Loch Insh 2013 Day 3
Day three is when the tiredness kicks in! Everyone is on the go from early morning till late and so eventually it catches up with you. However, it is interesting to see how the children go up and down according to what they are doing! Meal times were very quiet today as they appreciated a time to sit, eat and catch breath!
Again we were up early and down for breakfast by 7.30am. All of the boys from Strichen had to be woken up today...and you could tell they would have liked a bit longer in bed! Mind you...they weren't the only ones!
So...breakfast...packed lunches and posting the blog from yesterday was all ticked off the list. The weather was looking hopeful once again and we were keeping our fingers crossed that it would stay dry once again.
After returning from breakfast their next challenge was getting ready for the morning activities followed by....room inspection! Now this was beginning to become a bit more competitive and the Longside boys were the first to ask if they could use the hoover to help! Take note....THEY ASKED TO USE THE HOOVER!
Well, the ripple effect soon spread and one by one each room asked if they could use the hoover! Mrs Mitchell and Mr Taylor went on room inspection duty and to say they were pernickity was an understatement! However, MOST of the rooms were looking great and credit to the Longside boys who are in a room of 5 for getting FIVE points out of FIVE!
So...off we went down to the boathouse again. The pupils are now talking about the steps and counting how many times they still have to go up and down them. By this time.....we should be down to being up and down twice more before leaving.
The sharks were going off to Arch while the whales and the starfish were going skiing! Archery is easy to get ready for.....just collect a bow, get some arrows and off you go. The skiing is a bit more involved and with two groups at the same time makes it even more complicated! First.....what is your shoe size? Then they have to try on the boot and figure out how to do them up. Then they need to queue and get the boots fitted for the skis they are given. Then they need a helmet and gloves. Then they 'moonwalk' over to the slope where they then have to find out how to move on the slope before even thinking about going up the hill and come down!
Mr Taylor and Miss Stewart were keen to join in and so they fought with their boots and skis and were looking forward to the challenge! Miss Stewart was keeping it quiet that she had been skiing previously! Slowly but surely they all managed to get reasonably proficient at moving and walking with the skis and as time went on the were going higher up the slope. They had to learn various techniques like the pizza and how to stop at the bottom of the hill!
Everyone enjoyed the experience and they all gave it a good go. They even were using the ski-tow to get pulled up the slope. Once finished they then had the joy of getting skis off, getting back to the boathouse then getting their helmets and boots off and back to the instructors! You could see the ones who had been skiing before as they were more confident but the others all improved a lot over the session.
The archers were enjoying their fun and again there was a lot of competition between them to score the most or hit the balloons that were pinned on the targets.
Late in the morning we had a 'surprise' visit from the two primary 7 pupils from Strichen who did not come on the trip and the look of surprise on the faces of the others when they appeared was a sight to see. They enjoyed seeing what everyone was up to and joined us for lunch and took part in the raft building in the afternoon.
Lunch today was OUTSIDE! We managed to have a picnic outside the accommodation in the sun and it was great.
But soon we were off on the next activity – RAFT BUILDING. I think this has turned out to be a favourite for many of them! At the start of the activity they were taken in to the lecture room and were given some pointers about how to build a raft and were shown how to tie some 'proper' knots! ( I would have used granny knots.....but they are difficult to untie at the end!) After this they were split into four teams and got their materials and were off!
They were allowed:
Barrels (4 or 6 depending on size)
6 long wooden poles
8 pieces of rope
Slowly the rafts started to take shape and you could see the 'organisers' coming to the fore as they assigned different tasks to their group members. Occasionally there was a lively debate as to how they would best set about the task or complaints if people were not doing as instructed! However, after some hard work and good team work the rafts were ready for launching! But before this they had to go and get their life jackets and a paddle. Once everyone was back they man handled their rafts into the water and suddenly the air was awash with screams as they tried to get the raft to float, or tried to get on the raft or tried to stay on it once they did get on. The water soon turned white with all the splashing and the screams got louder as they got further out from the shore and they started to fall off into the deeper water!
One or two of the rafts were very solidly built and the 8 or 9 people on the raft sat quite happily ON the water. The other two got their...but one of them in particular was a bit rocky and more often than not they fell off one by one into the water!
The screams of joy got louder and louder and the laughter never stopped! Not everyone went in the water but we all enjoyed watching.
However, it soon became apparent that their main aim was to end up IN the water! So the rafts were taken back on shore and then they all ran and jumped in on mass into the water. Some said it was not cold at all! Some did look a little blue! One or two took little knocks and one from Strichen was taken back ashore in the 'safety canoe' and needed a few minutes just to get back on his feet after taking a knock and ended up feeling a little faint. However, after a few minutes he was soon back helping his team dismantle the raft and put the equipment away.
They were delighted, noisy and very WET! But they had a great time. However, the slog back up the steps to the hall was a little more challenging and taking off all their wet clothes before going into the hall was more challenging than normal. Lets hope the drying room manages to at least dry the clothes off a little before tomorrow. However, I doubt it will and so expect some very damp, heavy clothes in the cases!
Tea was a B-B-Q – but it was held indoors due to the changeable weather. Soup, burgers in a bun, chicken, sweetcorn and salad was the order of the day. Again a hearty meal was had by all and then it was back up to get ready for problem solving in the evening.
We also had to make it to the shop for the two groups that had not been and they managed to make a good go of spending all their money! Hopefully they have bought you something nice to take back!
We went down early before the evening activity and went to the park or played football for a while. The highlight was Miss Stewart scoring a goal in the game!
Problems solving was more fun that they had imagined and the groups took part in a variety of different games and problems round the site which challenged them and made them work as a team!
My group finally cracked their last problem at the ELEVENTH time of asking and it was only the 'treat' of losing their breakfast that focussed them to complete it eventually!
After this we went back up to the hall and after some quiet time we invaded the other school's disco to get their certificates from the instructors and to see the video of the week. However, the video di not run its full course and hopefully each school will get a copy of it tomorrow to take back to let them see it.
After this we had to start thinking about packing! We gave very good helpful hints and tips about packing – but I imagine you will end up with suitcases and bags with everything just stuffed in them!
Anyway, tomorrow we need to be up and out of the rooms by 9.15 ready to go and then we head of Canadian canoeing. We have told them we have to remain dry during this activity or it is going to be a long journey home on the bus!
They are now all asleep and we will possibly need to be up early tomorrow to make syre we are tidied and packed before the last activity!
Here's hoping!