Travel - Our Yurt Experience Part 2

I thought I would share with you our itinerary of activities from our glamping trip to the West Moss-side Yurts...

Friday

After cramming all of our belongings into the car we hit the road and headed towards Stirling. Check-in at the yurts was from 3pm so we decided to spend the afternoon at Briarlands Farm which was very close to our accommodation for the evening. The weather wasn't all that great, but I was well prepared so we all climbed into our waterproof trousers and made our way round the various activities. (Rick wasn't prepared and his trainers got absolutely soaked!!). We've been to Briarlands before and had a great day out so I was keen to visit again. There have been a few changes since we were last at the farm, and my son loved the new maze. I've absolutely no idea why he was insistent on wearing his cycling helmet by the way!!

The Highland cows at Briarland Farm

Which way out of the maze??

Saturday

After breakfast at the yurt, we decided to explore the play trail at Glen Finglas. The kids loved following the map and looking out for various items as we walked round the paths. There were drumming benches, spy chambers and a secret den.

The giant seed... children are encouraged to weave grass or leaves into the wire frame.

Following the trail

The shy roe deer

Magic eye trick... line up the panels to discover a stag beetle.

It took us a few hours to navigate the trail, including snack time in the secret den! Back at the car park we decided to head to the Scottish Wool Centre for a nosey and have lunch. We met the owls and birds of prey from Perthshire Sporting Plus. This was definitely one of my highlights of our holiday - seeing the kids faces as my son held Toby the European Little Owl.

Isn't he cute!!

Afternoon tea for two at the Scottish Wool Centre

That night we had a BBQ at the yurt and the sun stayed out long enough for us to eat and enjoy a little glass of wine.

Sunday

The weather was terrible overnight so we had a lazy morning in the yurt, the kids played with their games and drew some pictures. Back in the car, and this time we headed in the opposite direction to Bridge of Allan for lunch and a wander. I had a gorgeous tuna salad at Jam Jar. The littlest had a roast dinner which looked amazing... it was a huge portion which she didn't manage to finish so I had some and it was delicious.

The sun appeared thankfully and we made our way to Blair Drummond Safari Park for the afternoon. The entry was really expensive which I hadn't anticipated (about £50 for the four of us... I would have been a little cheaper buying online), but we went in anyway. 

This was the first time I had driven round a safari park, and I must admit it was a little daunting with all the entry gates. It did feel like we were going into Jurassic Park! We drove round the animal reserves slowly, taking it all in. My favourite animals were the deer, giraffes and zebra. The monkey drive through was closed, but we did take a boat to Chimpanzee Island later in the day. The pedal boats were good fun and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the Adventure Park...we also had some ice cream cones. Our last stop was the Sea Lion Show, by which point it was 5pm and time to go home. It started to rain just as we were leaving. 

Enjoying the pedal boat

Monday

On Monday morning we got all packed up and said goodbye to the yurts. We were back to Glasgow pretty quickly as Rick had to get to work. 

We had a fantastic weekend though and I will most certainly be visiting this part of Scotland again soon.

Sarah x

Travel - Our Yurt Experience

At the weekend the kids, Rick & I jumped in the car and headed North for a long weekend. I had booked accommodation through Canopy & Stars; basically the website is a selection of inspected quirky places to go glamping. The site is not only for the UK - there are locations throughout Europe too. I was initially keen to stay at a treehouse near Edinburgh but discovered these were fully booked. The staff at Canopy & Stars helped me select a lovely alternative - the Stuc a'Chroin Trossachs yurt near Stirling.

The Canopy & Stars website

I was drawn in by the beautiful photographs of the yurt on the website and couldn't wait to stay there myself!

Photograph from Canopy & Stars website

The farm was very easy to find thanks to the directions provided by the owner Kate. She was a fantastic hostess and met us on arrival. We had a tour of the site and were given some instructions about the facilities and finally were accompanied to the yurt. It was just beautiful. 

After unpacking the car, Kate invited us to watch her feed her 6 day old calf Query (all the calves at the farm had been named alphabetically, and she struggled to think of a name beginning with Q! Query is a twin and her mum was unable to feed both the calves, so Kate was bottle feeding one). The littlest in particular was very keen to ask questions and observe the goings on; as was I. 

