Just before Yarndale when my days were full to the very brim, I confess that a part of me (the exhausted part) longed for it all to be over. I found myself thinking ahead into October and making a mental wishlist of things to look forward to. A shopping trip. A much needed hair cut (still on my to-do list). And a little trip away for my Birthday. I really wanted to head to the East Yorkshire coast (as I did five years ago) but the family point blank refused to deal with a three hour car journey each way. Instead, we decided to head West (which is very much closer) and I booked us a family room at the familiar and much loved Arnside Youth Hostel.
We arrived early afternoon on Saturday and instead of going straight to Arnside, we took a detour to the nearby village of Silverdale. I fancied a picturesque Birthday walk along the coast, and that's exactly what Silverdale delivered. From the centre of the village, we found the footpath that lead us through green fields....
....past a cutesome row of cottages....
....through a wooden gate and down a tree lined pathway....
....to emerge on the grassy cliff tops.
The view out across the sweeping bay was beautiful. I just love the expanse of the coastal landscape here, it seems extra large somehow. So much sand and so much sky!
We followed the path down from the wooded cliff top to the stony beach (Silverdale Cove).
It was magical. Just a few other folks about, but they soon went on their way and we had the whole place to ourselves.
We pottered and pootled, exploring the cave and the beach before taking a rest on a very conveniently placed wooden bench to eat chocolate. It was a lovely way to while away an hour or so before making our way back to the village....
....up the leafy green lane....
....strolling along chatting and laughing together in the late afternoon sunshine. There followed a brief debate over what to do next, and it was decided that we would head into Arnside in search of food.
I've chatted quite a bit about Arnside before, as we were only here a short while ago. This time I wanted to take some different pictures to share so that you can get an idea of just how lovely it is here. This meant that I had to drag my eyes away from the horizon in order to show you the lovely little parade of shops....
....and the picturesque row of rather beautiful old stone villas....
....and the quaint stone pier where we always go to eat naughty sweet things.
As you can see, the weather was doing some worrying things above our heads and we felt sure we would soon be in for a thorough soaking. But luckily....
....the dark clouds moved on and left Arnside bathed in a magical early evening light.
Having eaten a filling meal at the local pub, we just made it to the shops before closing time to buy up some ice cream. We walked out to sit at the end of the pier to eat the beautifully named "thunder & lightening" ice cream, enjoying the ever changing skies and the wide open views.
Did I already mention how BiG the sands are here at low tide?
And how HuGe the sky always feels here?
I've really come to love this little patch of coast. I love that there is grass growing on the beach.
I love the unusual mixture of riverside and coast, and that it's always so, so sleepy and tranquil. It's an extremely relaxing place to unwind, slow down and just enjoy being In The Moment.
Arnside Youth Hostel was as cosy, welcoming and charming as ever, wearing it's colourful Autumn coat and looking glorious.
I was thrilled when we checked in and were given room number 2 this time, as I knew straight away this was a first floor room at the back of the hostel with stunning views out across the estuary. We spent the evening in the cosy little upstairs lounge room, reading, playing games and chatting with other guests.
We woke early on Sunday morning thanks to our 3 year old living alarm clock, but that was ok as we had A Plan and needed an early start. After a hearty breakfast, we packed up and said good bye to this special place, then set off to drive north, up into the Lake District.
Our destination :: The South Lakes Wild Animal Park.
Just by chance I had picked up a leaflet at Little B's nursery the previous week, advertising a family pass to the wildlife park for just £20. We had no idea what it would be like, but after the success of our Blackpool zoo visit last year, we thought it would be worth a go.
We arrived early and were the very first family to enter the park. It felt rather strange as apart from the people busy working there, we literally had the whole place to ourselves. At first we didn't quite realise how this park operates, as I think we were expecting a zoo. And while there is much about this place that is zoo-like, much of it is very different.
For starters, the main animal enclosures are very open and spacious, with fenced walkways running around and through them. It meant that often you could get very, very close to the animals, and felt as if you were literally walking amongst them.
This is the "African Plain", home to a giraffes, baboons and white rhinos.
