Days out: Bluestone National Park Part 1 #bluestoneblogger

Prior to our trip my husband and I agreed on a plan, which entailed a self catering/self sufficient stay at Bluestone, without the need for dining out or purchasing food from any onsite shops/restaurants. It was an only option we had as in-laws who originally were suppose to travel with us had to change their plans.

I would recommend our plan to anyone who wants to self cater as it proved costly to eat out.

So we set off, armed with our snacks, meal items and almost half of the house content in the car.. a fairly straightforward 3 ½ hour trip to Bluestone.

Tip: If you prefer to travel light you can stock up at Tesco Extra (postcode SA31 3AX ) which is just 30 minutes away from Bluestone.

Upon our arrival (just before 4-30pm) we had to wait in a small queue for a check in, which was swift and easy as I have pre-registered online (this option was offered in one of the Bluestone e-mails I have received prior to the stay). I can't comment on how the process of check in would go if I didn't pre-register but I assume that friendly staff would try to do their best to make it as quick as possible. 

We were given few leaflets about things to do in Bluestone, a map with our lodge circled and a car hanger which we had to leave in the car. It took me ages to find the circle on a map given to us, and as I thought that there is only one lodge called Ramsey I was totally puzzled by the map, 15 minutes later we found out that all roads at Bluestone are one way and finally found our lodge. 
Upon checking other Bluestone maps our lodge was on the left side where as on the map we were given at a check in the lodge was at the top.

Tip: if you are travelling to Bluestone for the first time make sure you understand the directions to the lodge and ask staff to point out where the circle is.

We stayed in a detached Ramsey luxury lodge along Augustus Way. My first impressions were detached- excellent, lodge- exciting, upside down living-what?! 
Ramsey is an "upside down living" lodge, which sleeps up to 4 people. I have never experienced that before and it took a little getting used to.

A lovely open plan kitchen and dining room awaited us (once we stopped complimenting the already fitted stair gates). There was a high chair already there for us.

The lodge also had two big bedrooms, one with 2 single beds and the other- double room. There was a cot already set up for L to sleep in and she took to it well.

We unloaded the car, my husband took it to the car park straight away, there is no rush in returning the car to the car park though but it needs to be left there before midnight on Monday.

Once we were ready to go for a walk it started to rain, but I thought that it shouldn't stop us as normally we would go out no matter what the weather is like, so off we went for a stroll towards Blue Lagoon water park to find out how to register.

Tip: to save yourself some time on the day when you plan to go for a walk bring your key cards to register in advance. The water park opens at 10 am to public but bloggers can access it from 9 am. You can also park your stroller/pushchair on the right hand side (behind the door which leads to stairs).

We ventured a lot around the beautiful grounds of Bluestone, enjoying the nature trail the most, which takes you past Camp Smokey and continues on to the Adventure centre.

The view on the way back to our lodge was breath taking, a beautiful hill backdrop in the distance and lovely greenery dotted around the national park, quite special!

Disclaimer: We were offered a 4 night stay at Bluestone National Park for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.