Colchester Zoo

Before now I actually cannot remember the last time I visited a zoo.  I've never been a huge fan and the thought of wild animals being kept in captivity just really doesn't appeal me.  I remember going to Colchester Zoo as a kid, back then it felt huge but I have to say, returning now as an adult it still felt as though the animals all had plenty of space within their enclosures.

It was also clear to see how much all the staff cared about the animals and how knowledgeable they all were, which was really lovely to see.  But the thing that struck me the most was the amount of work that Colchester Zoo do with their breeding programmes and the work they are doing surrounding conservation and sustainability.

    

They have projects worldwide in supporting conservation of animals as a part of their Action for the Wild charity.  It was humbling to see how passionate they really are, and the fact that it is not just another money grabbing tourist attraction.  It has definitely changed my perception of things and I won't be leaving a return visit so long this time.

~ Gem x

Rochester

I have vowed to explore more of the UK as part of my forty before forty list.  We are blessed with some beautiful places in the UK some of which are so close to home they can be travelled to and explored all in one day.  Places such as Rochester.  I am honestly not sure how I have managed to go this long before stumbling across this little gem of a place.

It is only a small town but it is packed with plenty to do.  In the few hours that I was there I managed to see a lot, without being rushed.  

The Cathedral was pretty grand, I imagine it would look gorgeous at this time of year decked out for Christmas.

Next up was Eastgate House, tucked just off the High Street.  I didn't go inside as there was an event taking place when I visited, but I was able to see it all from outside and even got to see the chalet where Charles Dickens used to do his writing overlooking the garden.

Lastly was the castle.  All that is left of it now is the square keep which you can still go inside and climb to the top (three floors), where the view of Rochester is worth a look. 

There was plenty more explored on the day so this isn't an extensive list on all that there is to do in Rochester.  I would say if you've not visited before, it is worth adding to the list of places to check out.  I'd like to return one year for the Dickens Themed Christmas market, maybe next year.

~ Gem x

Happy Place Festival

Back in August I headed into London with a friend to visit Fearne Cotton's Happy Place Festival in Chiswick Park.  It was a two day event, for which we had booked our tickets for the Saturday.  The ticket included general admission plus the main talks stage, although at the time of booking we had no idea who the guest speakers were going to be as these were not announced until a bit later.  There was the option to book additional sessions for various workshops, including yoga and extra talks but these all sold out pretty quickly and to be honest as it is the first event of this kind she has done, we were unsure what to expect and so just stuck with the standard entry ticket.

The day was pretty perfect.  We were extremely lucky with the guest speakers who literally filled our days timetable so we felt kind of pleased that we hadn't booked on to any of the other sessions as it would have meant missing out on one of the talks. Personally I would say if you were wanting to take advantage of some of the yoga sessions or other workshops taking place as well as the main talks, you'd be better off booking a 2 day ticket or you just need to be prepared to miss out on something you may want to do.  

You could tell that a lot of thought and effort had gone into making the place feel relaxed and chilled out and I loved all the little touches.  Even the businesses that had been selected to be there had been thought about and were all great for supporting healthy lifestyle choices and mindfulness, plus there were some great little spots for photos, perfect for the Instagrammers attending.

The highlight for me was listening to Rylan Clarke and dare I say it Russell Brand (I am not a Russell Brand fan at all) Both were great speakers and I feel as though I took something away from both of them.

It was a really great day, and is definitely something I would look out for again in the future.

~ Gem x

The Selfie Factory Pop-Up ~ Bluewater Shopping Centre

After seeing The Selfie Factory advertised as a pop up at Bluewater shopping centre earlier this year, I knew it was the perfect outing for a girlie day out.  

With plenty of photo opportunities available set out in individual sets the only difficulty was getting all the photos you wanted within an hour (unless you opted for the unlimited ticket which then allows you all day to snap away to your hearts content).  

Not only did we all get a camera roll filled with photos but we laughed, a lot too.  Who knew that taking photos to fill up your Instagram grid could be such funny business.

