Days out: Bluestone National Park Part 2 #bluestoneblogger

On our second day at Bluestone we took L to a softplay (presumably for kids over 5) at the Adventure Centre. We gently bounced her up and down on the front section of a bouncy castle or played for a bit in a ball pool. Whilst she enjoyed both for a couple of minutes, it was difficult to encourage her to enjoy the experience. 

Having said that we had a lovely time playing "crazy" golf (until my golf ball flew towards someone seating on the sofa) and putting L's name on the Lego board.

Tip: if you have a little one with you and no relatives to hand a baby carrier could be your saviour if you want to play mini golf, shootout or air hockey.

We wanted to explore Circus Zone room which is another soft play room for under 5's, but at that time there was a baby sensory class and we were advised to wait, but as L is on a strict sleeping routine we couldn't wait too long and opted to follow a nature trail instead (we had a choice of 2: steep one and pushchair accessible one).

I didn't pre-booked any classes such as messy play and sensory class, as L can sleep from 30 minutes to several hours and as it's hard to guess when she will be ready to do things we had to miss on the opportunity, but opted to go for a long walk and to enjoy the fresh air.

Few months before our visit I have looked at the activities that I can book online, and at first I thought that navigation was a bit difficult, I was going back and forth trying to find free and paid activities for babies but in the end (30 minutes later) I got the hang of it.

On a third day we decided to venture outside of Bluestone, we went to Folly Farm, which is a fairly local zoo/farm, which is a great day out and I would also recommend visiting Tenby, which is 15 minutes continuation from Folly Farm. 

We did both Folly Farm and Tenby in one afternoon. I did not know much about Tenby beach, but the sand and view across the sea was lovely.

Tip: prepare to pay 5p for a single carrier bag if shopping in Wales or if buying fish and chips and want them wrapped.

The second venture away from Bluestone was to Pembroke docks, which was on the day 4. We decided to eat out at the local Marston's pub Y Cerrig Glas (postcode SA72 6JY) as we particularly enjoy their BBQ chicken & ribs and had gift vouchers. What a nice place to eat! Newly opened restaurant, nicely decorated, clean, has an activity corner/play area for kids, which L loved. 

She has spent few minutes playing with bead mazes whilst we were waiting for our order. After a quick meal we headed towards Asda which is just across the road (postcode SA72 6DA). 

Similarly to Tenby we just loved the view across the docks!

Even though we didn't do many activities we thoroughly enjoyed water park, (a lot of) walking and finding new trails or places to see at Bluestone. 

Blue Lagoon water park

We were really looking forward to swimming as it was L's first time. Changing rooms had a very comfy baby changing tables, which I liked a lot and looked like L was comfy sitting on it. I must admit I have never been to a water park before and expected a proper swimming pool with lanes, how little did I know that water park is so much more than just a swimming pool! 
We absolutely loved the wave machine, bubbles in the shallow pool for younger children and the lazy river! The only negative was the warmth of the water, I didn't think it was warm enough, thankfully L had a baby warmer on.

Tip: bring some bath toys with you to entertain your little one in the water and towels. It helped L to feel comfortable in the shallow pool and kept her occupied for a while.

The Bluestone village looks slightly different to the rest of the resort, different coloured cottages ans shops, play ground, the milk machine (I have never seen one before!) and the information centre where you can pick up maps or book an activity for yourself or your little one.

The lake is close by to the village centre and a very peaceful place with cute little ducklings floating with mum and dad.

Walking vs Buggy

Generally Bluestone is not so big and we thought that it was quite accessible without a buggy, you can also use a free shuttle bus but we haven't seen many people using the provided service and it seemed that it wasn't frequent anyway. 

The only 2 steep hills were on the way to the village and the path to Camp Smokey and the rest was walkable.

Recommendations:
- Even though Bluestone is a car free resort it would be nice to see more road directions i.e. one way road, dead end, exit (that one was very confusing) as we thought that signs are not clear or obvious. We have noticed too many land rovers driven by staff members, it would be ideal to see them driving buggy.

- I have felt a little bit uncomfortable when was changing L in the ladies room at the Adventure Centre. Facilities were open for everyone to see us, it is not discreet and the lady behind me could clearly see L's private parts. Also the fact that the changing facilities were in the ladies room make it less appealing for male gay couple.

- Trail stones/pebbles were my worst nightmare, pushing a pushchair was at times impossible (Camp Smokey trail, Lake path) and I wish there were less of them as they were more of an obstacle.

- I was really happy with the location of our lodge, with L waking up from any noise, it was an ideal, quiet area far enough from hassle and bustle of the village. It would be great to see an option to book an accommodation in a specific area by choosing the lodge on the map, that way you stay in control of your own holiday. 

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.

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.