A Holiday on Bodmin – The Eden Project

Following our ‘sort of holiday’ whilst cycling from John O’Groats to Lands End, we had booked ourselves a proper family holiday for a couple of nights on Bodmin Moor. We were staying in a camping pod billed as a Hobbit Home, high up on the moor at Wheal Tor Hotel. The welcome there wasn’t the greatest, but the pods were clean and dry and there were some amazing views from up here.

We arrived in the evening after our final day of JOGLE and after settling in had dinner at the nearby ‘Village Inn’. Whilst there we planned what we would do the following day. The weather forecast didn’t look great and we had various options, from visiting some caves, to a segway tour but in the end decided to spend the day at the Eden Project. After a delicious breakfast at a nearby farm shop we fed the pigs outside then headed off to the Eden Project.

The Eden Project

It was a busy day there and the place was packed so there were queues to get in and a huge queue for the latest attraction which was a Tyrannosaurus Rex Lair! We gave that a miss for a while and instead wandered around the gardens and took a look at a few other exhibitions. There were some interesting beehives on the way in and there was a fossil display in one of the exhibition halls. There were sculptures all over the place and of course plenty of plants and flowers to admire. We took a barefoot walk through a sensory garden which ended up with a rather smelly muddy pool. There was plenty to see and do though and we were enjoying ourselves in what turned out to be quite a nice day.

Morgan had an ‘adventure journal’ to fill out as he walked around the site which meant we had to find various clues and follow them here and there. After lunch we headed into the main bio-domes. The architecture of these is impressive in itself, but once inside the planting and atmosphere is amazing. The Mediterranean Biome was nice to walk around and in places with its bars and cafés you almost feel as though you are holiday. We then headed off for a quick look at the rainforest biome but had to head back to the Mediterranean Biome as there was supposed to be a dinosaur sighting here at 3:30pm. Sure enough after waiting for  a little while, out came a dinosaur along with a couple of handlers. It was actually really well done and was worth waiting for.

We then headed back into the Rain Forest Biome where we walked around admiring the plants and waterfalls. Anna came up onto the small canopy tour, but there was a special tour up to the very top of the dome today. This was far too high for Anna so Morgan and I waited in the short queue for this alone. We signed the various disclaimers and then headed up the wobbly steps into the heat and humidity at the very top. We weren’t up there for long, but plenty of time to look down on the rain forest below and to have a chat with the girl supervising the tour who told us all about the plans they have for extending the canopy walk in the future.

Back down on solid ground, we headed off to the Tyrannosaurus Lair in the centre of the Eden Project as there was no longer a queue for this. This was nowhere near as impressive as it could have been and we’re glad we didn’t queue for hours to see it as we would have been fairly disappointed had we done so. It was now getting late though so we caught the landtrain back to the top of the old quarry, took a look at the gift shop and then headed off.

We stopped at the Crown Inn on the way home for a nice dinner, just as the heavens opened and the rain set in for the night. Once back at our Hobbit Home we were warm and dry as the rain poured down outside.

Geocaching on Bodmin

The following morning Morgan and I headed off onto the moor to do a few geocaches. We found all three that we had set our sights on, while Anna packed up some bags ready to go. One of the caches was quite tricky, being hidden within a rock that was itself hidden within a big pile of rocks. We found it without too much trouble though.

We decided not to do much on Bodmin today but instead to head to my parents house near Wotton-Under-Edge. We were planning on staying there for a couple of nights to finish off our holiday, so thought if we got there early we could do something with them in the afternoon.

We stopped off for breakfast along the way and made good progress to Bristol. We even phoned them along the way to see if my Dad could take Morgan and I fishing in the afternoon. Plans were made and a fishing trip was arranged.

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