A Trip down Forestry Lane!

Our Centre Parcs Best Bits!

Hello Again Everyone, Today's Post is all about The Hocks favourite place to Holiday - Yes +Center Parcs UK. We have decided to tell you some of our best bits from all our holidays there and this is because we are going again! Yes but this time its all different as there is only the 4 of us going AND we are going for a full 7 nights. We truly have never been so excited. +Center Parcs Sherwood Forest here we come!

We also wanted to do this to celebrate the fact that our most popular ever post was our "Hocks Holidays" Post about Centre Parcs which we have had so much positive feedback from and it still tops our view rates every single week - If you have not seen this post please Click Here

So Lets Get on with this Post all about our Best parts of Centre Parcs, Please do get in touch with us with your favourite parts of this great holiday company too as we love hearing about other peoples experiences!

1) Best Journey:

We all Agree that the best journey was the last one we took to Whinfell. Colin was fortunate enough to stay at Anna & Allan's house the night before and Michelle and Tommy went and stayed in a hotel in Shap. The next morning we met Lynne & Eifion and convoyed until we met Michelle and Tommy at the +Llama Karma kafe which is just a few minutes away from the entrance to Whinfell Forest. Here are some pictures from this Journey:

And a Video of a very excited Colin the Night Before!

2) Best Welcome:

We have to say that the welcome you get at +Center Parcs Whinfell Forest is unlike any others. They have these wonderful drive in Huts where you check into and it just makes the whole experience even more individual and welcoming. And at Christmas they are decorated all inside. It just seems to make the Welcome even better! 

Photo Courtesy of Google Street View

Photo Courtesy of Google Street View

3) Best Lodge:

This is very Difficult as we have NEVER had a bad lodge. We have stayed in Woodland Lodges through to New Style Executive Lodges and all have proved to be Spacious, Clean and well maintained.

At Elveden Forest we stayed in a gorgeous woodland lodge which was right on the edge of a lake, At Whinfell we have stayed in a New Style Executive each time which is perfect location and extremely beautifully decorated and during our stay at +Center Parcs Longleat Forest we stayed in an Original Style Executive where all the bedrooms were upstairs and the Lodge was Huge and also had an outdoor Sauna. 

So by a fingernail length we think we just about have to give it to Longleat!

To see All the different types of Accommodation at the villages Please Click Here 

4) Best Layout:

Without a shadow of a doubt for us the best layout has to be Whinfell Forest. It is not the biggest Centre Parcs which really suits us but at the same time it is not the smallest so you still get the whole Centre Parcs Experience. It is not too Hilly but not flat. For us it truly is the best! Here is a Video Highlighting the best parts of Whinfell Forest

And some Pictures:

5) Best Subtropical Swimming Paradise:

Of the ones we have been to we have to say Elveden Forests Subtropical Swimming Paradise was just Awesome! It has something for everyone and the kids Zone is really good. But it also has the exhilarating Tropical Cyclone Ride for the more adventurous. The Changing rooms are always Clean and warm and we have never had any issues with them.

Here is the Layout of the Pool Area at Elveden:

And an outside View of the Scary Tropical Cyclone:

6) Best Activity We Have Done:

For this part we have split it into 3 parts, Best Child Activity for Rosie, Best Adult Activity and Best Family Activity.

Best Child Activity

The best activity Rosie has done on her own was the Horse Riding Experience she had at Whinfell Forest. She absolutely loved it and has loved horses ever since and always talks about her time on a horse at Centre Parcs when she sees one

Best Adult Activity

Colin and Anna absolutely love attending the Pottery Painting Studios for a couple of hours. This activity is brilliant - its relaxing and creative and the setting is always really nice - however the setting at Elveden is simply stunning as you Pottery paint over looking the lake in a large spacious bright room.

Best Family Activity

The one activity we have done all as a family and truly loved is the Softball Tennis - its an activity everyone can get involved in and we never stopped laughing doing it - well worth doing!

7) Best Night In:

The best thing about Center Parcs is the fact you have a choice of going out for a nice meal of a night or cooking for yourself in your lodge. One year we decided to do a Come Dine with Me style competition where each night someone was in charge of the food and entertainment.

The First night of these was Indian Night provided by Anna, Allan and Colin and the entertainment was a game of Mr and Mrs between Tommy and Michelle and Lynne and Eifion. 

We have honestly never laughed so much and it was a really perfect Night in our Lodge in the Forest!

8) Best Meal Out at Center Parcs:

Again, we have had so many really nice meals out at Centre Parcs various on site restaurants, but for us the first meal out we went out on to the Indian Restaurant at Whinfell was just perfect. The food as always was excellent but there were a few things that happenned that made it stick in our minds. The first being Tommy saying in his deepest scouse accent to the waiter 

"Ill have Chickkkken Jalfrezi with Chips please Mate"

The waiter looked at him and said im sorry can you say that again and this time he put his posh voice on. The waiter just didnt know what to make of it. Then, near to the end of the meal, Lynne decided she needed to go to the toilet. She went to stand up and knocked her chair fully over - needless to say like the rest of the "oldies" it was alcohol influenced! 

9) Best Day:

For us our best individual day took place at the Winter Wonderland at Whinfell Forest. It was the first day and we arrived and were in love with the decorations that were all up around the village but then we were shocked and amazed when we stumbled across the "Enchanted Forest" 

This is an area of the forest where Christmas huts are put up featuring puppets in Christmas Scenes, The trees are all lit up with different coloured lights and central to it all is the Grotto and reindeer rest area. 