Sometimes time spent with good friends is all the medicine you really need.

The Selfie Factory is returning back to Bluewater Shopping Centre this November, be sure to check it out if your close by.  Perfect for that little break from the Christmas shopping  or even something to keep the little ones entertained for an hour.  Pre-sale tickets are on sale now via their website. 

~ Gem x

Returning to East Sussex

I've now lost count how many times myself and James visited East Sussex and in particular Freshwinds Camp Site near Hastings, however I'd not been back since our break up, well until April this year.  I was looking forward to returning and seeing Tim, Anne & Holly again.  It had been quite some time since I'd seen them last.  And I was missing East Sussex, it's a really pretty part of the country.

On the way to Pett I stopped at Rye to wander the streets of the little fishing village.  For such a small village there is so much beauty to been seen, I'd say you'd only need a couple of hours to see it all if that.

After settling in to the Shepherds Hut, home for the next few nights, it was off to Hastings for a walk along the beach to see the sunset.  I'd forgotten just how much I had missed this place.

The next morning I drove back into Hastings for a wander in daylight before driving on to Battle, a favourite place of mine in East Sussex, it feels like you are stepping back in time and is so pretty.

The best thing of all though was time on the farm.  The views are just breath-taking, it is so peaceful and calming and those little lambs are just adorable.

And as the sun set on the last night it was the perfect time to light the fire and rip open the chocolate biscuits and marshmallows to make some smores, I mean is it really a camping trip without smores?

It felt so great to be back.

~ Gem x

Dreamland ~ Margate

I've really struggled to write this post and on numerous occasions have actually wondered whether to publish it or not.  I don't like writing negative reviews but feel that this one could potentially be justified in saying that perhaps I may have visited a little too early.

After seeing a fellow blogger's post about Dreamland last year it has been on my radar as somewhere to visit.  It's not all that far from home in Essex and on a good run can be reached within an hour and a half with no traffic.  I loved the colour and vibrant look of the place, and the fact it had a real retro appearance to it, I had to visit.  At the beginning of July, the time came for that visit.

On arriving at the entrance I was charged £16, this didn't include the roller-skating as stupidly I had forgotten to take socks with me and being a hot day I was wearing sandals (proper school girl error there).  This was the only option I was given and so I merrily paid the amount.  The park didn't appear to be overly busy which was really nice.  There was plenty of space walking around and this gave the opportunity to take in all the quirky little pieces dotted around the park which really did give it a retro feel it looked to have in the blog post I had read previous to visiting.  

The first ride we decided to go on was the Big Wheel as we thought this would give a feel for what was in the park and also an opportunity to check out the views.  Considering the park seemed pretty empty there was a fairly big queue but nothing too serious, I would say around 30 people were ahead of us, I assumed with it being a ride that's able to take a large capacity of people we wouldn't be waiting all that long.  Only we waited for around 45 minutes, for some reason they were only filling 10 of the pods.  It felt like we wasted so much time for a mediocre ride which was a real shame.

Determined not to let the long wait put a dampener on the day we then headed to the Chair 'O' Plane which thankfully we were able to get onto straight away.  This is one of my favourite rides, such simple technology and a lot of fun.  The old ones are always the best.

  

Already feeling much better about the day we made our way next to the scenic railway.  We were met with a much bigger queue this time and queued for just over an hour.  The ride itself was good and it made a change to see a ride of this type to be manually operated.  Of all the rides in the park this is the biggest so it seemed about right it would have the biggest queue.

The trouble is, this was literally about it, unless we wanted to ride on the small kiddie rides or queue up again for over an hour for the 3 rides we had already been on which personally would not have put me in a much better mood than I was already in.  I had paid £16 to go on 3 rides!  Not impressed, especially as I later learnt that you can in fact pay per ride rather than purchasing a wrist band, this would have been a lot cheaper.

