A day out to Marwell Wildlife Park
Long car journeys can be tough with the children. We know this only too well with 6 of our own and a visit to the grandparents taking upwards of 4 hours before adding stopping time. One way to make light of a long journey is to split it up with a fun and active trip along the route. For us there are many different routes to take to Sussex and we have stopped before successfully at the Tank Museum http://www.tankmuseum.org/ and the Fleet Air Arm museum http://www.fleetairarm.com/ both of which the children thoroughly enjoyed so Marwell Wildlife had a lot to live up to with the children on the way home from our Easter visit to Yia - Yia (Greek Grandma).
Never far from Coombe Mill
We had barely arrived, Guy was just guiding us towards the giraffes, when Nick heard a strangely familiar voice from behind
"There's Farmer Nick!" Would you believe some of our previous Coombe Mill guests were there for the day and spotted Nick. Just the most extraordinary chance meeting!
Incredible Animals
Marwell have a great selection of all the more exotic animals from Africa and Asia that the children were keen to see. The giraffes and Rhino stole the show for us but Nick picked up plenty of future ideas for the farm, as if our Wallabies weren't exotic enough!
In true thrifty and outdoor style we had packed a picnic. Something we nearly always do on a day trip http://www.coombemill.com/blog/post/2011/09/09/Picnics-a-favourite-with-the-kids.aspx Definitely the answer here as there are so many lovely picnic benches and even some large indoor tents in case of rain! We opted for the ones next to the play area where the children soon took over the big tyre. Sometimes I think our 6 descending on somewhere can be a little intimidating to other children, however if they are, they are very unaware of this and mean no harm.
Farmer Nick had tractor envy when he saw the size of this one pulling their trailers!
I thought this was an idea we could copy for Coombe Mill farm using a large photo of some of our animals with the faces cut out.
We were lucky enough to enjoy a great 4 hour break at Marwell, http://www.marwell.org.uk/ give the children plenty of exciting run around time and arrive back at the car for the last of the journey just as the heavens opened. It really felt like we made the best of a long journey and a showery April day! It is located off the M27 between Chichester and Southampton so if you are visiting Coombe Mill from East Sussex or Kent makes a perfect stop.
Disclaimer
Marwell Wildlife has not sponsored this post in any way. We paid full price for out tickets and felt it was money well spent.
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