The summation of today is a great day out had by all.
Well, where to start with today..? First with an apology that today's blog
is not only late but also will be a bit of a photo spam as there was just so
much going on. Then I suppose the next place to start, is the start of the
day which was in all honesty less than auspicious. We have been very lucky
with the weather as far as things go so far on this trip but we thought today
was going to be the exception when we opened up the curtains to torrential
rain. Today is dinosaur day so rain or shine there was no Plan B.
With our children and son in particular most holidays contain some kind of
dinosaur link at some point and when researching the local Inverness area we had
stumbled upon Landmark Park, an adventure park that also contained a dinosaur
themed area. That is why we ended our trip in Aviemore, as it was a short
bus drive away from the aforementioned park. Well hopefully anyway (read
yesterday's blog for the reasons why). So, we made our way through the
torrential rain to the bus stop and the first good sign for the day was seeing
the number 39 listed on the electronic departure board and it duly turned
up.
Fifteen minutes later we arrived in Carrbridge but it was still a full
forty-five minutes before the park opened and fifteen until the local cafe did
the same so we strolled down to see the Old Packhorse Bridge after which the
village is named. By now the rain had petered out to a drizzle and by the
time we wandered back up the road the sun was even beginning to show its
face. After a quick breakfast at the cafe we made our way up the hill to
Landmark Park.
First port of call was, of course, the dinosaurs. As mentioned we have
been to MANY different dinosaur parks/exhibits/displays etc. and we recognised a
lot of these dinosaurs from the Paradise Wildlife Park in Enfield but the kids
didn't mind at all and Forrest was in his element. They spent a while in
the fossil dig (a sandpit with fake dinosaur bones buried in it) until the
adults started getting cold and made them move on.
The next stop was the Tarzan trail. This is the middle level aerial rope course
challenge and whilst Paloma was still small enough to do the easier course, Wee
Monkey, she opted to join Forrest on the Tarzan Trail which she was just big
enough for. I decided to go on with her to help and I am glad I did as
whilst she had the confidence for it, there were some parts she struggled to
reach and others that she needed a bit of reassurance and guidance to get
across. The other monkey just got annoyed with how slow the people in
front were going and wanted to be let loose on the Ropeworx, a more challenging
trail, but with a height restriction of minimum 1.5m he has a fair way to grow
before he is allowed on that one.
Then came the water slides. Now I must admit I maybe hadn't fully read the
details of what this was before arriving and from the pictures I had seen was
expecting a water flume ride. This however was three different style water
slides which you went down in a rubber dinghy. There was Otter; a twisty
tube where you go down in near pitch darkness, Wildcat; a bumpy slide, and
Falcon; a near free-fall slide with an initial steep drop. We all went on
all of them in various combinations, we all had our favourites and we had to
drag the kids away over an hour later.
We had already made the decision that to catch the planned 1620 bus back to
Aviemore wasn't feasible and we would instead stay until closing time and catch
the next bus at 1820. So, after finally convincing the kids to leave the
waterslide area we decided to check out the rest of the park. The park is made
up of various different areas including Lost Labyrinth (which reminded us very
much of the Sky Maze at Bewilderwood in Norfolk), Wonder Wood where they had
built physical rooms that challenged your perception of what was happening
around you, Bamboozeleum where the kids got to mess around with optical
illusions, special effects and lots of interactive exhibits and the Ancient
Forest which was a newly opened (although not yet fully completed) tree top walk
where you could look out for red squirrels (we didn't see any squirrels but the
short break to calmly stroll through the trees was very restorative!).
Time was now getting on so we headed back towards the climbing and water slide
area. Forrest wanted to have a go on The Pinnacle, a 10m high climbing
wall with auto belay for safety. I loved watching Forrest on this as he
was so determined to reach the top and so proud when he finally managed to do it
after several failed attempts. The kids also loved the Safari
Ride-on Cars which didn't go the fastest but still allowed for some overtaking
(in particular Forrest made a great move to overtake an annoying kid who was
deliberately going slow and backing everyone up).
After a final choice from each kid (Forrest chose another go on the Tarzan Trail
whilst me and Paloma just managed to squeeze in another go on each of the water
rides) the main attractions were closed. So while Paloma played in the Ant
City, a small climbing frame and slide area, me and Forrest headed to the Forest
Tower to see the views from up high and then it was time to leave. As we
departed the near deserted park a few spits of rain started to fall and we
couldn't believe how lucky we had once again been with the weather as this was
the first rain since entering the park in the morning.
With half an hour to kill before the bus back to Aviemore we headed to a small
playground next to the bus stop. This led to an impromptu game of football
with an abandoned slightly soft but still playable football before our bus
arrived. Back in Aviemore we headed to the Galaxy World Buffet
Restaurant. This wouldn't normally be our kind of place, but the kids had
asked for sweet and sour chicken earlier in the week and from reviews it seemed
to be the most recommended option for Chinese in Aviemore. And to be
honest it didn't disappoint. The restaurant was very clean, the food
piping hot and tasty and best of all after such a busy day, there was no waiting
around so perfect for the kids. They also enjoyed the self-service dessert
cabinet and after Forrest discovered marshmallows and a chocolate fountain, we
all left on a bit of a sugar rush!
It was now gone 7.30pm, however to break up the walk back to the hotel and
keep the kids interested we decided to complete the last few clues on our
treasure trail. This did take us quite off the direct route at one point
and also caused some confusion when one answer had changed due to a shop being
renamed, but we completed the mission. All that was left was to get the
kids in bed (we thought this would be easy after such a busy day -
hahaha), start getting the bags ready for tomorrow and then write the
blog.
Blogged by Amber.
