The Maharaja s Yurt Guide Make the most of your stay Directions To get to the camp, if you have Sat Nav enter the destination as Sopley and the name of the street as Derritt Lane, or the post code BH23 7AZ. Otherwise navigate to Sopley in Hampshire which is on the Ringwood to Christchurch road B3347. The camp is situated off Derritt Lane which runs from Sopley to Bransgore. If you are coming from Sopley as you head down Derritt Lane pass a crossing then look out on the right hand side for a five bar gate and our sign above. You may also see signs for Sopley Farm Shop Pick Your Own - this is the same location. If you are coming from Bransgore cross the single lane bridge and look for a five bar gate on the left hand side. You may also see signs for Sopley Farm Shop Pick Your Own - this is the same location. If the gate is locked, the combination is 2040. Drive past the Farm Shop on the left hand side and proceed on the tarmac road across the fields. Please take care, there maybe small children and pedestrians in this area. Continue straight ahead until you get to the lake and follow the road round to the right. You will pass through the Fisherman s Car Park. On a corner turn sharp left down the tree-lined track. Caution: Track can be slippery when wet. As you clear the wood the yurts are on the left hand side (sign posted). The Maharaja s Yurt is the first yurt site on the left. Keys The keys for the yurt and bathroom are located in a 4 digit code lock box on the left hand side of the toilet/shower block which is located just where you park. Your code will be emailed and text to you before your arrival. Please leave the keys in the lock box when you leave. When entering the yurt, enter with your right foot first without touching the door frame. This is where the yurt s protective spirit is. If your foot accidentally hits the frame, please go out and come back in! MAHARAJA S YURT GUIDE 2018!1
Check in & check out Your yurt is available from 3pm on the day of your arrival. Please check out by 11am on your day of departure. Your yurts The Maharaja s Yurt sleeps two in one double beds and two on single floor mattresses which are stacked one on top of the other. Bedding for these are provided in the yurt. Columbian hammocks are stored in the yurts. Please do not leave outside as they are not weather proof. The yurt is hand made in Mongolia and is actually called a ger not a yurt. There are no screws or nails in the original construction. The string used is made from horse hair. The carpets in both yurts are hand made in Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan and felt lined - they are called shyrdaks. They are traditionally made by hand and given as a wedding present by the mother of the bride for the couple s new yurt on their wedding night. Electricity There is none. So please ensure you have a phone charger for your car (if you travelled by car to Sopley) or a power pack if you need to stay in touch. Mobile phone signal is adequate at the yurts. Your responsibility Please ensure that you and all other adults in your party read the following information on health and safety. You are also responsible for any vulnerable persons in your party. E.g. young children, the disabled or the elderly. Health & safety Fire safety in and around the yurts Adults only to use wood burner, gas rings, BBQ and fire pit. Please note the wood burner and CHIMNEY in the yurt become very hot during use. No fire inside the yurt apart from wood burner. No smoking, lighted candles or gas lanterns inside or with in one meter of the outside of the tent. Please ensure all fires and gas lanterns are extinguished before you go to sleep. MAHARAJA S YURT GUIDE 2018!2
There are numerous fire extinguishers located on the site, burns kit, first aid kit, fire blanket and emergency assembly point. Please familiarise yourself with the location of the equipment on your arrival, a diagram is located in your welcome pack. Please report any use of safety equipment to our Operations Director Graham Russell on 07850 831112 so that it can be immediately replaced. Please also report any carbon-monoxide or smoke/ heat alarm. NOTE: once the wood burner is lit use the fire glove provided to open and close door. Do not use the fire glove if wet. It takes only a small fire to warm the yurts up so do not attempt to build a furnace! The air vent on the wood burner does not adjust. Open the door on the front. Place one fire lighter on top of grate inside the wood burner. Put half a dozen pieces of kindling on top of the fire lighters. Light with igniter provided. Close the door. Wait two minutes then place two to three pieces of wood with care on top of the alight kindling through the front door of the wood burner. Close the door immediately to prevent smoke in the tent. Add more wood when required. The yurt is well insulated with felt, and will warm up very quickly. Before going to sleep or leaving the yurt please dampen down the fire to extinguish it completely. This can be done with a cup of water. Inside the lanterns or on the tables are electric lamps. These run off batteries, spares are kept in the top drawer in the chest of drawers in the Maharaja s Yurt. On the bedside tables are located torches for your use. Please ensure when you go to bed that a torch is locatable in the dark. There is also a gas lantern. Spare gas canisters are also located in the wood store next to the service hut. No lit candles within the yurt or within 1 metre (3 feet) are permitted. There are two battery power lamps in the bathroom, please locate them before it gets dark! Please dispose of used gas canisters sensibly. Do not return flat batteries to the drawer but leave out for us to recycle on your departure. Fire Safety in and around the Cooking Station & Fire Pit Adults only to use wood burner, gas lanterns, gas rings, BBQ and fire pit. Whilst guests must take full responsibility for the safety of children or other vulnerable persons in their party at all times, Forest Yurts recommend that MAHARAJA S YURT GUIDE 2018!3
