2014 Loch Insh Trip
Day 1
Well, after a bit of an odd start to the day we eventually made it to Loch Insh by noon! Apologies to all those left waiting for the bus early in the morning. As the bus left Strichen, having turned up with NO passengers from Mintlaw and Longside, we received a text from Longside to say they were on their way! To say this confused us was an understatement!
We met the other bus with the Longside and Mintlaw pupils at MintlawAcademy and then had to transfer all the luggage from one bus to the other! Not the start to the day we had intended.
We made our way to Banff, Keith and Aberlour where we stopped for a ‘comfort break’ and a caffeine intake for the staff!
We made it to Loch Insh by noon and then unloaded all the luggage and got the children to their rooms before having lunch and the introductory talk by one of the instructors. After a fire alarm practice we were off down to the boat house for the first activities.
Miss Clark’s and Mrs Forrest’s groups were going sailing while Mr Donaldson’s group were Canadian Canoeing and Mr Taylor’s were kayaking. There was a light rain but it was quite warm initially.
Everyone got decked out with a life jacket and a paddle if one was required. The two sailing groups had the chance of going out in small boats for two or one of the bigger boats in a group of six. 11 decided to go in the small boats while 12 opted for the larger boats. Miss Clark took six and headed off with their instructor to the first boat by speedboat. Mrs Forrest soon followed with another six. The ones left started clambering on board their little boats…and before they were all ready for the off we had ONE who ended up out of their boat and IN the water! Poor Clare soon realised how cold the loch’s water was and we got her out of the water as quickly as possible. Her boat was soon bobbing under the water!! So as the rest got into the boats and set off we took Clare back up the hill to the accommodation so she could get a warm shower and change!
The other two groups started off with some instruction on how to use their paddles for either kayaking or canoeing. This is done on land and they were shown how to hold the paddles correctly and how to use them to move in different ways in the water. Then it was their time to head out on the water. The canoeists were in groups of three and had to work together to ensure they went where they needed to go. The kayakers were on individual kayaks or in ones built for two. They spent the 20 – 30 minutes in the sheltered area learning how to handle the canoes or kayaks, how to turn in different directions and generally build their confidence. Once the instructor was happy they ventured out on to the loch.
The canoeists ventured up the loch before heading back down to play some games near the beach. The kayakers were quite bold and were soon out of site up at the bottom end of the loch and they made the trip round the island before heading back to the boat house! Considering they started late they did very well to make it so far!
Clare in the meantime had got dried out and changed and was soon offered the chance to go out on the speed boat with Johnny who was going to take some film of the grops out on the water. She jumped at the chance and with her life jacket back on she was soon speeding across the loch at top speed!
By the time they all made it back to shore they were quite wet! Some were very wet and the drying room is already full of items! We will soon find out how many did in fact put their initials on their clothes!!
After a bit of quiet time and a chance to ‘unpack’ (which for some meant tipping out their case!!) we were off for tea! We have scored this year and have got late breakfast AND late tea which is great!
Tea was soup, sweet and sour pork or baked potatoes and fruit icicles for pudding!
We were no longer back up the hill when it was time to head out for the evening activity! The Wide Game!
They were split into two teams and then chose their area to defend their flag in the woods and set up camp! The games then commenced! Each team had to defend their coloured buoy from being stolen by the other team and also make sure they did not loose their ‘tail’ to the opposition! If they lost their tale they were sent to prison until it was decided to release them once again!
Madness ensued as they chased about and Mr Donaldson and Mr Taylor took part VERY enthusiastically with their team!
To finish off the evening they got the chance to play in the play park or watch the football. To their credit only three ended up with the football option and the rest set off to run off more steam in the park!
We now have time for juice and biscuits before bed and hope that they will get to sleep quickly when it is light out time!!
A good day so far…..lets hope for more of the same today!
We will try and upload some photos along with this if we can get a good enough signal to share the photos.
Camon folks it sounds like you are having great fun! Poor Clare, let hope your swimming skills became useful in the right time. And how is Team Taylor doing? Common Team T !!!!
Posted by: Eric | 04/23/2014 at 05:12 PM
Looks like LOADS of fun . Loving the photos and hoping the weather certainly brightens up for you all . Missing my girly Madison , bet she isn't missing us, lol .. Looking forward to reading and seeing a lot more
Posted by: Sharron Taylor | 04/23/2014 at 06:12 PM