It was so quiet in our dorms this morning – incredibly so – that when Mr. Suter got up to make himself an early morning cup of tea, there was a red squirrel happily gambolling just outside our common room, enjoying the peace and quiet. Of course, as soon as the dulcet tones of our Prep VI children could be heard, it quickly decided it wanted to be elsewhere!
Once everyone was up and prepared for the day, it was time for breakfast – there were six options to choose from, not including toast and cereal! We should probably take a moment to mention the dinner ladies here, who seem absolutely determined to make sure that nobody goes hungry. The children’s plates are piled high with food — and the teachers somehow seem to get even more! We certainly weren’t going to complain, though, as we knew we had a busy day ahead.
It was a long walk through the woods and fields of Plas Newydd to reach the abseiling site for our first activity of the day, but the spectacular views more than made up for the distance. Well, they did for those children who were looking up. Quite a few were concentrating very carefully on avoiding the numerous deposits of sheep poo scattered across the paths! When we finally reached the abseiling platform, there were a few worried faces. Looking out from the top, it suddenly seemed remarkably high, and there weren’t exactly queues forming to be the first to go. Eventually, however, after extensive safety briefings from Greg and the team, Florence and Darcy bravely stepped forward to leap into the abyss – not literally, you’ll understand! Once they had taken the plunge, others followed, slowly but surely making their way down the rock face. Alice won the award for the most graceful descent, Carlo for the most of his body scraped against the rock surface on the way down. It was certainly daunting, and there were plenty of nervous moments, but the general consensus afterwards was that it was terrifying but really enjoyable!
We then made our way back to our very enthusiastic food pushers for lunch, where, unsurprisingly, nobody was allowed to leave the table hungry!
With lunch eaten and our wetsuits and kayaking kit ready, it was time to head back down to the dock for the afternoon’s adventure: kayaking on the Menai Strait. Despite a strong incoming tide and some fairly high winds, our instructors were happy that it was safe to head out onto the water. We climbed into our kayaks and set off, paddling along the coast and enjoying a very different view of Plas Newydd. Sam very quickly decided he didn’t want to stay in his kayak, and was the first to fall in – and that was just in the dock as we were setting off! There was plenty of excitement on the water, but perhaps the biggest discovery of the afternoon was a jellyfish that appeared to be approximately the size of a small island – well, in our children’s perspective! Things became particularly interesting when one of our instructors decided to put it on Max’s boat. Max, we have discovered, has an incredible interest in all things natural – but not, it would seem, jellyfish!
Back up to the centre and, of course, it was time for food again! Delicious curries or pasta, with plenty of salad options and around six different desserts to choose from – just what was needed to recharge the batteries. Then came the most popular event of the week, hugely anticipated by everyone: the visit to the shop! The joy on the face of the lady serving when every child handed over a twenty-pound note was an absolute delight to see. Clutching our purchases – and, in some cases, wondering how they were ever going to fit them into their already overflowing bags – it was then time to head off for our final activity of the day: the nightline adventure course. It was dark anyway, which doesn’t exactly make things easy, but things became considerably more challenging when we were handed a blindfold and told that we had to put our complete faith in the person in front of us. With only their voice to guide us, the challenge was to work together to make it to the end of the nightline course without being able to see what was coming next. There were plenty of laughs, plenty of bumps and, no doubt, a few moments when some of us wondered whether the person in front really did know what they were doing – and that wasn’t just the teachers.
After a long and exhausting day, it was finally time to chill out and settle down ready for bed. Tomorrow brings the joys of packing – and the inevitable challenge of trying to get everything back into our bags! Parents, we apologise in advance for the wet clothing that will inevitably come home with your children, having not quite managed to dry properly in the drying room. We can only hope that the contents of their bags don’t develop their own ecosystem before they make it to the washing machine! And we do think Max did put the jellyfish back in the water!
After the busy day we’ve had today, we don’t think it will be too long before our children are gently snoring and dreaming of abseiling, kayaking, jellyfish, shops and whatever else tomorrow has in store. Goodnight from Prep VI!
Gallery to follow.