We found it in the afternoon but made sure we returned later on when it was dark to really get the experience - The best Winter Wonderland we have been to by a long way!

10) Best Overall Center Parcs Experience:

Well, not only was it our Best Day but our Best Centre Parcs experience definitely has to be our Whinfell Winter Wonderland Holiday. The forest just looks even more beautiful all twinkling in fairy lights. They also put on a wonderful firework Display and this was the first time Rosie experienced fireworks and she just totally fell in love with them. This video, Courtesy of Youtube shows the firework dispaly

And this Video was one we created of our time at Winter Wonderland

So there we have it, Our trip down the Centre Parcs Forestry Lane, We hope you have enjoyed reading about our favourite times in the forest as much as we have loved remembering and sharing them. 

Dont forget you can like us on Facebook and we would love to hear your memories of Centre Parcs or your thoughts on our memories

Christmas & New Year

Hey Everybody, firstly - Happy New Year! And we hope you like our New Look!

2015 was a very interesting one for us Hocks! It started in January with us starting this blog and we are made up that over the year it had over 15,000 Views - For that we want to say Thank You

We have recently had to review the time we spend on the blog due to Work constraints but we think from now on we should be able to do at least one post per week. This weeks will all be about what we did for Christmas and New Year - So lets get started!

on 17th December Rosie celebrated her 5th birthday - a few days before that she had a Christmas themed birthday party! Here are some pictures from her day!

On Her actual birthday the whole family gathered at +Frankie & Benny's for a meal. Food wasn't great but Rosie had an amazing time which is all that truly mattered! Again here are a few images from that!

A few Days Later and it was Anna's turn to celebrate a birthday then before we knew it came Christmas Eve! 

A group of us gathered at Anna & Allan's house where a lovely spread was put on including Anna's delicious Lasagne! Rosie was delighted with her special Christmas Eve box which contained new pyjamas, A new story book and much more! The family had a laugh and a good time before everyone apart from Allan, Anna & Rosie headed round to Lynne & Eifion's house where they were kindly hosted for 2 nights! Here's more pictures, this time from Christmas Eve!

On Christmas Eve Rosie remembered when she went to see Father Christmas with +Catherine Lux (Her God Mother) and her mum in Chester earlier in December  and told everyone exactly what she had asked him for - Here she was that day!

After a good nights sleep it was time for Rosie to see if she had been a good girl this year and see if Father Christmas had delivered her any presents - Fair to see she was a good girl and he did! Here is the proof!

Meanwhile, Round at Lynne and Eifion's we were all being treated to a lovely breakfast and Tommy particularly was in festive spirit wearing this t shirt! 

This year we broke with tradition with special thanks from all the family to Tommy -  he generously paid for 10 of us to go out for Christmas Dinner! 

After much deliberation we booked to go The Alyn which is a beautiful Country Pub by the canal in Rossett - the menu was a good selection and Eifion had said he had never had a bad meal in there! 

We have to say the Food and the service was absolutely brilliant and everybody enjoyed a really nice meal in a comfortable setting. All the food was hot and beautiful, we were in no way rushed and the atmosphere was fantastic. Here are pictures from our time at The Alyn

Once we were finished in The Alyn all 10 of us headed back to Lynne & Eifion's where Rosie got presents from the family as did the rest of us. 

Allan, Anna & Colin surprised Michelle, Lynne, Tommy & Eifion with a joint present between all 4 of them - A day in the premier stand including access to the Champagne Bar at the first race meeting of the year at Chester Racecourse in May - we did not have tickets so did this to give to each of them at the same time.

It seemed to go down very well as that very same night they booked themselves into a hotel in Chester for the same night and agreed to go somewhere for a meal after the races!

Colin, Anna, Allan and Rosie got quite a lot of money as well as other gifts as we had asked for the money to pay for us to go to +Center Parcs UK. We had already paid our deposit to go for 7 nights (Yes 7 nights we just cannot wait!) to Sherwood Forest at the end of April - this will be different though as it will just be the 4 of us! We will build up to this holiday in a post next week where we are going to reveal our best and worst moments of all our holidays at Centre Parcs!

Back to Christmas Day and after all the present opening we all headed round to Lynne's Sisters house around the corner for an hour or so but due to Rosie not feeling too well didn't stay too long. Allan, Anna and Rosie headed home and the rest of us were treated to a little buffet made by Lynne

Boxing Day saw a few of us go into Wrexham to look at the sales then we all headed back to our own homes. Altogether it was a beautiful, relaxed and wonderful Christmas.

New Year saw Lynne and Eifion go to their friends as hey do each year and im sure they got very merry. Allan, Anna, Rosie and of course Milo came to Southport for New year and after an early meal at the R Diner on Ocean Plaza on Southport Seafront we headed back home to some brilliant fireworks, a game of Articulate and watched the amazing firework display from London on the TV.

So that was our festive season! Christmas is our favourite time of the year and we love that all the family spend it together and have so much fun! 

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too - tell us about it if you like in the comments section as we love hearing other peoples stories of the festive season!

Once Again - Thank you for your support in 2015 and we truly do wish every single person who reads this a very Prosperous and Happy 2016