Loch Insh Blog April 2016
Day 1: Tuesday
So the big day had arrived and the pupils were excited that the waiting was finally over! The parents were also glad the day had come…..no more counting down the days and hopefully four days of peace and quiet!
The bus arrived on time at Longside and by the back of eight they were off to Mintlaw and then finally Strichen by just after 8.30. Fifty five pupils were on the bus…..raring to go along with the staff who had psyched themselves up for the trip!
Poor Henry is on the trip….but he broke his ankle just before the holidays and although he is on the trip he won’t be cycling, skiing or raft building! But he will be able to join in socially and meet all the other pupils from the other schools.
The bus journey went well and the bus driver commented on more than one occasion about how well behaved the children were! We stopped in Aberlour and this allowed everyone the chance to get off the bus, go to the toilet and then have a few minutes to run about and let off some steam! Mr Jenkins was dispatched with the coffee order to the café to get carryout teas and coffees!
Soon we were off again and the next stop would be Loch Insh. Loch Insh is about 6 miles south of Aviemore on the old A9. It is located near Kincraig and the bus coped with the low bridge under the railway line and the narrow bridge with the very tight turn across the Spey at the foot of the loch. From there it was just a couple of minutes to the centre where we were met by Jess who organises the trips from the Loch Insh end.
Once everyone was off the bus and had retrieved their bags….some of which were BIGGER than te pupils…we took them to their rooms! Each room was met with a gasp and a, ‘Oh yes…..bunk beds’ or ‘These are great rooms!’.
After they had been to their rooms we went outside for our lunch in the sunshine, yes…..sunshine, before heading back in for the welcome talk and safety briefing from Jess. Then it was all hands to the decks to get ready for the afternoon activities.
This year we drew the short straw…..EARLY breakfast and EARLY tea! Breakfast will be at 7.30am and tea at 4.30am. The other school have breakfast at 8.30 and 5.30! So, we will be up early and be down for breakfast and lunch making before going back to tidy rooms, get ready for the first activity and get juice sorted out! A few groans were heard when they were told that breakfast was at 7.30AM!!
The first activities in the afternoon were Skiing for two groups, sailing for two groups and Problem Solving for one group.
The skiers went off to get kitted out! This can be a long and laborious task…..get a helmet that fits…..get boots that fit and then GET THE BOOTS ON and then get the right skis for their size! Getting the boots on is a challenge and many needed help to get the straps buckled up so they were tight enough. After a real chav we got the two groups on the slope with their skis and they were eager to get going! Skiing, especially if it is the first time, is a slow business…..you need to get confident walking in boots and then getting the skis on and walking with them. However, they were soon side stepping their way up the slope to the mid way point where they were going to set off from. For some this can be a real moment of terror….especially if you do not know what to expect! But the two groups were great and there were remarkably few fallers amongst them. In fact, there were more fallers as they side stepped up the slope as opposed to falling while skiing back down! For those who had not skied before it was great to see the looks on their faces as they got to the bottom of the slope in one piece!
At the end of the session…..comes the chore of getting the skis off, the boots off and then handed back to the instructors! But they all enjoyed it and many found it more tiring than they expected!
The sailing groups were out in the ‘bigger’ boats in groups of 7 or 8 with an instructor and member of staff. There was really not enough wind for the smaller boats and so they got to sail round the loch in the bigger boats and got a chance to steer and put up and down the sails. Again this seemed very popular with the children and they all arrived back in one piece and DRY apart from the odd wet foot or two! They got a short trip on the power boat to take them out to the sailing boat which was anchored out on the loch. The group with Johnny, one of the owners, even had Archie the dog with them for added excitement!
The last group were problem solving. They ventured off in to the woods with their instructor and Miss Clark to take part in a variety of problem solving activities which involved team work to be successful. They ended up on the beach and took part in a number of games involving moving their teams from one place to another using skis on ropes and leading a partner blindfolded through a number of obstacles. Again the children worked well together and had great fun trying all the different activities.
Some of the sailors nipped back to the accommodation to change wet trousers and shoes before coming back down to join the rest for tea. They had potato and leek soup, sweet and sour chicken with rice or salad or baked potatoes with cheese and beans! They had worked up a healthy appetite and enjoyed the meal. The meal was finished off with chocolate fudge cake with cream! This seemed to go down especially well!
We then had some time before the evening activity which now runs from 7.00pm to 8.30pm which is slightly later than it used to be. So the children got some time in their rooms and in the meeting hall to chat and just ‘chill’ for a while before heading out again.
The weather was still great and the evening activities were skiing for two groups, sailing for two groups and archery for one group. As the evening activity is only 1.5 hours it means they don’t get as long as the activity time during the day which is 2.5 hours! This can be a problem for the skiers as by the time they get kitted out…..it is almost time to get back to put all the kit away ! But again the groups all had great fun and the archery group were enjoying the challenge of trying to hit the target with their three arrows when they had their shot! As one boy said later on to the others in his room, ‘He was quite strict (the instructor) as archery is dangerous and you have to follow the rules to make sure no-one gets hurt!’
So after the evening activity it was back up the hill again to the accommodation where they had juice and a biscuit and we went over some points from the day and went over arrangements for the morning routine.
Lights out was around 10pm and hopefully they will sleep soundly till morning! We hope the weather stays as it was as we really had a great day weather wise!
So…a good first day…..three to go!
PHOTOS TO COME!
Im glad and very relieved you have all arrived safe and well. It was a worrying night for me ... as I can see all the pupils seem to be having a great time. Ill sleep well tonight. Have an amazing few days. Gail
Posted by: gail ritchie | 04/20/2016 at 11:14 AM