Dome and in the courtyard containing the toilets, but everywhere else was not limited by a one way system as there was room to wander wherever we wanted. The toilets had an one in, one out system with an attendant making sure it was enforced but even this didn’t take long as the Gardens weren’t too crowded. Only takeaway kiosks were open for food and there were many picnic tables around. The Gardens were stunning, August is a wonderful time to visit as the flower beds were a riot of colour. There are many different themes gardens such as Japanese, wildflower, vegetable, an apothecary garden, fairy woods, walled gardens and the centrepiece being the magnificent undercover Dome with areas set out of plants from around the world in it. We all loved the day wandering around, taking photos, chatting and laughing together. I had, as usual, packed up our picnic plates and blanket and made a delicious picnic for us all to share which we really enjoyed followed by a tasty carrot cake Emily had made. We also stopped for ice creams at a kiosk (card payment only) where Justin treated us to ice creams as we had bought the entry tickets. I had strawberries and cream, Georgia had salted caramel, Justin had chocolate and Emily had mint choc chip, Rob decided not to have one. This was the only complaint I found about the Gardens, the metal tables and chairs outside the ice cream kiosk was not very clean at all and certainly weren’t cleaned between customers and I didn’t see any anti bac spray provided for customers to clean for themselves either. We sat at the chairs but didn’t put our ice creams down on the table at all and all used hand sanitiser before and after eating. The Dome didn’t have any limit on people entering at one time either, however as the Gardens weren’t too busy, the dome had plenty of room and it did have a clearly marked one way system inside so there was no need to restrict the numbers. We explored the Gardens all afternoon and left around 4. We returned to Justin’s and had a coffee in their garden and a chat before we set off for home. This was a lovely, relaxed day trip to end our two weeks and a brilliant family get together. Overall we feel we coped well and our confidence has picked up through the day trips. None of us feel we would want to go to a busy city shopping yet and generally will continue to try to avoid crowded places. However, we feel that we can take some control of our safety with hand sanitiser, hand washing, social distancing, masks and a bit of common sense so we aren’t as panicky as we were at the beginning of the holiday. I wouldn’t say we are completely comfortable with going out everywhere yet, but it’s getting better Here’s lots of photos of the beautiful Gardens 😀 Edited at 04:12 PM. |
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6 Aug 20, 06:11 PM |
#138
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VIP Dibber
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What beautiful gardens! I love that you always take a picnic too, the carrot cake sounds delicious thats my favourite cake.
Sounds like a really lovely day all round I hope you will maybe have some more days out, even though DH is returning to work, its good that you are enjoying being out and about now. Have thoroughly enjoyed this thread, thanks!
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Our trip reports - 1st trip to Florida - April 2014 - 'Are we nearly Bankrupt yet?!' The Kuna Mahuna Croatia Holiday 2016 Bankrupt again Florida 2017 New York & RCL Anthem of Seas 2018 https://dibb.in/13476718 And now it’s time for Wine Wine Wine! Rome + Celebrity Cruise May 2022 https://dibb.in/15427816 |
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6 Aug 20, 08:11 PM |
#139
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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We often eat out on days out in ‘normal’ times, at a pub beer garden or similar. I think we avoided these as we felt safer eating the food I’d prepared, apart from the one pub meal in the Cotswolds (which was delicious and we weren’t nervous eating there. The picnics were really tasty though and we found an assortment of things to eat as picnic foods. I love carrot cake too, and Emily’s tasted delicious 😀
The gardens were beautiful and I certainly don’t think we will leave it another 12-13 years before a return visit. I think we will still be going on a few day trips over the rest of the summer, even though they will probably have to be weekends with DH in work again. We are still considering taking the caravan away for a weekend but we are all still a little nervous, but at least we are managing to get out a bit more now. I’m pleased you enjoyed the thread, I hope it’s helped a few others feel like going out safely again too. |
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12 Aug 20, 07:39 PM |
#140
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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Update on our progress on going out since the day trips, well we’ve not been anywhere apart from our dreaded grocery shopping and one quick visit to a retail park. Both shopping trips weren’t very enjoyable as there seems to be less and less concern about social distancing every time we go in a shop so it’s getting harder 😔
However, we have been brave and booked to have afternoon tea in a nearby hotel next Monday afternoon as part of the eat out to help out scheme. The hotel is spacious and the afternoon tea is served in an airy lounge opening out onto the gardens so hopefully it won’t feel too crowded. I will post photos next week and let everyone know how it goes. It’s quite exciting to have a restaurant booking on the calendar, now I just need to decide what to wear 😂 |
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