Author: tbrown1

After a very peaceful sleep the children  woke up energised and ready for the challenges ahead at 7am.  The children are competing for the best dorm and are receiving points on a daily basis; both from Windygoul and Benmore. Some of them managed to get full marks on their first morning, which is very impressive.  We know this will be hard to believe but many children were up, showered and hoovering their rooms by half past seven this morning.  Miss MacKenzie and Miss Brown were in shock!

Breakfast this morning consisted of cereal, bacon, eggs, fruit and toast….not all on the same plate of course! The children are in charge of setting up for meals and clearing away afterwards and they are working well within their teams to get this done to a high standard.

After breakfast we split up into our activity groups.

Caitlin reports;  Group 5 went Caving. There was a steep walk up to the caves and it hard. We kept tripping over things. When we got there, we put on our harnesses and head-torches. We lowered ourselves down in to the cave and then we were lowered into a bigger part of the cave. Once we got to the bigger cave we felt more relaxed! The next cave was harder because the entrance was slanted and you had to find your way in. We really had to find our courage to make sure we completed this challenge as within each cave there were various routes you could choose to take.

Happy Birthday Caitlin! We all enjoyed singing Happy Birthday and eating your birthday cake.

Sarah reports;  Group 3 went for a Forest Walk which you would think would be a peaceful stroll through the woods. However…… it’s muddy and cold and wet. There were parts where we had to crawl through as a team and make our way over and under all sorts of trees. Yet again, we had someone who lost their shoe in the mud! I learned that the Forest Walk was made in Victorian times and was owned and used by the people who lived in Benmore House. They got there by horse and carriage but we got there by mini-bus. How times have changed!

Some quotes from today are;

·         It was fun; we learned how to read and orientate an Ordinance Survey Map.  

·         Child – “Before the Night Walk last night, I wouldn’t have chosen that person to lead us through the Night Walk. I would now though, as they were a really good team leader.

·         Wow! The scenery around here is amazing!!

·         I feel really free up here because we are outside and exploring. We are finding out lots of things and being independent.

·         I was looking forward to Caving and it was fun. We found lots of Fool’s Gold down there.

·         Is that Loch Ness?!!!!

·         Instructor – What are Pine Trees used to make? Answer – Christmas Trees!

·         Instructor – What kind of rock do you think this might be? Answer – A hard one!

·         Instructor – Which route did you take on the Night Walk? Answer – A dark one!

·         Instructor – What name do we give trees that keep their leaves all year? Answer – A lucky one!

We are now getting ready for Chicken Curry and then we are heading out for a Scavenger Hunt. Here’s hoping we have another ‘peaceful’ night!

As we left school we were very excited and a little bit worried. We had a real adventure on the bus as it broke down at Harthill. However, the new bus arrived very quickly and after the teachers had transferred all the bags again, we were off!

We stopped at Luss for lunch. It was a beautiful place to stop and some of us took the opportunity to read in a picturesque place and appreciate the stunning landscape while we ate. However, the local wildlife obviously wanted to join in with the picnic as the ‘biggest swan we had ever seen’ wandered around. Our sandwiches were obviously too appealing to resist – we made a sharp exit!

 When we arrived we were introduced to our instructors, shown around the centre and then made to make our own beds…..from scratch!! Most of us managed this :0)

We then went out for a walk around the grounds in our Activity Groups and learned about Redwood Trees, Monkey Puzzle trees, a U shaped valley and ways in which we could and should look after our planet. We were all ready for our chocolate cake and juice at 5pm.

 After a short game of football and further exploring the grounds we had Macaroni, chips, peas and salad followed by melon and yoghurt.

We then began writing our diaries to help us earn the Adventure section of our JASS award before heading out for our Night Walk. We are SUPER excited about that!

And later on…

Our Night Walk was as amazing as we thought it would be. We walked along the paths beside the centre and were surprised how quickly our eyes got used to the dark; some of us wished we had carrots for tea instead of peas! It was a different story when we went into the woods. We had to rely on our team mates, listen for instructions and trust the people ahead of us. We all got very muddy and had a few bumps, falls and lost shoes on the way – but we are proud of our communication skills and by the fact that some of us overcame our first challenge of the week.

 Miss Brown and Miss MacKenzie would like to report that EVERYONE is in bed and sleeping and it’s not even 11 o’clock!! Woo Hoo!

P.S. We have tried to put some pictures up…but the computer says NO! We will look into another way of doing this tomorrow. Night Night!