children below the age of 11 years remain under immediate adult supervision whenever the griddle, hob or wood burners are in use. Gas rings. Turn the knob on the gas bottle located under the sink anticlockwise. Turn the knob associated with the ring anti-clockwise and use the igniter provided. Adjust the knob to the flow required. After use please turn off at the associated knob and at the gas bottle. If your gas runs out, a full spare bottle is provided under the sink. Instructions on how to change the bottle are provided in the info folder in the yurts. BBQ. Use the metal Rapidfire chimney starter provided for a quick start charcoal BBQ. Use only briquettes in the chimney. Place a fire lighter on the BBQ tray. Fill the chimney with the required amount of charcoal. Light the fire lighter and place the charcoal-filled chimney over the top. Once the charcoals have turned totally white, using the fire glove provided tip the contents onto the BBQ metal tray. Take extreme care when doing so to avoid spilling charcoal and endangering yourself. Don't do it in flip flops or open sandals! Place the grill on top, leave a few minutes to heat the grill then cook! If you require more hot charcoal just repeat the process. Hot box. With BBQs it is always difficult to get everything cooked and ready at the same moment. The hot box allows you to keep your food warm under the BBQ. Please use the oven gloves provided to protect your hand when drawing the box in and out. You can also use this as an oven, but precise temperature control will prove challenging using the heat from the BBQ. Fire pit & Wood Please keep children away from the fire pit and do not leave unsupervised at anytime when lit. Please do not build the towering inferno. Wood is stored in the wood shed next to the service hut. Please take one bag a day for free. Subsequent wood please leave 5/pile in the honesty letter box located above the wood shed. Scavenged wood around Sopley Lake is free. Caution: please do not leave any food out over night or if you leave the camp. You are in a rural location, and wildlife will help themselves if you do! Use of shower The showers run entirely on gas, providing instant hot water and plenty of it for you and your family. To adjust the temperature change the flow rate MAHARAJA S YURT GUIDE 2018!4
of the water using the controls in the shower. Reducing the flow increase the temperature and visa versa. Use of fridge The fridge is gas powered and left on for your use. If your gas runs out, a full spare bottle is provided under the sink. Instructions on how to change the bottle are provided in the info folder in the yurts. Rubbish, Recycling & Eco Friendly Please put all rubbish in black bin bags provided (under sink) before putting into the dustbin by the car park. We have a bottle bank located next to Sopley Farm Shop. We recycle batteries so please leave dead ones out for us to collect at the end of your stay. Other recycling facilities are available in the nearby village of Bransgore in the car park behind the Co-Op. Please leave the cooking station tidy before you leave. Please leave the yurt area and Sopley Lake and woods clear of litter for the next people to enjoy our yurt camp. Forest Yurts try to have as little impact on the surroundings as possible. We have installed bat boxes in the woods, and use only eco-friendly cleaning products for cleaning and for your use in the bathroom. If you can think of any way we can improve and lessen our impact please let us know. Smoking No smoking in the yurts or in the bathroom. Please take great care smoking on the camp site. Extinguish all cigarette ends carefully and dispose of sensibly. Security To maintain your privacy we leave you to it at the yurt camp. With this in mind we advise you not to leave any valuables in the yurt without your presence. We also ask you to lock the yurts and bathroom when leaving the camp. There are other campers that use the camp and fishermen that use the lake, so please be aware. What to bring Drinks, food, clothes & wash bag. Car mobile phone charger if applicable/ necessary. We supply pots, pans, cooking utensils, plates, plastic wine glasses, beakers, champagne glasses, cutlery, one set of bedding and one set of towels. Two torches and two battery lamps with spare batteries. A gas lamp for outdoor MAHARAJA S YURT GUIDE 2018!5
use only with spare gas canister. Two igniters. Basket of wood for wood burner. One 5kg bag of charcoal (extra charcoal is available to purchase locally). One net of wood per night for fire pit and wood burner. Extra wood is available, please pay in honesty letter box located just above the wood shed. Inventory All the contents of your camp will be checked before your arrival. Please ensure that all items are present when you leave. We recommend... The Woolpack Inn in Sopley (01425 672252), you can walk to them from the Yurt in 15 minutes. Take a torch! Please use the directions in the yurts or download from our guides. The Manor Hotel in Burton (BH23 7JG, 01202 477 189), near Christchurch has a legendary Sunday roast. The Three Tuns in Bransgore (BH23 8JH, 01425 672232) five minutes away is excellent, or the Ship Inn in Christchurch (BH23 1BN, 01202 474 799). For fast food the fish and chip shop in Bransgore, The Codfather is highly rated. For somewhere really special try the Chewton Glen Hotel close to New Milton (BH25 5QL, 01425 275341) for fine food and spa. For food shopping a short stroll through the pick your own fields that surround Sopley Lake you will be able to find plenty of seasonal fruit and veg. You can pre-order a wide range of quality BBQ meats through us and delivered to your yurt fridge from Ferndene Farm Shop (just follow the link in one of the booking emails). There is a small co-op, butchers, post office, doctors surgery, vets, pet shop and chemist in Bransgore, a Sainsbury's in Somerford, Waitrose and M&S are ten minutes away in Christchurch. Favourite place in the New Forest is Bucklers Hard near Beaulieu. The village lines either side of the slipway where the admiralty built wooden warships in the Napoleonic era. Museum, pub and restaurant in a stunning location. Park in the Master Builder's Hotel car park to avoid ridiculous parking charges if you can. Kayaking and river trip available. Best beach, Highcliffe. Park at Highcliffe Castle and walk down the steps for one of the quieter beaches. MAHARAJA S YURT GUIDE 2018!6
Fancy a ride in the forest, Brockenhurst Riding Stables located in Brockenhurst is not the closest but highly recommended and a wonderful area to ride, call 01590 624747. Assistance Any problems or if you require assistance or more information during your stay please call our operations director Graham Russell on 07850 831112. Forest Yurts We hope that you do not just enjoy your stay, but absolutely love it, tell your friends and come back for more glamping! If you feel that we can improve our service to you or our facilities, please let us know. If you are not satisfied with your stay please let us know on the mobile number below immediately so we can fix whatever the problem is. If you love us please share it on TripAdvisor or Google. Thank you. André Le Tissier & Graham Russell www.forestyurts.com info@forestyurts.com 07850 831112 MAHARAJA S YURT GUIDE 2018!7