Simon Ritchie and family return ecstatic from their first holiday in a static caravan.

IT WAS love at first sight. Thirty-six feet long, by 12 feet wide, our caravan, our home for the next four nights, was a palace on wheels.

Our worries and anxieties evaporated in an instant, and within half an hour my wife, Jayne, was asking how we could buy one.

The caravan, or mobile home to give it its posh name, was at British Holiday's Lakeland Leisure Park, on the southern fringes of the Lake District near Morecambe Bay.

As part of British Holiday's Gold Olympic range, the caravan was said to offer "that extra bit of luxury". It certainly did.

As well as the two bedrooms, one of them with an ensuite bathroom with shower, there was a spacious lounge with two settees, a colour television and a gas fire, a dining room, fully-fitted kitchen with a good-size gas oven and hob and a microwave oven. It really was a home from home.

It came with bed linen and heaters in the bedrooms and bathrooms, plus FunWorks passes, which gave free entry to the leisure and entertainment complex (this usually costs between £15 and £25 per adult.) We also enjoyed the earliest check-in at the park, 1.30pm.

The holiday park, one of 19 operated by British Holidays in the UK, boasted indoor and outdoor swimming pools (both of them nicely heated), a bowling green, pitch and putt golf course, a football pitch, tennis courts, outdoor play areas and an indoor soft play den.

You can go horse riding, and also try scuba diving and canoeing.

Every day, there is a full and varied programme of events - the majority aimed at youngsters.

At night the entertainment really gets into full swing with quizzes, prize bingo, discos, cabaret acts and shows. And there are plenty of places to eat and drink.

Our young son, Elliot, loved the children's disco and story time with Rory the lion and Bradley Bear kept him quiet for a while.

And he was in his element in the amusements, gambling away his pocket money (and his dad's) on the slot machines and cascades.

There's so much to keep you busy at Lakeland, but if you can tear yourself away there are loads of places nearby to visit and explore.

Situated just outside Flookburgh , the site is about a five-minute drive from Grange-over-Sands, and about ten miles south of Lake Windermere.

It's only a short drive to the pretty village of Cartmel, known for its priory and racecourse, and the National Trust property of Holker Hall.

Grange-over-Sands is a quiet, genteel little town with an extremely long promenade, which nudges Morecambe Bay. On a fine day you can see the city of Lancaster some 12 miles away.

But Elliot was rather disappointed. Armed with bucket and spade he ran down to the beach only to find sheep munching on Spartina grass, which covers the foreshore for miles.

We did manage to get on to the beach at a place called Humphrey Head, about a ten-minute drive from the caravan site, but the sands are really mudflats and very difficult to make anything resembling a castle!

A place well worth visiting is South Lakes Wild Animal Park, at Dalton-on-Furness - which has twice been named the Lake District's top attraction.

Rhinos, giraffes, spectacled bears, baboons, monkeys, cheetahs and lions have large enclosures in which to roam around, while other creatures, such as ring-tailed lemurs, run wild. You can even have a go at feeding the lemurs and kangaroos.

The park is also home to two of the world's most endangered animals, the Sumatran and Amur tigers. At feeding time - 2.30pm each day - they climb to the top of 20ft high poles to "catch" their food. The exercise keeps them fit and healthy.

The zoo raises tens of thousands of pounds each year for its charity, The Sumatran Tiger Trust, which aims to protect the remaining 400 or so Sumatran tigers living in the wild.

Also worth visiting is the fascinating Aquarium Of The Lakes at Lakeside by the shores of Windermere, which boasts more than 30 displays, featuring the UK's largest collection of freshwater fish as well as mischievous otters and diving ducks. You can walk on Windermere's recreated lake bed in the Lake District's only underwater tunnel, and come face-to-face with the sharks and rays in the Morecambe Bay display.

You can reach the aquarium by car or by taking the popular Lakeside And Haverthwaite Steam Railway, which runs on a three-mile section of an old branch line of the Furness Railway. From Lakeside you can also take a cruise on a streamer to the lively resort of Bowness.

The only problem with our four-night stay was that it was too short. Just as we were getting used to staying in a caravan it was time to pack up and leave.

But now we've caught the caravanning bug, we'll definitely be going back for more. And who knows, if our numbers come up on tonight's lottery, we may even buy one!

Fact file

Lakeland Leisure Park

Moor Lane, Flookburgh

Cumbria.

In June, our four-night stay in a two-bedroom Gold Olympic caravan cost £227. Prices vary throughout the year.

For further information, to book, or order a brochure, phone 0870 24 25 500 or log on to www.british-holidays.co.uk

South Lakes Wild Animal Park, Dalton-in-Furness Tel 01229 466086 www.wildanimalpark.co.uk

Aquarium Of The Lakes, Lakeside, Newby Bridge Tel 01539 530153 www.aquariumofthelakes.co.uk

Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway Tel 015395 31594 www. ukhrail.uel.ac.uk/lhr.html

Updated: 08:48 Saturday, July 05, 2003