After Mr White had courageously swapped his cake for some extra eggy bread, after his third breakfast we set out for an activity day. The twisty winding roads towards our destination caused motion sickness for Rachel, many others were exhausted from the previous days, however we soldiered on to complete another challenging, eventful and exciting day. Today was a more relaxing day which involved map reading, orienteering and more walking!
We always look forward to our soup breaks, especially after a tiring climb. Lewis and Dan were very eager to stop after their new craze for soup. We were split into two groups and went different ways where we would eventually meet each other half way to our destination. Mr White’s group were twenty minutes in front of Mr Alderson’s group and decided to eat their lunch in a tree sheltered area lounging on a mass of soft mossy cushions. Mr White marched on ahead whilst we stayed in our comfy den until we heard a strange whistling noise gradually coming towards us, we became unsure but when we heard Mr White calling “Bon Bon” calling his dogs to come (us) we were relieved. The other group finally turned up, we walked on then Craig and myself (Maddy) led the way and the teachers both let us do our own thing…we immediately went the wrong way. Everybody stopped at the riverside and the teachers started to attach large ropes to trees across a fast rushing river. All of us were anxious because the teachers deliberately didn’t tell us what activity we were going to do until we put on extremely uncomfortable harnesses and helmets on.
We did a Tyrolean Traverse circuit going crossing the river twice. Charlie Burgess bravely went first and excelled at it. Rachel’s turn came next falling over the big drop before the river. Mr White set a challenge to see if we could go on top the rope, which proved quite challenging sitting struggling looking stupid in the middle of the rope in mid-air. Lewis managed to get on top of the rope, however did not hook his foot so ended up dragging himself with the rope between his legs which seemed to be quite painful as he sat on the other side near on crying.
On the walk back we split apart from the teachers. They went an easier route around the lake and we went the hard way which was proven by Lewis falling over about 5 times on slippery branches and rocks. Being apart from the teachers made us feel very independent and we were hoping that we wouldn’t get lost on the way back to the minibus!
By Rachel & Maddy
