Digital Detox Diaries: A Weekend At Olive

As a 59 year old mum, who quit the rat race over three years ago, I knew I would enjoy a three night stay at an unplugged cabin but I wasn’t sure if I would feel the benefits of locking away my phone to digitally detox. Oh how wrong I was!

Reassured by my adult children that they could reach me (via the Nokia in the cabin) should our new grandson decide to arrive a little earlier than expected, we booked an unplugged stay. We chose Olive, nestled in the woods but with panoramic views across the High Weald rolling down to the South Downs and Eastbourne coastline.

So one drizzly September morning we set off, fully informed by unplugged of where to go, how to check in and everything we could expect to find there. Our first stop was to pick up a pre-ordered breakfast box from www.eggstoapples.co.uk (highly recommended) and enjoyed a scotch egg and coleslaw lunch which offered meat, vegan and gluten-free options.

Just a short drive away to the GPS location for the cabin parking space, we found a trolley to pull our luggage and a container of wellies and umbrellas should the rain continue.

Loaded up, we walked up a grassy path through the woods which led to the most beautiful views. We continued to follow the unplugged signs until we found Olive and it looked like a magical place in the woods and it most certainly was. I couldn’t wait to explore.

Once unpacked, we did a quick recce as we had planned to do the Mad Jack Fuller Folly Trail the next day and wanted to find the starting kissing gate. Back at the cabin, we lit the wood burner, warmed up some home-made soup, drank red wine and then curled up on the most comfortable mattress in the world. I am not exaggerating! The Piglet bedding and the softest pillows were going to guarantee a great night’s sleep after reading a few chapters of a real book (Audible is my usual type of ‘reading’).

I woke up early the following morning to catch the sunrise as I lay in bed looking through the huge cabin window. The sunrise began with a golden glow at the feet of the woodland trees and somehow the gaps between the leaves and the sky created the impression of a Christmas lights spectacular. It was stunning. I had to get up and go out to be part of it and I’m so pleased I did. The warmth of the sun, the silence then the dawn chorus was so calming and comforting.

Back in the cabin, my husband had brewed (freshly ground from beans) coffee which we savoured along with a cooked breakfast to set us up for our walk. With the sun shining, we followed this route which explains the history of the follies and took us across the rolling hills filled with sheep and horses, woods and a deer park.

https://www.brightlingpark.com/stay/things-to-do/mad-jack-fuller-folly-trail.

Thirsty from the heat, we stopped for lunch at The Swan Inn, a quintessentially old English pub, offering real good home-cooked food. We opted for the steak pies – delicious. We also wandered down to the village of Dallington which was very pretty and through the ancient graveyards.

After a wonderful day out, back at the cabin we lit the fire pit and watched the many pheasants running across the field in front of us until dusk encouraged us to nestle up by the wood burner in the cabin and play Scrabble (I won!).

For our final full day, we planned to do the Darwell Woods Walk and view the reservoir - https://123walks.org/rother-hastings/netherfield-darwell-wood-1-9m/. On our walk down to the start, an elderly villager offered us a big bag of cooking apples from his heavily-laden tree. When we explained that we would like to accept his offer but were at the beginning of a long walk, he promised he’d leave the bag in his garden for us to collect on the way back (and he did). We soon discovered that the map was not very detailed and got very lost in the woods but it was a lovely walk and we did find the reservoir. Good job we’d brought the unplugged OS map and compass!