Wednesday 4 April 2012

Home!

This shall be the final post for Abernant this year.  So I shall give you a run down of the final events of the day, beginning with the Blind Trail!
            I will start by mentioning that the weather did take an unfortunate turn for the worse and as a result we had to rush through the blind trail a little.  It was however a brilliant activity for building up teamwork and communication skills.  The children had to navigate a number of obstacles including tyres, see saws, tunnels, rope nets and key finding.....All without being able to see!!  It made for very interesting viewing!! 
            We had a very quick warm and dry before heading back out into the freezing cold for an archery lesson.  Everyone had a good attempt given the conditions, most were able to hit the board on their first attempt.  We even had a Bullseye courtesy of Lauren!!
            Before we left for home we ate another delicious meal before bidding our goodbyes to all the fantastic staff who made our stay a fantastic experience!
            Thank You!

Tuesday 3 April 2012

Final Day

Currently sitting on the steps with Ben and Jack being forced to listen to One Direction! everyone is awake and ready for breakfast...almost!  Room inspection to begin straight after food, I have no idea what to expect but am hoping for a pleasant surprise!
     We have the blind trail and archery to look forward to today, hopefully the weather will hold out for us!  I am pleased (relieved!!) to report that there was no snow last night however we may see a little today if the forecast is to be believed.
     Further updates to follow after we have completed our activities.

Fencing!

Hello again!  The children are now all tucked in bed after a brilliant fencing lesson.  Everyone learnt lots of new skills and some interesting vocabulary and fencing traditions.  A particular favourite was the setting down the challenge of a duel by slapping your potential opponent across the head with a glove.  They really seemed to relish that part!!  Everybody took full part in the session, and I must admit I was glad to have taken a back seat as the children looked scary swinging around their swords with masks on!  
     Hopefully I will be able to send some new photos to Mr Roberts and they will be posted soon.  No snow of yet but we are forecast some in the early hours of the morning.  Goodnight all.  See you tomorrow!

A good ship does not always lead to plain sailing!!

Good Evening all.  This afternoon we have been on the zipwire and participated in raft building.  I shall start with the ZipWire!
    Firstly I would like tom once again say how pleased Mrs Price and myself were that everyone had a really good attempt to climb what was a very, very tricky ladder.  Although not everyone was successful in getting up, the attitude and determination on display was absolutely brilliant!  Those who did manage to make it up the ladder threw themselves off the treetop perch and zipped down the line to views of the stunning Welsh countryside.  It was great fun!
    Next came the raft building.  The raft was made with great care and attention, we decided on a 3 barrel by 3 barrel construction.  As the raft was launched, I decided to wait to see how he maiden voyage panned out from the comfort of the lakeside.  This turned out to be a wise choice.  Although the raft was sturdy, the passengers on board seemed to be less so and within minutes children were falling into the lake!
    We brought the raft back in discussed tactics and we all boarded back on, this time myself included.  Within minutes I found myself plunged into the icy cold waters, quickly followed by the majority of the children on board.  The water was cold, very, very cold!  Some brave souls departed for a final journey, I was not one of them.  Unfortunately most suffered the same fate and quickly scrambled back in from the lake in order to get warm.  It would appear a good ship doesn't lead to plain sailing! We quickly disassembled the raft and rushed for another delicious meal.
   I shall update you all after our fencing workshop which we are all very excited about.!!

Update!

We have just finished our delicious lunch, the amount of food here is superb!  before lunch we faced the abseiling wall once more.  This time however we had to climb up the wall rather than walk down it!  Once again the children did us and themselves proud with their efforts.  Each child had two attempts at the wall, and every single one demonstrated an excellent attitude and improved their performance! A big well done from Mrs Price and myself for their efforts.     
   We are due to Zipline and Raft build before having dinner.  I shall updated you on how it all goes this evening!  We are all having a wonderful time and thankfully the ominous cloud stayed away!!

Second day.

Just a quick update for you all, we have all just completed the obstacle course with no casualties (except my trousers!!) We have rock climbing, zipwire, raft building and fencing still to look forward to.  It is going to be a very busy day indeed.  To make things slightly more interesting the clouds outside look ominous! I shall put more photos on later for you all to see.

Monday 2 April 2012

First Day!

We have just finished our first day at our manor adventure, and what a busy day it has been.  After a long but beautiful drive we arrived at Abernant in plenty of time for our first activity.  After putting all our belongings in our rooms we met at on a large field where we began our first activity - Manor Olympics!
    We were split in to to teams by our very helpful activity co-ordinator and participated in an Olympics with a twist.  After nail biting rounds of 'Wang the Welly', 'Elephant Run', 'Sleeping Lions' and 'Dizzy Lizzies' the two teams were locked in a dead heat.  The whole Olympics was to be decided upon a 'Wang of  a Welly'  Although it was very close Lauren managed to win it for Llanharan Superstars.
    We then had a quick but hearty lunch and prepared for the Abseiling wall!!
    I am very pleased to say that every single child made it to the top of the abseiling wall, and although not all made it down on the rope Mrs Price and myself were extremely proud of everyone for giving it their best shot.  I can say from first hand experience when you are up on the top of the wall it can be a very daunting experience!!  (my tactic was to zip down as fast as I possibly could!!)
   Everyone is now tucked up for the night, preparing for a very busy day tomorrow!! Keep checking in to see what we get up to next!