Into the woods - Dalby Forest

We rose early and feeling ravenous crept our way down to the kitchen for spicy baked eggs and gooey camembert with crusty french bread. After a good feed we were ready for a micro adventure and to walk off brunch.

We are lucky to have forest, countryside and coast on our doorstep so we're spoilt for choice but the woodland was calling and we wanted to get lost among some tall trees. We set off with no fixed plan just to see where we would end up.

The track lay before us shaded by giant evergreen trees, making us feel small and humble.

It was a freezing day with the kind of cold that creeps into your bones if you let it, so we wrapped up and moved quickly trying to keep warm.

Eventually we decided to go off track and get amongst the trees, enjoying the fresh air and the slight rustling between the leaves.

The storms that had raged all week had left their mark on the forest, with fallen trees strewn across the path

The sky opened up large and blue before us helping to lift our spirits...

We walked for miles and miles until the sun was starting to set and we realised we were far from civilisation...

The setting sun showed the beautiful red, gold and green colours of nature...

We found this stack of cut wood and breathed in the fresh, forest scent and played around with the lovely textures.

Eventually we found our way back to civilisation and wondered how many miles we had walked towards the places signposted.

We headed back towards the Dalby Forest visitor centre for a warming cup of tea and explored some strange white pods, which contain telescopes for the regular stargazing nights they hold here. We've been before and always enjoyed the clear night skies and informative talks from astrologers. This week is the Dark Skies Festival in the North York Moors in Yorkshire to celebrate some of the darkest skies in the UK, so it's an ideal time to give it a try.

We said goodbye to our forest friends and headed for home but vowed we'd be back to enjoy the woodlands again very soon.