Day 12 - Walking Through Treetops

Written by Chris

I love having a car!  It's so much easier to have all your stuff in there and to travel around in. 
We headed off west to find Arundel Castle.  Of course our GPS had to take us on the most bizarre route, but we did find it eventually in the midst of a quaint town called Arundel.  If we would of had the time, both Chelsea and I would have loved to explore the antique shops and had a bite to eat in one of the restaurants, but we had a schedule to keep today so we only had few hours there, and then we had to be at Go Ape in Alice Holt Forest for our Zip Line adventure.  

Arundel Castle was visible from quite a distance as it sits up high on a hill in the midst of town.  What am impressive sight!  Chelsea was so happy as she loves castles.  We parked the Volvo and walked around to the front to get our tickets.  We started our tour by walking through the grassy moat to the Castle Keep.  The gardens along the way were beautiful with soft, pink hydrangeas.  

The Castle Keep was great to see.  We started by climbing the stairs (again!) to see rooms like the Lady In Waiting's chambers, Guard Room, Officers Quarters, and Store Room.  We made our way to the top of the Round Tower and again the countryside is so spectacular. Coming down we noticed that the State Rooms were open so we literally flew through them. It's too bad that we didn't have more time in the rooms as they were fantastic and so well preserved. They reminded me of Highclere Castle with lots of red velvet couches, rich brocades, and fabulous furniture.  Since we had to be at Alice Holt for 2:00 PM, we left Arundel and made our way to Frensham. 

The new tower on the opposite side of the old one.

Oldest part of the castle. Halfway up you can see the fireplace from where the second floor used to be in the tower.

View from the top of the tower down to the moat

Again we were going down small country lanes with the tree canopy completely covering the road.  We got lost a bit, but finally found the Go Ape Facility.  It was similar to the course we went on last year in Buxton, but this time it wasn't cold and rainy.  After a brief orientation to familiarize ourselves with the equipment we were off and what fun it was!  I love the Zip lines, but the Tarzan swing was really difficult this time as we had to climb up quite a ways to get to the next platform.  I think the net rope they used was built for someone 6'7" as my step wasn't big enough to reach it.  After quite a struggle I hauled myself up and luckily we only did one of these.  The Zip lines were fun, but I always came in backwards and ended up on my backside.  It didn't hurt and I was laughing the whole way.  Chelsea got a video of me and it's quite hilarious.  

We finished up and made our way around Frensham Pond to our Best Western Hotel.  What a pretty hotel it is with it's white wash exterior sitting next to the pond with ducks and swans. We had a huge room - Chelsea had a double bed to herself, and I got the single.  We freshened up and headed down to the dining room for dinner.  It's a good thing too, as I don't think we could have found another restaurant within quite a distance.  I love country dining inns and their dining rooms - we had a three course meal for only 21 pounds.  Our starter was leek and potato soup with home made bread.  My main was a chicken breast with Parma Ham and a creamy mushroom sauce.  Chelsea had the pheasant and it was delicious! Tomorrow we're hoping to see Highclere Castle - the setting for the TV Show Downton Abbey, and then off to Bath. 

Mummy's Chicken