Upon our arrival we were met by our friendly Fairthorne link person Lewis, who will be looking after us this week. We quickly dumped our stuff in dorms, before setting out for a tour of the site.
Once acquainted with our surroundings, we had a little time to make our dorms cosy by sorting our beds and strategically positioning our teddies! With dorm points at stake, it was also important to ensure that things were looking shipshape for the inspection later on.
After a civilised jacket potato lunch (politeness and good mannered abound) we started our afternoon activities. These included archery and pioneering for groups 16 and 17 and abseiling and archery for group 18. Even in this first afternoon some children were already demonstrating an incredibly amount of bravery to overcome fears and were also learning new skills and techniques.
Archery
Archery was fun. I was excited to do new things. We got taught how to hold the bow and arrow properly. My first go was actually not bad, and I even hit the target (nearly) every time! When I let go of the arrow it felt like a missile brushing past my face. I will definitely have another go!
Shah Alam
Abseiling
At first I was terrified of abseiling. When they were telling you to lean back over the sheer drop all I could think was, “I’m going to fall, I’m going to fall!” But all the support from people on the ground gave you the confidence to finally teeter over the edge. It felt fantastic abseiling down the wall after that. It felt brilliant to touch down, mainly because I’d overcome a fear, but also because everybody had been so supportive throughout.
Eddie
We then had our tea (yummy pasta!) and even yummier pudding (chocolate muffins!) It was then time for the dreaded dorm inspections. I can report that EVERY dorm was TIDY and ORGANISED! Some children had even arranged their clothes in order for the rest of the week!
The food is very quick at arriving here and is really tasty and filling. They always make just the right amount. Probably my favourite meal yesterday was the pasta – it was cooked properly and there were loads of flavours!
Zac
Our evening activity was a night walk that involved us completing all sorts of team challenges in the darkness of the woods.
After all that excitement, we finally settled down with a cup of hot chocolate and a biscuit.
I had a really good first day! I was absolutely shattered by the end of it, and that was only half a day! My highlight was pioneering because I never knew you could make a mini-playground from wood and rope so quickly. I had a brilliant night’s sleep as well and no-one disturbed me in the dorm. We all got to sleep pretty quickly. I am already looking forward to Towers! I can’t wait!
Peter
At the time of writing this blog entry (9:45pm) I can report that ALL children are sound asleep, having settled down quickly and quietly!
All in all, a fantastic start to what promises to be a great week!
Mr Iszatt
PS – Sorry, blogs will be coming a day late as we are having technical issues with wi-fi connections here! Apologies to any parents who have been eagerly checking!
More pictures follow!
Brilliant blog! It's great to hear how you're getting on and see the pictures. Hope you all have loads of fun.
ReplyDelete(Ed's mum.)