Maintenance Week Eleven

Well, Maintenance Week Eleven was very exciting...Jules and I went to Center Parcs.  It was ages since we'd seen each other and we were both just dying for a break.  The week before went UNBELIEVABLY slowly, but at last I caught the train down to Peterborough and Jules came and picked me up.  I'd never been to Center Parcs before and didn't know if I would like it, but I absolutely adored it!  We went on a quiet week, just after the Easter holidays, and I can imagine it would be a bit more hectic if you went in August, but in spite of the fact that there were lots of people about and tons to do there were woods, lakes, wildlife and lovely open spaces, and it felt very tranquil.

Of course it wasn't all tranquil...we had so much fun playing in The Dome, and went on The Cyclone three times!  We also zipped around the site on bikes, basked in the sunshine on the lake whilst pedalling energetically in a pedallo (that was hard work!), went on two runs...and an Aerial Adventure!

It was scary but brilliant!  We felt compelled to sit quietly by the lake and eat ice-cream for some time afterwards.  And of course, it wouldn't have been one of mine and Jules' weekends away without some seriously good food.  We started as we meant to go on, with a seriously good lunch at a pub near the Center Parcs - highly recommended, with seriously good hearty British food and very friendly service.  I had venison and cranberry suet pudding...it was amazing.  The food at Center Parcs was also amazing.  There was a huge choice of cafes and restaurants serving a wide variety of foods, from American diner food to an exceptionally high quality Indian restaurant which served us probably the freshest, tastiest and most delicious Indian meal I've ever had.  There were also some total indulgences like gorgeous pancakes, pizza, Doritos and dip and chocolate brownies (most definitely in the plural) which were just fantastic.

I was more than surprised when, on returning to earth and Durham after our fantastic break, that I weighed in at 8st 12lbs, BMI 21.5, body fat percentage 26.1%.  Result - and what a fantastic weekend.