Living in the trees with peacocks: a secret country hideway

After my half marathon adventures I headed out to East Sussex with the boy for some country-style R&R! Being Scots we miss the green stuff and fresh air, and need our regular fix or we resort to Mel Gibson-esque blue-face-painted warriors screaming something about freedom. Not pretty for anyone...

We had booked one of the eco lodges at Fair Oak Farm after reading a great review online, and we were not disappointed. Our home for the next three nights was small but perfectly formed wooden lodge on stilts, built in to the trees and situated on an ancient tree line.

Eco Lodge at Fair Oak Farm. Boy not included.

Not only was it absolutely gorgeous inside and out, but the farm had some lively residents in the form of five or so peacocks, one of whom had just had three chicks! When Penny, the owner of the farm, showed us to our lodge she mentioned that we might hear some tapping, but "that'll just be the peacocks!" haha - we laughed - very funny! She wasn't wrong... before long we had these two guests at the door:

Darling, there's some peacocks at the door...

That view (sometimes with peacocks, sometimes without) was what we woke up to every morning. Some mornings we just sat in bed with a coffee marvelling at the view, it was so beautiful.

The weather was fairly grim over our stay - typical after the glorious summer we've just had! - but we managed a few country/hillside walks in the area, and there were some paths with signposts around (although without a map it's not that intuitive, so we will definitely take one next time!). We also ventured to Bodiam Castle, a 14th century moated castle that's only a 30 minute drive away from the lodges. It's quite something to behold...

The lodges have a small but perfectly formed kitchen for all your self catering needs, but we ate out one night at the nearby (10 minute drive away) Middle House Hotel - a perfect, traditional country style pub with a great atmosphere and rustic, hefty portions of locally sourced food. What more could you ask for?

We loved our stay, and are already planning our return trip. With various self-catering options from the lodges to 6-person barnhouses, we might even let our friends in on the secret and invite them along! These lodges really are a hidden gem, so shhh!, don't tell anyone...

Katy | City Girl Fit

We paid for our trip to Fair Oak Eco Lodges and all opinions are my own.