Days out, WITHOUT kids - Wookey Hole

Peter and I spent a few days in Lyme Regis in September, we have friends who own a fishing boat there and while the men go fishing, the women go shopping, drink tea and visit craft shops and local markets.

We've done this on and off for the past 17 years, more off then on since moving abroad, but something we'd like to do more of when we move back to the UK in the next 2-3 years.

We visit outside of school holidays, when it's quieter, cheaper, roads are less busy and there are more options for accommodation, plus it's cheaper for Peter and I to visit the UK at these times of the year.

On our way home and on a whim we decided to call in at Wookey Hole, somewhere neither of us have been since the children were small, we booked tickets online in the car park and saved 20%.

The grounds are lovely, with the River Axe bursting out from under the rocks, yet inside the caves the water is so deep it seems that it isn't flowing. Fairy gardens and picnic areas and ice cream huts are dotted around and life sized dinosaurs and Unicorns as well as King Kong decorate the path to the paper mill.

We arrived in time for a tour of the caves and only waited 15 minutes in a queue with lots of other middle aged couples looking for something to do on a wet day in Somerset. The tour guide was very informative but I felt the pitch was still aimed at families with children.

The caves aren't suitable for anyone with mobility issues and pushchairs and wheelcahirs can't be used inside. If you're claustrophobic, acrophobic (have a fear of heights) or suffer with vertigo or unable to bend to avoid low hanging rocks, I really wouldn't recommend it

Either due to the weather or the fact it was out of school time a lot of what was advertised on the website was unavailable such as the cheese tasting, panning for gold, paper making demonstration, clown show and most importantly there was no appearance from the Witch of Wookey Hole. This is something that should be on the front page of the website.

Despite this we had a great time and were able to wander in and out the attractions at our own speed after the tour of the cave finished, we stopped for lunch, before having fun in the hall of mirrors. It's quite disorientating to be able to see Peter in front of me, but to hear and know that he is behind me.

The clown museum was fun to visit. I know some people find them creepy and scary, but that's how the horror movies have portrayed them.

We spent our pennies wisely in the Victorian arcade and I actually laughed along with the some of the displays. There was no queuing or waiting for any of the attractions which was nice and we didn't have to give way to parents pushing their kids forward to make sure they got a turn, despite the fact we'd paid the same price to enter, which is a big bug bear of mine.

I've no idea what these 'wonky' mirrors are called, but we had a lot of fun with them at the entrance to the obligatory walk through the gift shop before we could exit, stopping to buy a couple of gifts for our 6 year old niece.

Before returning to the car park we collected putters and balls for a round of crazy golf, normally priced at £4 which was included free on the day of our visit. We started off quite competitively, then relaxed and even scored a hole in one. I declared myself the winner, when on the last hole, Peter put his ball out of play in the water and we couldn't retrieve it.

With a bit more planning for our trip (if we'd had any clean clothes with us) we'd have stopped over in the hotel where prices started from £39 and could've explored near by Glastonbury, Cheddar Gorge or shopped at Street the following day.

We enjoyed our day so much that we're planning to more of this tourist stuff next time we're both in the UK together, let me know if you've got a favourite place you think we'd like to visit.

Day out to Forde Abbey and Gardens

Forde Abbey in Dorset, with a Somerset postcode, just outside of Chard, is set in 30 acres of grounds, Forde Abbey was once the home, some 800 years ago to Cistercian Monks. After it's dissolution in 1539, it lay empty for 100 years before being transformed into a family home, the Roper family moved in, in 1905 and the 3rd generation remain there today.

We visited with friends on our last trip to the UK. The weather was gorgeous and we spent a good part of our time in the vegetable and flower gardens, everything was labelled and friendly gardeners were on hand to answer any questions. 

A series of ponds, leading from the Great Pond were laid out 700 years ago is an early example of landscaped gardening. The Mermaid pond is home to the Centenary Fountain, installed by the current family to mark 100 years of living at Forde Abbey.

Finally after 2 hours wandering around the vegetable gardens, followed by lunch, we made it to the back of the gardens and into the house.

Sadly we had to leave as we were driving back to South Wales, leaving a bit more of the gardens to explore on our next visit.