Bluestone National Park Resort Holiday

Bluestone National Park Resort is located in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. Set in 500 acres of land the resort has 16 different style of lodges which house between 4 and 14 people. In October we visited Bluestone for a 4 night stay. Unfortunately Dad-Dad had to work so we went on holiday with Nana, whilst Grandad joined us later in the week. We set off on Monday morning for the 370 mile journey. During the 7 hour drive Adam didn’t complain once and loved watching all the vehicles en route. We arrived at Bluestone at 4pm.

Bluestone is divided into eight sections which surround the village in the middle. We were in Preseli View towards the top of the hill. After settling in we still had time to explore the resort before it got dark.

As Adam is a 5am riser we were the first people to arrive at the Blue Lagoon Waterpark when it opened at 9am on Tuesday. I lost count of how many times we went down the Lazy River, each time Adam shouting “again” as soon as he had passed the big bubbles. We spent two hours each day at the Blue Lagoon. It was busy the first morning but became quieter during the week.

As the weather was so beautiful on our first afternoon we decided to travel the 20 miles to Freshwater West Beach. This was where Dobby The House Elf was buried in the final Harry Potter film. It is such a beautiful beach and is certainly in my top 5 for favourite beaches in the world. Freshwater is a combination of dunes, a large expanse of sand, rocks and crystal clear water.

We spent the afternoon playing with the flat stones, walking to the shoreline and chasing our shadows along the sand. Nana and Adam climbed a ginormous sand dune before running back down. Adam did this several times and still had plenty of energy left.

On Wednesday, Grandad’s first day of joining us, we visited the Blue Lagoon in the morning and then tested out the Activity Centre. Adam enjoyed the challenge of the indoor adventure playground. He had his first go at Crazy Golf. He is obviously not a natural golfer!

Later that afternoon we drove back to Freshwater West beach so we could watch the sunset over the sea. As we live on the east coast this is something we never get to experience. This time we went closer to the large rocks. Whilst Nana and Grandad set up their cameras Adam and I explored the rocks.

We went on several Bear Hunts as we had been reading “We’re Going On A Bear Hunt” throughout the week. We threw stones into the sea, explored the rock pools and climbed the rocks. Adam was very excited when he found a small cave, declaring it to be the Bear Cave.

On the Thursday we explored more of the Bluestone grounds. We ventured down to the lake and followed the nature trail past the Iron Age settlement. The walk eventually took us to Camp Smokey.

Nestled at the bottom of the Steep Ravine, Camp Smokey is a log cabin which has an open log fire where you can toast marshmallows. It was Adam’s first experience of eating rather than playing with marshmallows.

On our last full day of the holiday we travelled to Pembroke Castle. Having previously been nervous of narrow winding stairs, we were surprised to find Adam and Grandad at the top of the 80 foot Keep. Getting Adam down was fun as he was determined to do it unaided.

We had expected the 80ft climb to be the only steps in the castle but we were wrong. Adam had us up and down every step within the battlement – we spent most of the visit trying to keep up with him. Adam had a fantastic time playing on the huge map of Wales in the castle grounds. He even went swimming in the Welsh sea!

That afternoon we returned to Camp Smokey via the boardwalk. This is a steep winding pathway down into the ravine. Adam was on his motorbike and Grandad walked down one section of the board walk at a time to catch Adam at the bottom of each section as he hurtled down on his motorbike. Adam’s face was pure joy.

Adam and Nana explored the bridge and the little ravine whilst Grandad and I ordered our fajitas, pulled pork baps and beer. It was a delicious meal in beautiful cosy surroundings.

Unfortunately Friday came round too quickly. After a last swim at The Blue Lagoon it was time to make the long journey home. You can read our thoughts of the Bluestone holiday by clicking here.