Wednesday

After another early start and a typically large breakfast, morning activities were soon in full swing. The day started with raft-building and shooting, followed by the terrifying trapeze. Luckily, the strong icy winds that had traumatised yesterday's high climbers, and the outbursts of rain which made the equipment extra hazardous, had passed by and the sun made a welcome appearance.

At the lake, the children were challenged to build a raft from a selection of materials and there was a lot of teamwork involved. Happily, the rafts held together and, despite the best efforts of the instructors trying to soak the children, no one fell in. That is until the end, when everyone in Group 3 was invited to throw themselves in backwards from the pontoon!

The trapeze involved a vertical climb to the top of a very high and wobbly pole, where a tiny platform was the take-off point for a death-defying leap into space towards a suspended trapeze bar. Bronze, silver and gold challenges tested the children’s bravery and skill, and many were able to boast of their platinum level leap from the top.

There followed a session in the rifle range, where the children learnt to load, aim and fire air rifles at a target. Mrs Brett surprised herself by hitting the bull’s eye but last year’s champion, Mrs Wright, was brought to her knees by a mixture of her own over-confidence and the fact she was still shaking from yesterday’s high rope experience!

After another huge lunch, we set off for the archery. Many children scored bull’s eyes in this tricky and very technical event. Mr Mabbitt was typically very modest in victory as he outscored Dan the instructor.

Meanwhile, Mrs Waldron was scampering squirrel-like to the very top of Jacob’s ladder, ably assisted by her team mate Barney who was proving to be an all-round action hero. This equipment consists of an enormous rope ladder of giant logs, set at an ever-increasing distance apart. It was extremely hard to get past half way, but a few managed it, including a very nimble Eva who had to be stopped attempting to climb up the supports at the top!

At this very moment, the children are setting off with our brilliant ‘groupie’ Gina on a spooky moonlit walk down to the campfire for a good, old-fashioned singalong. Parents - expect to be annoyed by some new songs!

Please see the following post for some images of the day.