Diary of a Venturing Out Kid – Anna age 11 ½
Monday
On Monday we had water sports. To start we walked down to the lagoons and helped Antony and Claire pull all the kayaks and canoes out of the container on to the grass. We chose what we wanted and set out on to the lagoon. As I glided through the water I didn't have a care in the world. After lunch we went on the kata canoe and the paddle-boards, they had a massive 17 foot long paddle board that could fit everyone on including Antony, and Claire even got to do a headstand on it!
Tuesday
On Tuesday we went cycling.
We met at Ormiston and checked all the tyres to see if they had any punctures. We went along part of the track to see if our bikes had any malfunctions and then we were off. We went down this really cool track and got taught how to cycle down stairs. It was really fun. Next we went to butterdean woods and we cycled through the forest and stopped for lunch in the most amazing little campfire area, after lunch we played capture the flag and camouflage. We cycled back through some lovely scenery and past some baby shetland ponies.
Wednesday
On Wednesday we had bushcraft.
We met at Archerfield and headed along to the woods. The first thing we did was make dens in groups of 5 or 6. Our one was the biggest so everyone got to sit in it. When we had finished making the dens we all got to have hot chocolate and sit around the fire that Antony the fire breathing dragon had conjured up, we got to have a shot at making fires with flint and steel although mine proved unsuccessful. After that we got to eat MARSHMALLOWS, mealworms and crickets and then we had lunch! After lunch we did bows and arrows but the cool thing was that they were made out of willow, we tried to shoot balloons that Claire had put on the trees and guess what I hit one!! To round up the day we played some games until the grownups came to collect us but no one wanted to leave!!
Thursday
On Thursday we had coasteering.
We met at North Berwick beach and played some problem solving games and got to look in the rockpools. In one of the games you got garden poles, pipe pieces and tape and had to make a water duct. We then got changed into wetsuits, wetsuit boots, life jackets, gloves and helmets, after a quick chat from Antony we headed into the sea!! We swam from island to island and then we jumped off a high stone wall into an enclosed area that was full of water but still went up and down with the tide. It was so much funnnnnn. When we jumped you had to swim to the side and at the side was a hole in the rock that could fit everyone in, we called it the hot tub. We then found a channel that pushes you up to the end. It's so cool. We made our way back to the shore by a mixture of walking and swimming, then we got changed and met our parents!!!
Friday
On Friday we went climbing.
We met at the car park at the Law and helped Antony carry all the harnesses, helmets, shoes and ropes up a little path to a quarry where we would be climbing. To start Antony got us to put on climbing shoes and helmets while he set up the ropes. Next he got us to get into groups of three or four. Then he told us that one person would climb, one person would belay and one person would back up belay. Once everyone had climbed we had lunch and got to try out a cool thing called a storm shelter that you fill up with air and sit on the sides so the air doesn't get back out. After lunch we went scrambling up the law and it was so much fun, scrambling is when you find a big patch of rocks and scramble your way up them!!!
That was the best week of my life!
😀😁😆