An afternoon at The Weir

James is currently down in Cornwall visiting us, and so we decided to make the most of the good(ish) weather yesterday afternoon and head out for lunch and a walk. Every time we have driven to Bude I have noticed The Weir restaurant with it’s enticing children’s play area, and have been hankering to check it out. Yesterday was the day!

We ate a really delicious (and reasonably priced) lunch in the restaurant before heading out for a walk. I had a jacket potato with prawns, James ate an omelette wide a side of chips, and Georgie had a delicious ciabatta pizza with chips. We all drank the best chocolate milkshakes I have had in a long time, and Lydia basically robbed food and drink off everyone else. The staff were really accommodating and friendly, and happily did a milkshake in a small glass for Georgie.

The restaurant has two halves; one side is a more traditional restaurant with floor to ceiling windows on one side with views to the water, and the other is a more relaxed area with wildlife information all over the walls. There are plenty of sofas, a roaring fire, and some interactive screens to learn more about the wildlife, play games, and look at the walks you could do. Georgie really enjoyed playing memory!

Georgie is still under the weather a bit and it was very cold & windy on the top of the hill, so we didn’t go too far or for too long, but it was an invigorating and enjoyable walk all the same.

There are several circular walks all starting at the restaurant, so we walked a little way down the Kingfisher trail before heading back – Georgie was nattering on about going on the big slide, that she had obviously glimpsed from the car window as we drove to the car park!

We did go far enough to find three geocaches, all with “treasure” in, so Georgie was very pleased with that. She collected a frog, a dinosaur, and a magnetic letter Y- of course we swapped them for swag of our own. They will all be lovely additions to her “treasure chest” that she keeps all her swag in, once they’ve had the grubbiness washed off. We also picked up a big fir cone that she tucked in her bag and showed Grandma proudly later on… I might try and lose that one when I’m doing the packing in the next few weeks!

After our walk we let Georgie loose in the play area, which she enjoyed very much indeed. It is a lovely one, with fun tunnels and one of those big round swings. Never entirely satisfied, our little madam pulled a face when she asked to go “on the twirly one” and I had to inform her that the play area didn’t have a roundabout. The slide went down well, or should that be she went down it well?

Personally, I loved the duck and frog ride on things. It wasn’t very elegant when I tried to get on from the lower side though – ouch. To be honest, it wasn’t very elegant when I was on it either. I will spare you the photographic evidence, Georgie looked much better on it.

After Georgie was finished playing we all headed inside and stripped off the layers to collapse on one of the lovely squashy sofas inside the restaurant, where we treated ourselves to a not-very-hard-earned hot chocolate and cake. Warm chocolate fudge cake with a giant dollop of clotted cream… Mmmm. The kids had a great time playing with each other under the table, behind the sofa, and clambered about just about everywhere, much to the amusement of the other patrons.

It was a lovely relaxed way to while away the afternoon, with excellent food in a relaxed and comfortable setting, and a lovely walk in beautiful scenery. Lydia had her afternoon nap strapped to Daddy’s chest, and Georgie got a good dose of fresh air in her lungs and new treasures for her collection. A success all round!