The raised wooden walkways allowed us to get fantastic views of the animals, we were all absolutely in awe of how close we felt to everything. It was a truly thrilling experience, made even better by the fact that we were the only people there for a good while!
The lion enclosure was completely incredible. There was a mixture of this diamond fencing and large glass viewing panels, so that we were able to stand literally a couple of metres away from the lions themselves (there were electric fences also, keeping the animals at a safe distance). I think we were fortunate to be there at a time when the lions were strutting their stuff very close to the perimeter fence, but even so, I loved the way it was designed.
As well as the very open areas, there were also more traditional animal enclosures and houses. I didn't take that many animal pictures as I was busy enjoying the experience with the Little People, but it was all great.
Much of the park has been designed with these fantastic aerial walkways, allowing great views of the animals below.
But the very, very best thing about this animal park is the abundance of free roaming animals. The official blurb says "get close and interact with free roaming animals in our walk through natural areas", and wow, by golly, that was absolutely spot on right. The "get close" bit was astonishingly accurate, and often came as a bit of a surprise/shock! Take this Emu for example. As tall as me, he came strutting (very closely) past us, causing Little B to squeal with shocked delight.
All sorts of other birds were free to roam and fly around the park, my favourite being some magnificent, huge blue and green macaws which live wild in the trees.
Madagascan Lemurs also roamed completely freely throughout the whole park, which was an incredible experience for the Little People (and Big People!). More than 100 lemurs live at the park, swinging in and out of the trees, leaping around the place and generally providing a great deal of entertainment. Tamarins and cute little Spider Monkeys were also allowed to free-roam in paces, it was remarkable to see these animals given so much freedom.
My absolute favourite thing about the whole park was the restaurant, or more precisely, the outdoor bit of it. There was a huge wooden terrace overlooking the African Plain, which was just at exactly the right height for some close-up giraffe encounters....
The giraffes came so close to us, that we could easily have reached out and stroked them. I absolutely loved seeing their faces up close, they are the most enchanting animals. Oh, those eyelashes! Not too sure about the long, slobbery black tongue, but I can easily overlook that if I focus on the eyes.
All in all, a most extraordinary experience which I'm sure will stay with the Little People for a long time to come. And if you ever happen to be up in the Lake District with a clump of children to entertain, I can highly recommend it.
We came home feeling like we had been away for aaaages and I think weekend holidays are such good things. Still nice to come home though, to light our fire and enjoy some cosy family time within our own four walls.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Looks like a super way to spend a weekend! x
Posted by: Rachell | October 16, 2013 at 04:18 PM
Happy Birthday and what a wonderful way to celebrate. It looks just beautiful. Love the animal park. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Beth | October 16, 2013 at 04:12 PM
Glad you had such a lovely birthday weekend. It all seemed so familiar as, as a fairly new devotee (possibly stalker😉) of your blog I was only reading of your first visit to the Arnside youth hostel the other night. Your photo's really capture the spirit of the Lakes. Hopefully now you have fully recovered from yarndale and are ready for the steady build up to (dare I say it) Cristmas x
Posted by: Donna Dowd | October 16, 2013 at 04:02 PM
Oh what a lovely weekend.. happy birthday!
May I very humbly say that that is a peacock, not a macaw.
Posted by: Gunjan | October 16, 2013 at 03:09 PM
The beach looked so lovely and large in the photos, which are great, as usual! Happy Birthday!
Posted by: Izzy | October 16, 2013 at 03:00 PM
Happy birthday! This look like such a nice way to celebrate with your family.
Posted by: Thistle | October 16, 2013 at 02:54 PM
Lovely pictures glad you had a wonderful time.
Clare x
Posted by: Clare | October 16, 2013 at 02:41 PM
What a fabulous birthday weekend!
Beautiful pictures.
Posted by: Inge | October 16, 2013 at 01:54 PM
Oh!...the green fields.. the big sky and beach, beautiful! looks like a great birthday get-away. I see you found another feather for your collection too. :) Nothing like the zoo trips, making wonderful memories. (BTW, the fencing you mentioned is called chain link fence here in the US.)Happy week!