Inside the yurt there were lots of interesting touches, from the candle holders, the dream catcher and a selection of wall hangings. It really was a cosy space and I particularly loved the wood burning stove. Kate had provided some home baking for our arrival and I have to admit I demolished the lot myself with a cup of tea... I had told the kids it was full of nuts and was for grown-ups only!!

We managed some grown-up time and enjoyed a glass of wine!

Our home for the weekend

There was a communal kitchen area across from the yurts, and with just three yurts on the farm it didn't feel crowded. We stored our food in the fridge here and used the kettle for my much needed cups of tea! There's no electricity in the yurts, but in the kitchen area there are sockets that can be used to charge phones or cameras etc. 

In the yurt there were two gas rings and a grill so we were able to prepare scrambled egg and bacon for breakfast. We also had a BBQ which we used for dinner on the Saturday night. We bought burgers from Kate that were made using beef from the cattle that graze at the farm. They were delicious!

In terms of the bathroom facilities, there are two toilets both with showers. After spotting a huge spider in one of the toilets on the first night, this loo was not an option for the kiddos as they were too scared to go back in!

Query in her pen

We had hoped to get some grown-up time sitting outside with a bottle of wine, however the weather wasn't as good as I had hoped so we ended up whispering in the yurt whilst the kids tried to get to sleep. It wasn't ideal and I hadn't really thought this through. Plus the kids were sharing a sofa bed and although they had sleeping bags there were still a few arguments about them crossing the line into the other sibling's side of the bed! 

The other thing I hadn't considered was how bright the yurt would be - obviously there is no black out lining! So when it was 7.30pm and I was trying to convince the kids it was night-time they had a hard time believing me. At my house we go into lock-down at 7pm - all the black-out blinds get closed, the lights are all dimmed and it's as good as night-time. This wasn't an option at the yurt! If I had thought ahead I would have brought eye masks for them to wear. 

Next time I think we'll visit the yurt without the children. As ideal the surroundings are for children, it is also a very romantic place and I would love to spend a few days with Rick just relaxing, enjoying the countryside and his company. We really did feel like we were far from home when in reality the yurts are just an hour's drive from Glasgow. Very easy to get to for a few nights rest & relaxation in the countryside.

I'm going to write a separate post on all the activities that we did during our stay at the yurt and I've also got some video footage to put into a short vlog... watch this space.

Have you ever gone glamping and where would you recommend to stay? Or perhaps I have inspired you to give glamping a try?

{Day Out - Briarlands Farm, Stirling}

Yesterday we visited Briarlands Farm at Blairdrummond, near Stirling.

It was the first time I'd been and it was brilliant!!

As it was a Thursday and the schools are back, the farm was quiet which pleased me - less stressful. It reminded me of Heads of Ayr Farm, but for the age that my kiddies are (4 year old and 2 year old) Briarlands Farm was better in my opinion. Not sure it would be as good for older school-age kids.

Briarlands Farm is a large enclosed area and it's pretty flat which means you can easily see toddlers that run off or keep an eye on the older ones if they head off to a different play spot.

Included in the ticket price are a variety of different animal tours throughout the day. We did animal handling and animal feeding whilst we were there.

There are plenty of activities to keep little ones amused for a day (we arrived at 11.30am-ish and left at 4pm). They both loved the jumping pillows and the go-carts. My favourite part was whizzing round the track with both kids on the go-cart next to me laughing their heads off.

The Farmer's Den Tea Room was well equipped and the food was lovely. I had a baked potato with tuna & sweetcorn accompanied by coleslaw, crisps and side salad for £6.50 and the kids had beans on toast (£2.50) and a half sandwich with crisps (£2.25). We went back later on in the day for a wee treat and a cup of tea... cakes were lovely too!

Everything was well laid out, facilities were clean and I was genuinely really impressed. The staff were also friendly and helpful.

I'd definitely go back.

Here are some of our pics from the day:

Littlest on the jumping pillow

Feeding the noisy pigs!

On the digger (this was the only activity you had to pay extra for, and it was £1 a turn)

Patting the guinea pig

In the sand pit.

My attempt at a panorama shot to give you an idea of the layout of the farm

The facilities in the cafe were great. Plenty of toys to keep the kids amused whilst lunch is being prepared (which didn't take long, another plus point).

The go-cart track!

Littlest waiting patiently for mummy in the two seater