Monkey business

9:13am Saturday 27th January 2007

Christime Fieldhouse and her family enjoy a mini safari on an Action Man tour of Wiltshire.

FED-UP of riding round with stabilisers on his bike, our son Jack was a boy on a mission when we arrived at Center Parcs in Wiltshire. Wearing his Action Man helmet, he was determined he would emerge from this break with a new skill - riding a bike with two wheels, not four.

From Jack's point of view, the little roads through the Giant Redwood forest at Longleat offered a chance to take a tumble from his hired bike without his friends seeing and laughing. As parents, his dad Ian and I were more interested in road safety than saving face.

But the traffic-free roads and the open spaces proved a perfect training ground and the terrain gave Jack a soft landing whenever he came a cropper. By day three he was off and away, and it was my turn to be grateful no-one I knew could see or hear me, running and shrieking: "Stop! Brake!"

Although Longleat is a good five-hour drive from the North-East, it was well worth the trip. The terrain is hillier than the company's Sherwood Forest resort, making the maps more difficult to read, but it was different, and we felt we were visiting a new place rather than a resort just the same as the others. The land train made it easier to get around too.

As always at Center Parcs, the simple things are the best. When we weren't out cycling, we were in the pool with Jack, jumping the waves and whizzing down slides just like Action Man himself. The outdoor part of the pool was great fun, especially when it started snowing. It was a surreal feeling to be swimming outside in Britain in the snow, but the heated pool water kept us warm as snowflakes fell.

Teenagers spend whole days riding the Water Rapids, so I set off on my first (and last!) journey with interest. Slightly daunted - it's for strong swimmers only - I went with the flow and began to feel pretty confident on my gentle undulating journey until I hit a current and started to go back up the ride. As tanned, athletic boys passed me by, I felt like a beached whale going absolutely nowhere.

I needed to steady my fraught nerves, and where better than the Aqua Sana, a sanctuary of peace and calm, with a lovely refreshing Japanese salt room, a Tyrolean sauna and a eucalyptus-filled Turkish hamman. There, Ian and I spent a happy two hours before being whisked away to the treatment rooms. Over the next hour, all embarrassment and stress from my time as a beached whale and a cycling trainer were pummelled away in a deep tissue massage, and I emerged so relaxed I wondered if I was in North America when I saw more snow had fallen on those Giant Redwoods.

Meanwhile, Jack was doing some research of his own - at the Time Out Club, where he had hit lucky with an afternoon party. He came out happy, with his face painted like a wolf, and clutching a rabbit mask he had made.

Eating out at Center Parcs is a joy. Not only do restaurants welcome children and cater for them, but some, like Huckleberry's, have play areas, leaving parents the time to enjoy their meal.

Our lunch at the Jardin des Sports cafà was the tastiest, while Ian and I enjoyed a lovely Italian meal at Luciano's. We also tried out the Grand CafÃ, reminiscent of a French railway cafÃ, and the cheaper Crispin's. As a rule, lunch in the restaurants for three came to about £25 while dinner was about £45.

Yet, because the villas are so comfortable, we really enjoyed the evenings when we had the log fire going, and we stayed in and ate. Our two-bedroomed villa was well equipped with a dishwasher, fridge, cooker, microwave and a whirlpool bath, as well as a TV and DVD player. We shopped at the Parc Market which has a good range of fresh food and convenience foods, so self-catering can be as easy or as complicated as you want.

But I challenge anyone to go to Longleat and not feel lured by the nearby safari park, which has just celebrated its 40th anniversary. Now the star of the BBC's Animal Park series, it was the first place outside Africa to open a drive-through safari park. With a passport ticket costing £19 for adults and £15 for children between three and 14, you need more than a day to see all the attractions.

Jack's Wiltshire-based cousins, Tom, 12, and Charlie, ten, joined us for this visit. The boys thoroughly enjoyed having monkeys climbing all over the car, and watching them tear a trim off the one in front. I loved the magnificent lions and was fascinated by a parrot show, where the birds drove cars, pushed supermarket trolleys, posted letters and gave kisses. We all enjoyed the boat ride in hippo-infested waters, despite pouring rain, to feed the sea lions and view the gorilla island, where the inhabitants enjoy watching Scooby Doo on Sky TV.

We all cheered and screamed on the Scalectrix simulator, while Jack loved the trip round the smelly, dirty Old Joe's Mine, the little train that travels round the park - and holding a cockroach. For brighter days, there's also an enormous wooden fort play area.

We ended our Action Man tour of Wiltshire with a stop at Fovant to see the hillside display of British and Australian badges, originating from 1916, and at Stonehenge, where we checked out the remnants of the ancient stone circle dating back to 3000BC.

After an action-packed stay, the tears when the little red bike went back to the Cycle Centre were followed with a bright realisation: "Mum, Dad, we could live at Center Parcs forever." For once we all agreed, but headed home all the same.

TRAVEL FACTS

A two-bedroomed executive villa sleeping four people at Longleat Forest starts from £335 for a four-night midweek break, and includes the villa and services, use of the subtropical swimming paradise and all children's play areas. Adult bike hire is £15 and child bike hire is £8 for midweek stays. For a brochure telephone 08708-400-220, to book, call 08705-200-300 or visit www.centerparcs.co.uk

Longleat Safari Park is open daily from April 1 to November 5. Longleat House is open all year, excluding Christmas Day. Phone 01985-844400 or visit www.longleat.co.uk

For information on the Fovant Badges, go to www.fovantbadges.com