Eden

It was a bright start but there was more cloud about. The forecast suggested that it would be overcast all day and the temperatures would not venture above 17C.

We met J&T over breakfast. They were heading home today as they have a wedding to attend tomorrow. We debated possible routes and consulted Google. Being Friday, it was unlikely that any route would be trouble free. It would just be a case of making a decision and remaining patient. We said our goodbyes and headed off to the Eden Project. Our last visit was in 2009 so it would be interesting to see how much it had changed.

The first change was in the parking arrangements. In previous visits we were bussed down from the car park to the visitors’ centre. Not anymore. Now, you walk down a series of zig-zag pathways (and more to the point, walk back up them at the end of your visit). We had a timed entry and were some 30 minutes early, but there was no delay, we were just waved through.

The route from the visitors’ centre weaves across the back of the site and then down through various themed areas. The views and the planting are just super. The Gorse Fox’s camera was clicking away all the way down. When we got to the bottom of the site, we stopped off in the cafe for a coffee before entering the biomes.

The route through the biomes seems to have changed, and is strictly one-way. As you would expect, masks were mandatory, and the visitors seemed to adhere to social distancing and frequently stopped at the sanitisation stations. Whilst recognising that it is 11 years since our last visit, the Gorse Fox was still astounded by how much things had grown in that time. As before, it is the tropical biome that is his favourite.

We crossed the link into the Mediterranean biome and wove our way back and forth. It was the bougainvilleas and the South African grasses that really caught the eye.

A separate company has set up an attraction whereby you can fly over the site on a zip wire. This looked fun and the Gorse Fox was tempted. It was a little pricey, but more importantly you had to pre-book. This is something to keep in mind for our next visit. The Gorse Fox would love to have a go.

We headed back to the hotel. It had clouded over, but we thought we’d sit out on the lawn and read. As we arrived at our sun loungers, an helicopter swept by, turned, and made its way to the landing pad at the back of the hotel. The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen watched as it landed, and then as the pilot powered it down. The passengers had no visible luggage so was probably just here for golf or lunch. (How the other half live, eh?).

It got a bit chilly so we headed inside. Soon after, Urban-Cub called so we could chat with Ellie.