Look at that. Bikes, trees, no cars on the road. Can you even see the lodges hidden in the trees? No. Needless to say it was a fab week off work. I’d forgotten how good Center Parcs could be, and it’s no doubt twice as fun if you’re there without nippers in tow, as of course we were.

I’d also forgotten how packed with wildlife the place can be. It’s about ten years since I last visited, but they were an annual pilgrimage during my teens. This time around we even had a tame heron that paid daily visits to our patio and posed for photos.

And squirrels by the thousand, one of whom was persistent in his attempts to get inside.

That’s a reindeer on the right, which fortunately was penned in and not on the cusp of trampling through our lounge.

So, beyond the wildlife and the days spent riding our bikes around the forest we spent most of our time riding the flumes and the raipids, which weren’t nearly so rough as the ones I remember (although then, of course, I’d have been much smaller and the bumps much lumpier). The weather held up for us, which with Cumbria under eight feet of flood water, and the week before we disappeared being wall-to-wall rain, was extremely lucky.

We had two short showers, one during an ourdoor swim, which was quite magical with the pool lit cool blue, the steam rising into the night sky and the rain pattering down on the surface.

Do I want to go back? Err – yes. Tomorrow, if I could, but more likely this time next year.

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