...It wasn't a work day and Claire was up before 8am!!!
Keen to make the most of clear blue skies, Claire was up, showered and dressed and out on the patio bothering the multitude of wildlife creatures scuttering around for breakfast. Camera in hand, she was demanding all sorts of poses from the squirrels, ducks, pheasants, rabbits and birds.
After breakfast, our first port of call was the sports cafe to grab some Wi-Fi so we can write this here blog. We spent an hour or so in there and it was nice and quiet - over in one of the arena's, a load of young kids were having a football lesson - it is nice that there is so much to do here especially for the little-uns.
After a quick bike ride back to get changed, we headed off to the village square again to try out the Tropical Swimming Paradise. Being greeted by around 2000 buggies parked in the toddler entrance filled us with dread, but the place is so big that it didnt seem that busy actually. The large heated 'Paradise' plays host to a number of pools, slides, rapids and even an outdoor pool for the (very) brave - all surrounded by various shops and food/bar outlets - its really cool. After getting our barings, it was straight up unto the biggest slide - not something I would go for usually and after nearly drowning I felt justified in my cowardess.
Claire rescued me from the landing zone's 2ft of water after my life flashed before my eyes (took about 3 seconds) and I wanted to go again!
We tried out some other slides, but then decided to brave the great outdoors. This was more like it, the water had to be much hotter to stop people dying, so it was like getting into a HUGE bath :) Once outside, you were f**king freezing to be fair and had to keep 95% of your body under water! In the outside pool (which worrying states "In the event of a thunderstorm, evacuate immediately!") there are the 'wild rapids', an open flume of fast, gushing water that twists, turns and drops from the outside, back into the main pool! This was even more deadly than the slides and it was Claire's turn to end up upside down in the landing pool gasping for air! I would have helped, but I had water in my eyes so....
We spent a good couple of hours horsing around in the pool and after experiencing the wave machine, decided it was a good time to have lunch. We'd brought food with us too, so we headed back to the lodge and shared some sandwiches with the wildlife on the patio and had a bit of a rest.
In the afternoon, we decided to have a wander on foot this time (sadle sores all round!) and realised our lodge is opposite the large lake! It is literally over the road behind the tree line, so we grabbed our camera's and went on a Richard Attenborough-style romp through the forest alongside the lake.
This was great as the woods were getting quite dense the further we went and we got some great shots, Claire even spotted a wild dear. I was looking for a bit more action and managed to find a great spot at the edge of the lake to catch some of the 'Rail Skiers' (basically a large pully type thing that pulls water skiers around the lake - its ace!).
Mid-afternoon we were both shattered - we had already booked the evenings activities, bowling and then a meal at an American Diner, so we grabbed an hours snoooooze.
Feeling (not very) refreshed, we regrouped and headed back into town. 45 minutes of bowling later and I think we were ready to be carted to the nearest retirement home! I must say I did thrash Claire though.... OW! She has just punched me in the arm! It was a fair draw, though in the 2nd game I lost 85-153... bit embarrassing, but you know me, I like to let her win... *ahem*
We had a bit of time before our meal, so we spent some time in the arcade machines and I had a go on a drum game and was even more knackered, I just wanted to crawl up and have a sleep.
The American Diner was really nice - food is very reasonably priced surprisingly and (as usual) we ate loads! Claire wanted to try Corn Bread - which she loved and I had my usual Ribs followed by waffles and ice-cream! We tried to get people to roll us home after we'd finished, but we had to somehow make our way back on the bikes - both of which were crying when we pulled up at the lodge.
Absolutely stuffed, we could do no more than flop into bed, watch some TV and go to sleep.
Happy to report that we both slept much better and after we finish typing this, are heading back to the pool.
The skies are looking a bit greyer today and the rains are coming, so gonna go make the most of it.
Will update this later with some more pics etc.
Till then, adios!!
Here is a dear outside our lodge
This is me on one of our walks...
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