Spending time in the New Forest is the perfect antidote to any busy week.

The only downside is leaving it. So how perfect it was, that one Friday afternoon we simply drove into the leafy surroundings of Sandy Balls Holiday Centre, moved our things into a quaint little wooden cabin, and became forest dwellers, for a whole, long, leisurely weekend.

Recently awarded a sought-after Five Stars from the Visit Britain tourism panel, Sandy Balls is more than 90 years old and seems to ‘fit’ into the forest, rather than occupying it.

Situated just a stone’s throw from Bournemouth where we live, in Fordingbridge, Sandy Balls offers a variety of accommodation, ranging from touring pitches to ‘ready tents’ and luxury lodges.

Our home for the weekend was a two-bed woodland lodge with kitchen, comfy lounge, bathroom and gated decking, leading down steps to a barbecue area and a shared little woodland glade for the children to play in.

Sandy Balls has both indoor and outdoor pools, plus a huge variety of outdoor activities, from horse riding to kayaking.

Waking up in the forest, peaking out of the curtains into a sunny, woodland glade is my kind of Saturday morning and after breakfast we made our way to the centre of the park – the piazza – to meet up and take part in a bug hunt.

Following our guide around the park, we learned how this natural haven had been created to complement the forest.

It is called Sandy Balls after the giant, ancient, sandy outcrops which skirt the site and which provide amazing views over the forest beyond.

Making our way to a meadow on the side of the park we were shown how to use giant nets and collecting flasks to hunt and study our bugs.

All the children taking part were in their element and we left that morning feeling we had had an adventure, as well as learning about some fascinating insects.

Getting around Sandy Balls and the forest can be done on foot or by following a maze of cycle paths on one of the centre’s hired bikes.

My husband and I took tag-along bikes which seated ourselves and both our daughters and after help and advice from the excellent cycle shop staff we spent a few happy hours attempting to follow a trail along the river and through the woods stopping along the way to look at beautiful plants and wildlife and to feed the swans.

Sandy Balls is quiet and relaxed, but has everything to keep even the most energetic children occupied.

Ours were very impressed by the play park, a two-tier affair stacked with great equipment including a zip-wire.

There is also an amusement centre and a spa and treatment boutique for frazzled mums (and dads) to spend some quality time.

As I said, our lodge came with a well-equipped kitchen.

And there is a well-stocked shop with lots of great meat for the barbeque.

But eating out at Sandy Balls is also easy and tasty, with a pub which serves bar meals and snacks well into the evening and also has live entertainment most nights.

Our favourite though was Pizza in the Piazza, a stylish and friendly restaurant, with attentive and helpful staff where our girls enjoyed stacked pizzas and ice creams, and we ate succulent steaks and drank fruit-filled Pimms.

We had planned to leave Sandy Balls before our break ended on the Sunday night, to prepare for work and school that Monday.

But when the time came to leave we just could not drag ourselves away.

Waking up in the forest, in a sunny wooden glade, brought a whole new meaning to a Monday morning and we all started the week floating on air.