The last weekend in March, I visited Kingston Maurward near Dorchester to take part in the Dragon Egg Quest, which was an Easter event targeted to families. The weather has not been great with a lot of rain, but I was lucky to have a clear day with some sun, despite a cold breeze. The spring blossoms and flowers were in bloom, and the trail itself to locate the egg sculptures is 2.5 kilometres. The estate contains a petting zoo with animals, gardens, and playgrounds for children to enjoy. In addition to the cafe, there were also a couple of food trucks selling waffles and pizzas.
Spring is lambing season, so on the entrance to the estate, a lot of newborn and slightly-older lambs greeted me.
I had a dragon-themed cupcake before walking the trail to locate the giant eggs.
The trail started off into the animal park, where I discovered rabbits, guinea pigs, alpacas, donkeys, pigs, goats, and other animals.
Next to the giant egg sculptures were letters in a frame to locate (sometimes they were on the ground and others up inside trees). These were used to complete the dragon's name, and successful completion meant that visitors (children) could claim a plastic egg with a small dragon hidden inside.
The trail led through the gardens, which were starting to come out into blossom.
The magnolia trees were particularly beautiful.
I also saw some beautiful purple and white flowers on the embankment under the house.
The trail also led around the lake.
Along the way, there were interesting sculptures: a sword in the lake (lady of the lake), a fairy toadstool, a unicorn, and dragon.
Along the way, two golden eggs could be found for an additional prize. I went through the trail twice, but I was not able to locate the remaining egg.
At the formal gardens area, some tents had been set up with a small cafe and picnic tables. There were several games and a "bouncy castle" for children to play on.
I did manage to get an egg. I selected a white "glow in the dark" egg, and it has a small dragon toy inside. There were other colours and multi-colour rainbow ones as well.
I enjoyed the visit to Kingston Maurward to walk around the estate and find the eggs. It was good fun!
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