Goodbye Newlands.

We've had a fantastic few days here and braved the elements with smiles and resilience. Year 6 have been a pleasure to spend time with and have impressed us with their perseverance, teamwork, energy and camaraderie. 

A big thank you to all our staff for giving their time helping. We're all looking forward to a long weekend to recover and sleep!

We aim to be back at MTPS by 4pm.  

Canoeing.

We've swapped kayaks for Canadian canoes so the girls are able to work as a team and keep warmer. 

Beautiful scenery with the snow on the hills and everyone's full of energy. 

The two groups soon got the hang of the paddles and got into a good rhythm. 

Ready for action!

The canoes are tied together - good knot tying girls!!

Time for a few races to warm up. 

Final activities.

A good night's sleep was had by all. Our evening activity was orienteering so the girls used up their remaining energy to run around the site searching for clues. There was time before bed to visit the gift shop and then get packed. 

There are a lot of suitcases close to bursting this morning - we've had to sit on a few! The drying room is almost empty so we're just going to have a delicious cooked breakfast before heading out to the final activities. The girls should be able to stay dry with indoor climbing, high ropes course and the kayakers will be trying their best to stay in their kayaks!

We'll take some pictures down at the lake, then we'll be back for lunch and aim to leave by 1pm.

Fun in the snow!

Extra excitement this afternoon as it's been snowing. Just as we thought it was impossible to wear any more layers of clothing the snow arrived!  

The high ropes groups found time to build some snowmen.

Nerves of steel and good balance were needed!

It looks high up!

Our final Ghyll scrambling group were super hardy and made it through the entire course. The snow actually made the water a bit warmer!  Everyone's feeling very proud of their achievements and it's been great to see the girls supporting and encouraging each other. 

Indoor climbing at the wall. 

Extra waterproofs for the kayakers but they seemed to love this new fashion statement!

Fearless!

This morning's ghyll scramblers were fearless! Despite very cold and rainy weather the girls managed most of the course which included:sliding down rocks, jumping into plunge pools and surviving the 'corkscrew' - a narrow and scary jump. The biggest daredevils were Grace Black, Nicole, Priya and Hermione, who attempted every section successfully. Well done everyone. 

The kayakers soon got the hang of using their paddles and mostly managed to go forwards! They played games and threw balls at each other's boats. 

Steering was tricky at first but the lake was soon filled with the sound of giggling, squealing and quite speedy canoeing. Lots of determination and team encouragement from this morning's groups, well done. 

Day two.

Woken up to sunshine.  Year 6 still full of energy despite keeping all their teachers up most of the night!

A good cooked breakfast has helped. Groups now off to kayak, ropes course and the ghyll. 

Minibuses will take us to the lake.

The Ghyll scramblers are busy squeezing into wetsuits and so many layers they can't bend in the middle. Still got time to strike a pose!