Post-Christmas blues are a real thing for most people in January, unless you prepare in advance like my friends and I. We knew full well that the long nights without much vitamin D would bring us to a halt, which brought us to the idea of a winter holiday!
Now the specifications had to all be met; in the woods, log fire, hot tub and activities. Of course we managed to get all of the above and even more.
The lodge is located in the beautiful Forest of Dean, not far from the Welsh border not too far from Gloucester. You’ll want to make sure you stock up on food before you go because it is self catered and the food in the shop on site isn’t cheap! We had a…um…interesting adventure at the supermarket getting supplies as five big personalities all wanting to decide what to get is always a difficulty but we managed it and made our way to check in.
We arrived after dark and quickly got our key from reception and drove our way through the trees to our little retreat, which was hidden right at the back of all of the lodges and so the most secluded. They also provide ‘meadow’ lodges, but these are right at the front of the entrance and are just plonked in a field for everyone to see- not exactly the place you want to be when you have a forest right across the road.
When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised at the size of the place, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a huge living room and kitchen, a veranda and separate area for the hot tub. The flooring was heated, which meant for quick towel drying and warming up after being out in the cold air.
A quick dinner later and we had to give the hot tub a whirl, and have the prosecco flowing of course and the night went on into the early hours. We did find a small piece of glass in the bottom of the tub, and managed to remove it without further injury so always check before you get in!
The next morning, we woke up moderately hungover and the only non-drinker of the group had me on running trip around the forest in -1 degree temperatures! It was a bit of a killer, although it did help to sweat the alcohol out from the night before that’s for sure.
After a hefty breakfast we gathered our wooly hats and gloves to brave the cold and the forest for a cheeky bike ride. We hired the bikes for the weekend and took to the hills in search of a pub that we had been directed to, which ended up in a round trip around a campsite! We did however bike through a scenic hillside downhill, before realising what goes down must come back up again and found ourselves in first gear climbing up what the locals call “the bitch” and I can see why.
Once we had climbed to the top, gasping for breath I decided to treat myself to a little tipple from my hip flask and continue on our way. We went back to the lodge as the rain began, so we decided to treat ourselves to a hot tub session with out hats on to keep the rain off.
Whilst on our little retreat we made some unlikely friends with the forests own wild boar. There was a pair that seemed to rummage around the foliage of our lodge frequently as we saw them one morning before breakfast, once running around our cars, once at night time when we were in the hot tub (slightly startled!) and just before we left.
I don’t know about you, but I have never seen one of these creatures before and had no idea that they even roamed the forests in the wild! According to www.britishwildboar.org.uk wild boar didn’t exist in the British countryside for 700 years and were accidentally reintroduced into the wild in the 1990’s and have thrived since with the lack of predators to hunt on them.
For the rest of the day we relaxed around the lodge, drinking and cooking dinner for the evening. We had paid extra money to have movies on the living room TV, which was a complete waste of time as the signal kept cutting out every few minutes and we would miss key parts of the film that was on. We didn’t complain, but definitely not worth the extra money, especially as you spend most of your time adventuring rather than in front of a screen.
On the Sunday morning we went on a quick ride on the bikes
You can find the holidays HERE!
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