The Caravan Farm Theatre in Armstrong, near Kamloops has been running for 35 years. I’m trying to work out the first time I went and think it was about 18 years ago. We went again about 3 years ago and again this week to see Head over Heels.
‘There is no theatre building – just the great outdoors.’
When we went three years ago, after walking up a lantern lined path into the woods, there was a clearing in the woods with seating, each set was brought on by their trademark Clydesdale Horses and the musicians were perched in the trees. This year the set was stationary but still just as special and a Clydesdale called Shopping Cart does make a few appearances.
A plane crashes in the middle of nowhere, Oola has lost her twin brother somewhere in the crash. And to top it off, she has arrived in a mysterious, unknown land, where nothing is as it should be, things are not what they could be, and no one is who they say they are. Mistaken identity, backward antics, and madness of love send Oola into a furious frenzy of absolute delirium.
I was a bit uncertain for about the first 20 minutes but then it all started coming together. The skill of the writers and actors was obvious as the story unfolded. The second half came together seamlessly. I haven’t laughed so hard in ages.
There were children in the audience but if I’m honest, I don’t think it was suitable for kids as the content and innuendos would have been lost on them.
It’s a truly unique experience and if you haven’t been you should. Adult tickets are $34 (CAD)
I’ve slept rough in a public park in Budapest, got eaten alive in a hammock in Honduras, have camped wild in Canada and I once woke up behind a chair in my sitting room; so I think I’ve done my fair share of roughing it.
So, when we were offered the chance, once I had a quick look at the website, to spend a weekend at Feather Down Farms we jumped at the chance.
For those ‘Camping Purists’ out there you may object to me calling this camping in any form as there was not a wet sock to be found and we didn’t have to sleep on the ground. Some would prefer if I called it glamping.
We received a very warm welcome at Lipley Farm in Shropshire, by Stephen the farmer. Who took time out of his busy schedule; they have 140 dairy cows he has to milk twice a day, to show us around. He can recognize each cow without even looking at their numbers.
We were absolutely stunned at the tents which sleep up to six comfortably and they were fully kitted out. The only thing we were missing was electricity and an oven glove.
Shortly after we settled in, the Farmer asked if we’d like to see a newborn calf. I was thinking a couple of days old, but in fact, it had been born about 5 minutes before. We got to watch it try and find its feet for the first time.
Every morning our daughter got to feed the baby lambs in the enclosure near the tents and we collected our own eggs, some of which were blue, from the chicken coup.
One of our highlights was the tour of the Dairy parlour; I was clever enough not to go down as I could see the danger of standing at the back end of 14 well fed cows. However, hubby was not and ended getting a bit closer to nature than he would have liked.
As I mentioned, there was no electricity (but I did find a sneaky plug socket in the Larder to charge the iphone and ipad) the only source of heat was the wood burning stove, and I would be lying to you if I said it wasn’t cold. In fact, it was freezing, we could see our breath when going to bed at night, but it was April. They do supply bedding but we had brought our own Duvet, which is heavy enough to smother a small child and were pleased we brought it.
All our cooking was done on the wood burning stove. The thought of this at first was daunting, but we quickly adapted and cooked everything from a full English breakfast to Sausage and Smash to a Sunday Roast. My only suggestion would be too take something with you, that only needs heating on the first night, as you can’t check in till 4pm and you may not be able to get the stove up to temperature quick enough. We brought a Chilli from home.
The weather wasn’t brilliant, but it didn’t put a damper on it. We were happy to sit back, relax and enjoy the farm. We really didn’t feel the need to go beyond the farm. But there was a lovely wood down the road that we went for an umbrella covered stroll in and we also found a pub near a canal for a sneaky half which would be amazing in the sunshine.
Overall, we would thoroughly recommend a weekend at Feather Down Farms and a huge thank you to Stephen, Tracey and the boys for a wonderful weekend. We will be back.
Disclosure: The weekend was compliments of Feather Down Farms.
We went to see Father Christmas on Saturday courtesy of the lovely people at Hop Farm in Kent! I know, it’s only flippin November and Christmas Comes Far Too Early! However, it was absolutely brilliant and worth the 70 mile journey with a 3 year old in the back alternating between ‘where is Father Christmas’ and ‘are we nearly there yet’!
In the past, we’ve been to a local Santa’s Grotto and we also went on a Santa’s Steam train but neither of them compared to Santa’s Magical Kingdom. It was a bit of a trek for us but once we got there it all ran very smoothly. I was impressed by the whole set up. You make your way through 9 checkpoints, with naughty elves to entertain you along the way.
Our journey began at the 4D cinema, that’s not a typo, it’s a 3D cinema but they pump in the smell of chocolate and bubbles. It was absolutely magical watching Madame trying grab the 3D objects that came flying past.
Then we made our way through the Enchanted Forest, with a little something for the dad’s, a drop dead gorgeous Snow Maiden! I love the smell of pine trees.
We had to make a quick stop at the Post Office to write our letter to Santa and post it up the magical chimney. Madame has asked for all the Toy Story Characters and a Fish in a Bowl?? Hubby has vetoed the fish as he says that water and electrics don’t mix. He’s such a party pooper.
We then wandered through the North Pole to meet Santa’s Reindeer, including two new babies born this year? I wonder what their names are. Can you name all of Santa’s Reindeer?
We were greeted in the Craft Workshop by Mother Christmas and we busied ourselves making a decoration to take home.
Mrs. Christmas then read the children a story in the Story Room and can you guess whose daughter kept shouting out during it??
Madame got up to a bit of mischief with one of the naughty Elves on the Ice Walkway! Parents are treated to Mulled Wine and Mince Pies in the sweet shop.
Don’t miss my favourite, the singing and dancing Yeti! What a scream!
Then it was time for the Grande finale, Father Christmas! Once my husband stopped making jokes about the hallway looking like a brothel in Amsterdam, not sure how he knows this, we made our way into see Santa in cosy, private study. I was truly impressed and he was a good looking Santa, if you know what I mean. He took a good 5-10 minutes talking to Madame and then gift tumbled down the chimney for her. It was a pink and white stuffed puppy that she hasn’t parted with since.
Thanks to everyone at Santa’s Magical Kingdom for a brilliant day out and one we won’t forget!
Disclosure: We received 3 tickets compliments of Santa’s Magical Kingdom