As I have said at the beginning of my post today, I do feel that I have perhaps visited the park too soon as since my visit there have been a number of new (what I would call big) rides that have opened.  I'm just not sure I can bring myself just yet to return.  Maybe in a couple of years I'll visit again and hopefully by then there will be even more rides opened.

Have you visited Dreamland before?  What did you think of it?

~ Gem x

Visiting David Austin Rose Garden

When it comes to roses, David Austin are up there at the top.  I'm always amazed by their huge variety of roses, the colours, the scents, all so beautiful.  It's almost impossible to pick a favourite.  Last month I made the drive up to Worcestershire to explore their gardens and I was blown away.

At times it was difficult to know where to look.  There was so much beauty around every corner and the smell from the moment I stepped ono the footpath leading into the  gift shop can honestly not be described.  It was incredible.

I took so many photos.  Who knew you could take so many photos of rose bushes.

While there I was able to enjoy one of their delicious afternoon tea's on the cutest dinner sets.  The restaurant was gorgeous, I loved the décor and all the exposed beams.  The staff were really lovely and friendly too, it was just a shame that the service was ridiculously slow.

After lunch there wasn't all that long left to explore as they were soon to be closing, which was a real shame as I could have wandered round for a lot longer.  There was time for a few last photos before the long drive back home to Essex.

In hindsight I should have booked a hotel and stayed up there for the night, however I just look at this as an excuse to return someday, especially as the garden entrance is free.

~ Gem x

A Weekend Break in Oxford

We are really lucky in the UK to have so many lovely places to explore and discover and it dawned on me recently that I really haven't taken advantage of that enough.  Oxford is less than a 2 hour drive from me and yet up until a couple of weekends ago, I had never visited before.

Having booked the Friday off work I set off mid morning to make the most of a full afternoon to begin exploring the city.  I had done lots of research on places to visit and booked myself 2 nights making sure I had plenty of time to properly explore and discover all that is on offer.  

On arriving the first stop was the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.  I was keen to check out the gorgeous Grade 1 listed Victorian Gothic building which houses the museum, and was not disappointed by it's grand ceiling, especially as the light was pouring through it.  Another thing I was excited to see was the dinosaur skeletons I had read about being there.  Having seen the T-Rex skeleton in Chicago late last year at the Field Museum, I couldn't believe there was another so close to home.  Sadly this was a great disappointment as they were in fact casts and not the actual real thing, but it was still nice to see them.

The next stop was the Ashmolean Museum.  Another stunning building, and the oldest purpose built museum that is still in use.  I didn't spend all that long in here.  I will admit to not being the biggest museum fan, I much prefer the architecture, of which in Oxford there is plenty to admire.

Saturday morning, and another glorious sunny day, in fact it is hard to believe how lucky I was with the weather considering the snowy scene I am currently looking out my window to right now.  A very touristy morning spent wandering the streets and photographing the sites.  The grand university buildings, the Radcliff Camera and of course the famous Bridge of sighs.  It truly is a beautiful city.

After exploring the city on street level I decided to climb the Carfax Tower to check out the view from above and was pleased I had made the climb.  It isn't overly tall, however the height definitely gives an advantage view point in which to see the city from a different perspective.  It cost a mere £2.50 entrance fee but on a sunny day like I experienced, it is worth checking out.  

Another place I was keen to visit during my stay was Biscester Village.  I have an outlet shopping village close to home that I regularly pay visits to, so I was keen to shop somewhere different.  I clearly planned my visit at the wrong time though as the place was absolutely heaving with Chinese tourists visiting for the Chinese new year.  There were queues to get into shops and the shops that didn't have queues to get inside were just rammed full of people.  Certainly not an enjoyable shopping trip and I only ended up staying for about half an hour, but I would love to return one day as the décor and little displays around the village were absolutely beautiful.     

In many ways Oxford did remind me of other cities I have visited in England, however it certainly stands alone in its own right as a city that is worth going to visit if ever you get the opportunity.

~ Gem x