Over the last weekend we travelled up to the lake district for a family holiday at the Oasis / Center Parcs resort in Whinfell forest, near Penrith. The location was fantastic – set deep into the forrest, it really did feel like we were miles away from anywhere. This did mean that it was difficult to get a mobile phone signal, though, which made it a bit tricky for folk to meet up after doing separate activities.
Arriving on Friday I was impressed by the reasonably swift check-in process (I think we beat the rush by about half an hour), and the villa we had been booked into was ace. It really was a lovely, log-cabin-esque place to stay for the weekend, with the only downer being the lack of access for my stepfather Steven, who cant walk very far. The girl who took the booking in the call centre obviously had no idea about the location, other than a layout map, so although it was reasonably close to the facilities, it was probably the worst villa available for disabled access. Fortunately that was sorted out with a courtesy electric buggy thing after my mum made a couple of fiesty phone calls. The initial oversight did seem to be the vibe for the whole villiage, though, with disabled access at the pool complex being either non-existant or ill thought out.
After all the unpacking and some food had been sorted out, we ventured to the swimming pool to get a taster of what was available. Disappointingly quite a lot of the pool area was shut down, due to lack of lifeguards, so it got a bit dull after a short while, with only a wave machine and a couple of tame slides on offer. There was also a pair of flumes, but the tubes were pitch black inside, and I don’t mind admitting to being the big fraidy cat – these things were not pleasant at all… I felt like a frickin’ turd being flushed! You couldn’t see a thing, and being swept from side to side as you plunged into the darkness was more horrible than fun.