We have been lucky so far with the weather this week. Today was a lovely day and conditions were ideal for us. This was especially so for the two groups who were on the water in the morning. Mrs Mitchell’s group were out kayaking and they managed to explore a lot of the loch during the session. They started off by getting their life jackets and paddles and do some exercises to accustom themselves to using the paddles. They then got their kayaks from the rack and after some pushing and clambering on to the kayak at the waterside they were off. Within a few minutes they were confidently kayaking round the sheltered bay where they were working. The instructor got them altogether and went over a few points before they took off along the loch. Before long they were out of sight and I headed off to see what the Canadian canoeists were up to.
Miss Ingram’s group were in the Canadian canoes. These were the canoes traditionally used by Native Americans to travel up and down the Great Lakes of the US. Andy went over the basics with them before Johnny arrived to take them out on the water. Working in twos or threes they set sail and they too were soon paddling about confidently. However, there were a few near misses at the start which gave a few of them a bit of a fright! They too soon took off up the loch and they managed to canoe up the entire length of the loch to the point where the River Spey enters the loch. Johnny later said that they had canoed at least 2.5 miles over the two hour session.
Mrs Stephen’s group were being a little more active on the dry ski slope. They got kitted out with their ski boots and skis and spent quite a while trying to figure out how to manoeuvre themselves up the slope with these huge boots on and log skis! However, they were soon side stepping their way up the hill and one by one they all took it in turns to fall over! NO…. they really did well and a few of them showed some real promise and were soon carrying out some difficult technical moves such as the ‘pizza and chips’ and the ‘snow plough’! Before the end of the session a few of them were taking off from almost the top of the slope and were speeding down to the bottom with great gusto.
Before we knew it it was lunchtime and we all trudged back up the 69 steps to the hall to have our lunch and a short rest before session 2. Lunch was again sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, a biscuit and more juice!
In the afternoon Mrs Mitchell’s group were the groovy snowboarders and swapped the long thin skis for a shorter and broader board. Both feet are fixed on to the board and you bravely slide down the slope hoping not to fall and hurt yourself!
Mrs Stephen’s group went for a walk through the grounds and then headed out on the boat for a cruise round the loch. They were excited at the end of the session as it was their turn for the shop. However, Mr Jenkins was away in the woods with the group doing problem solving and they had to wait patiently until Mrs Mitchell could phone him to ask him to come down….as he had all the money!
Miss Ingram’s group went first to the archery area and then had great fun in the woods doing some problem solving exercises. The archery was great and after a little practice they were managing to hit the target regularly and scored some good scores! They were about 5 metres from the target and were amazed to learn that Olympic archers shoot over a distance of around 70 metres! After doing archery they set off for the woods to do some problem solving. They untangled them selves from a human knot and attempted to get their team through a spiders web without touching the ropes or using the same hole twice. Finally they spent 20 minutes blindfolded in a line with one hand on the shoulder of the person in front and one hand on a rope as they walked down a steep slope in the trees following the rope where ever it took them. They really enjoyed this and worked well as a team.
After a further trek back up the hill they had their juice, had a rest and then we were back down to the boathouse for tea. Today it was soup, pizza or sausage rolls (or both!!) with chips and salad. This went down well with everyone and then they had a chocolate, banana, cream and ice cream sundae for pudding! Feeling stuffed we went back up the hill to get our gear for the last activity of the day.
Mrs Stephen’s group went problem solving and Miss Ingram’s went skiing. These went well but one person did stave their thumb when they fell over at one point. After an ice pack she seemed to be fine and is hoping to be able to do all the activities tomorrow!
Mrs Mitchell’s group went mountain biking and had a great ride out to a small lochan a couple of miles out from the centre. Mr Jenkins went with them but returned with three of the children who either felt a little wheezy or were just too tired to carry on! I said I would catch them up once I got them back to the centre safely and left them watching the skiers! However, I followed the route and must have over taken them when they took a slight detour round the lochan and so spent the whole time cycling alone, with my ipod, looking for the group! (It was bliss really but don’t tell them that!) There is another cycle journey tomorrow so hopefully I won’t get separated again!
By the end of the evening we had a lot of tired children….. and staff. Some were feeling a little off colour and so we were planning an early night. Eventually, after one or two additional distractions they were ready for bed. We did try a little variation for the podcast with an attempt to sing a ‘round’ to brighten it up. Well, this proved trickier than expected and we obviously need more practice! Perhaps we will cancel the disco tomorrow to practice.
Anyway, the children are really enjoying the challenges they are facing and have mixed so well as a group and seem to be making new friends from the other school. We are looking forward to tomorrow and the last full day! It is now VERY LATE and I hope that this will make it easier for me to get a proper sleep tonight!
Watch out for tomorrows report on Friday morning.
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