A night at The Enchanted Forest

Last Monday my sister and I took the boys (Ryan and Connor) to the Enchanted Forest in Pitlochry. I'd been wanting to go for about 3 years now and the boys being 6 and 3, we decided they were old enough.

We drove up on a lovely brisk autumn day. Made good time and arrived a little after 4pm in time to get a leisurely something to eat and head to the bus pick up point at Fishers Hotel.

After a little wander along the main street we headed back towards the beginning and decided to head into a cafe. From the outside the menu looked cheap and cheerful and decent value. Inside the floor was dirty and it wasn't my ideal place.

see! dirty floor, yuck

But before long we'd ordered. Mac n cheese for me, fish n chips for sister and burgers for the boys from the kids menu. To say the food was passable would be generous. The boys wolfed theirs down though. I could tell my sister wasn't keen on her fish and my mac n cheese was both tasteless and not very cheesy. And the drinks... the cups were dirty and the tea became stewed. As soon as the boys had finished and peed we were out of there. It's such a pity but i really hate eating establishments where basic cleanliness is overlooked for turning tables over. In fact that's not even an excuse because there were empty tables and it wasn't that busy. Their standards can't be that high.

Anyway it was time to head to the 'horest' as Connor has been calling it most of the day.

We got on the bus and made the short drive (about 7 minutes) to the horest. They played a tape with music and silly voices which were mostly talking about health and safety and what we'd find when we got there. I could see Ryan's face fall. The tape was really loud on the bus (turn it down please!). Then we arrived and dusk had started to fall. We could see some lights and that's when i noticed a guy dressed up in a cape with a huge stick. Obviously these were people there to help us but Ryan started crying. He didn't like the look of it.

We got off the bus and wandered over with the rest of the group. The guy started talking loudly (shouting) so that everyone could hear and Ryan couldn't stop crying. "I don't like this" he said. I could understand, it was a bit shouty to me and so probably seemed a little scary to some sensitive little kids like Ryan. Connor on the other hand, well nothing phases him. He's like a wise old owl.

Look at this wonderfully pink tree - gorgeous!

We managed to walk ahead and lose most of the large group and Ryan started to relax and enjoy it. He really liked the bridge with the blue waterfall like water. I liked that one too. It was named Flow. Really cool.

Flow

Further on there were symbols hanging in the trees (Dialect of leaves 1) and it reminded me of The Blair Witch Project (the symbols). I wanted to get in about them and get some photos of me amongst them but you weren't allowed. The druid guy made sure of that!

Dialect of leaves 1

A little further and we came across the unicorn we'd been told we might encounter. "Gather round" she kept saying in a manner that made the child-catcher seem tame. We headed on past her. She even freaked me out.

Next up was Rise and Fall. A light show and musical accompaniment. It was really beautiful. I loved the huge moon that appeared at the end. Connor was mesmerised at this, and frankly so were we.

By now it was proper dark and looking around the colours were really wonderful against the treelined background. It really was enchanting in this horest.

Further on we managed to get a steward to take a group photo of us at the other side of the Flow bridge.

Pollen was another area I found magical. Large amber coloured pollen shapes hung above our heads, just out of reach. I wanted to touch them but for obvious reasons that would be stupid.

Pollen. A beauty eh.

It was really dark now and starting to get chilly cold. We all had our wellies on and my feet were freezing so the little drinks stall was a welcome sight. Cup of tea done we headed to the final section, Drift. Another light and music show right next to the bus pick up point. We hung around as long as we could and then headed for the bus. By this point Ryan really liked it, Connor was still chatting and saying how beautiful this horest had been and we were all tired and ready for the drive home.

Wellies!

If you haven't been you should try to get along. It's something i'd wanted to see and so glad i did. Tickets can be bought easily from their website but be quick it's only another couple of weeks then its gone. One thing. Our slot was 6.30pm. I'd say the 7pm showing would be late enough for kids as it was getting really cold by the time we left at 7.30pm. We were fortunate with the weather and it was dry but i can imagine in the rain it might be miserable (a wee bit).

Back at the car we changed out of wellies and got settled and cosy then set off down the road. Just over an hour saw us home with two snoring boys in the back of the car. All in all a great day out.

Angela x

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