Posted by: Angela-Southern U.S.A. | October 16, 2013 at 01:46 PM
Thank you for sharing your photos. I will probably not see your country with my own eyes, so the photos are a delight to me. Made me want to plan some sort of birthday getaway for myself!
Blessings on you!
Posted by: Dawn | October 16, 2013 at 01:26 PM
Glad you had a great birthday weekend. I'm starting to be a bit jealous of the fact that my family had a day out at South Lakes Wild Animsl Park without me a few years ago. I shall demand to go next time.
Posted by: Rachael | October 16, 2013 at 01:24 PM
This is near my home, I took my other half last summer when we went to visit my family. We were like children, it is truly an amazing park. A cheeky little lemur stole some of my grapes by sneaking up on our picnic! I can't wait to have children so it is acceptable to go on days out like this more.
I have just started a blog (http://sophiesewandsew.blogspot.co.uk/) after being inspired by blogs like yours, I taught myself to knit less than a year ago and to crochet a few weeks ago. Thankyou for being so creative! xx
Posted by: Sophie | October 16, 2013 at 01:20 PM
What a lovely Birthday Weekend. It looks perfect. Thank you for sharing.
Posted by: Charlotte | October 16, 2013 at 12:59 PM
What a fabulous birthday weekend! Isn't it lovely to find somewhere that's so new and exciting in a place that you choose to go to because it's familiar? Thanks for taking the penguin photo - I LOVE penguins and they looked like they were very happy ones! Glad you had a great time - Yarndale must feel like a long time ago now! xx
Posted by: Winwick Mum | October 16, 2013 at 12:58 PM
We were camping at Silverdale in the summer, such a great cove to explore and the children loved it. Chips from Arnside chippy eaten on the pier while watching the tide race is were another highlight.
Posted by: French Knots | October 16, 2013 at 12:50 PM
Oh what a great zoo, I so enjoyed it!AriadnefromGreece!
Posted by: Ariadne | October 16, 2013 at 12:49 PM
Love this post Lucy, as it's my part of the world! My daughter has just had an interview at the animal park, and we are waiting to hear if she is to be an elf at Christmas! Lovely pictures as always
Claire xxx
Posted by: thriftwood | October 16, 2013 at 12:39 PM
Lucy thank you for the inspiration and the love you spread, I am glad you had a happy birthday weekend with your dear family. Love from Adriana, Uruguay, South América
Posted by: Adriana | October 16, 2013 at 12:38 PM
So glad that you had such a lovely birthday, Lucy! The animal park looked amazing, and I wonder if there is something like that here in the US.... ;)
Posted by: Emmy | October 16, 2013 at 12:34 PM
Thank you for sharing your weekend, the hostel looks amazing as did the animal park.
Posted by: irene donovan | October 16, 2013 at 12:29 PM
Yey you came to what we like to call 'our' zoo. We live near by. If you should be over again between November and February entrance to the park is free, which brings people to the zoo and who hopefully spend money in the restaurant and shop. It's also going to get a bit bigger with more species of animals, we love it and are thoroughly excited!
Glad you had a lovely birthday and weekend jolly.
x
Posted by: Elaine Lewis | October 16, 2013 at 12:28 PM
How lovely to have a little mini-break for your birthday after all the hard work. So glad you had a lovely weekend and the weather was kind! Claire x
Posted by: Claire C | October 16, 2013 at 12:27 PM
Having left England for sunnier skies many centuries ago(that's the way it feels anyway )I thoroughly enjoyed your trip as if I had been there myself.You bring me back once more to the holidays of my childhood where in this same area I remember green hills still lakes and bubbling streams and rivers.Thanks so much for sharing.
Posted by: Valerie Gindin | October 16, 2013 at 12:25 PM
Lovely Arnside, Lucy. It's a. While since I have been but love it. Did you ever go to Gibraltar Point? the pictures at wildlife park are stunning. I see your crochet mitts made an appearance!
Posted by: Anne Marie | October 16, 2013 at 12:24 PM
Glad you enjoyed your birthday weekend. The animal park sounds fabulous, it's definitely going on my list of places to visit.
Posted by: Jo | October 16, 2013 at 12:22 PM