Apologies, we had no wi-fi last night so were unable to post anything last night. Mr Peace has been up early to get everything uploaded before breakfast!
It was a scorcher down here yesterday and the sun is shining once again this morning! Very tired bairns last night after another action packed day of activities.
Once again some children from each group were asked to write about their day so you know what they've been up to! Thank you all for supporting the blog. Both Monday and Tuesday night's entries have been viewed in the hundreds and the Papdale staff that are away with the children value your continued support.
Group 1 - Mr Peace
It took us the whole day but we walked up three Munros with
the rest of the group and Raffa. They were called Carn Ban Mor, Sgor Gaoith and
Sgoran Dubh Mor.
It was easy when we were walking flat or slighty down but
when we were walking down heather and walking up hill, it was challenging.
It was a really warm day. After we passed there was a little
stream and our instructor Raffa poured water on our head and we got to drink
fresh water to cool down.
By Jamie, Darcie and Naomi
Group 2 - Mrs McNeish
Wednesday, by Payton, Ryan and Isla on behalf of Group 2
First we did skiing and we had lots of fun. It looked very steep at the start but most of
us got the hang of it after a couple of fallings over. Isla found it fun and she got the hang of it
after a few goes. Ryan fell off the ski
lift at the start but then he did it properly.
He was eager to go to the top of the slope but he didn’t get to. Payton found it hard at the start because it
felt like you had duck feet and she was happy when she was asked if she wanted
to go to the top because she was managing her turns. Then she fell off the ski tow and was pulled
up on her belly and it hurt but they didn’t turn it off! She let go and slid down backwards.
This afternoon we went to the Feshie gorge. First we had to suffer putting on wetsuits,
which took twenty minutes and most of us still didn’t get them on. They were tight at the start but once we got
in the water they loosened up. First we
slid in and it was quite cold. We did
sculling and then we climbed up the wall and jumped in. We rolled like sausages into the rough rapids
and we got thrown about the water.
Isla’s face was funny when she came up.
Isla enjoyed floating in the current.
There was a humungously gigantic jump and we had to jump in with our
hands in the X factor position and water went up your nose. It looked scary when you were falling but
when you hit the water you wanted to do it again and again. We had 3 shots each. Mrs McNeish wanted to chicken out but the
group wouldn’t let her. She had to be
brave and she was very proud of herself after she jumped. When you were in the air you felt like there
was no turning back. The water felt warm
because of our wetsuits. On the last
jump we all thanked Jon and we shouted LAGGANLIA FOREVER!
Group 3 - Mrs Coltherd
Today we went canoeing on Loch Insch. In the middle of the
Loch there is an island called Osprey Island. This is where the ospreys nest.
We could see the nest then later we saw the osprey with a fish in its talons.
Anyway, we had to unload the canoes, carry them across the road and get them
ready. We managed to get into them then set off. We paddled about learning how
to go forwards, backwards, sideways, right, left and all the way around. Once
we got used to it we played a couple of ball games. Robyn, Chloe and Mrs
Coltherd got 9 balls, the others got 5.
We stopped for lunch next to the loch and then played camouflage in the
trees. We got back into our canoes,
paddled back to where we started, got the canoes ready for the next group and
went for a swim. We came back to the
centre and quickly got ready for skiing.
First we had to try to get used to the skis, then we tried going down
the slope a little bit and then learned how to stop. We practised standing up in case we fell
down. It was really warm outside so we
went in for iced juice and some shade from the sun. We got back outside and learned how to use
the tow pole. Once we knew how to use
the tow pole we could ski from half way up.
We all did really well and caught on quickly. Before we knew it our time was up.
We are all really enjoying ourselves, it has been warm and
sunny today and we are looking forward to tomorrow.
By Robyn and Chloe
Group 4 - Miss Coltherd
We went a walk up Mount Bhuachaille. It took 2 hours to get
to the top, and half an hour to walk down. The mountain is 810 metres above sea
level. When we got to the top, we ate lunch and threw rocks down the side. Most
of us were tired, and all our legs were quite sore. When we got to the bottom
of the hill we went to a Lochan, and we all had fun with (fish eating) leeches.
We ended up naming them. There was: Lily, Leah, Lara Jnr, Liam, Lauren, Laura,
Larry/Garry, Louis and Jeremy (he was the vicious one). As we were heading back
to the van we got thirsty so we filled up our bottles with stream water.
We all had super duper fun today, but all feel tired.
By Alex, Orla and Emma
Group 5 - Mr Mackinnon
Today we went on an all-day hill walk up Creag a’ Chalmain.
It took a long time and we stopped for breaks often. When we were at the gap in
between the mountains, there were rocks EVERYWHERE! We sat on the rocks and had
lunch. On the mountain beside us there was snow! We climbed up the mountain
beside us and looked over at the view. Then we walked all the way back, got in
the van and left.
By Eilidh G 7E
Group 6 - Miss Spence
Reen: Today we went to the
dry ski slope. We had to look for ski
boots that fit and then we attached the skis to the ski boots. Then we went to the slope and we started low
down then got higher. Some people went
to the top. We walked up the ski slope a
weird way, on the side of our skis.
The canoeing
was fun, we got into groups and kept going from one place to another. We had to be quiet because there was an
osprey nest. At one point most of us
jumped off the boat, we had buoyancy aids on to keep us afloat.
Freya: Skiing was really
fun. At the start we got our equipment
on. We had to put the boots on, it was
quite hard to get the buckles tight enough.
Once we had them on it was so hard to walk. Once we had our skis on we got to go on the
ski slope (it’s like a huge toothbrush).
We had to practice going up the hill. It was hard to go up the hill if
your skis were flat so we had to have our ankles bent at an angle. At the top we had to glide down on the
hill. My first few attempts I fell over
but once I tried again I got the hang of it.
At the end of the session I felt like I had improved a lot.
Canoeing was
also really fun. We went to a beach where the canoes were. We started by
putting our buoyancy aids on. Then got
into groups. After that we put our
canoes into the water, and set off. The
first challenge we had to get to our instructor who was in the middle. At first we were going backwards, it was
funny. There was a rare bird called an
osprey. It was cool. We managed to get in the deep part of the
lake and some people jumped in, I didn’t.
Then we got back to shore and put the canoes away.
Josh: Today we went skiing.
One of the hardest parts was getting ready. You had to start by putting and strapping on
the boots, then you have to get weighed and find a helmet and skis. After that they fitted the skis to your
boots. Then we walked on to the ski
slope and learned some moves. Then we
went up the slope and practiced getting down.
Soon after we went to the chair lift and went half way up/some fully
up. We would walk sideways leaning into
the ground, then we slid down.
We started off
the canoeing by pushing their boats into the water. Then we put on the buoyancy aids and set
off. The first challenge was to row out
to a little island. Then we canoed far
out and we rowed past some osprey nests and when we were far far away we played
a game. You had to jump into the water
and pretend to be an animal. After that
we headed back.
