We arrived to a beautiful rain swept visage in front of us, the wind ratting against the bus windows, the puddles on the floor, the ever grey background, the boys however, were resilient to these bracing conditions and grab their bags to take them to their rooms. Once the tough decisions about who got the top bunk had been made the boys came downstairs and were treated to a home baked cookie and drink whilst given the lay of the land by our leader for the next three days Nicola. At 12:30pm we all then put on some warm gear, grabbed our wellies, coats and marigold gloves, vital I assure you (and now the correct time for them!) and headed down to the minibus and a short 10 min ride to our destination for the afternoon. Nicola briefed the boys on what we would be doing, how it was done, whilst somehow also teaching them a geography lesson about rivers! The following couple of hours were spent measuring the width of the river, the depth at various points, the speed of the river, (she also managed a maths lesson, whilst in a stream!) and then a look at the wildlife in the water, all sort of bugs, creatures and even a fish by one group, who then using a key were able to identify the type of creature! Dinner was a feast of Italian, with the garlic bread being a favourite and one boy even having a fourth portion of the pasta, needless to say the food and yummy dessert went down well. Although there were also a couple of boys who said that they did not like dessert!
Congregating in the teaching room, we talked about the artist, Andy Goldsworthy, Gallantly, half of the boys volunteered to go with Mr Arghebant and fetch some materials, the boys having previously designed an artistic sculpture or of something they had seen since we arrived using the things we were able to find in the forest. Once a plan, drawing and annotations had been made, the super seven, and Mr Arghebant, made their way into the deep, dark and incredibly wet forest. Then afterwards, it was time for bed, for those that slept through, thank you! For those that didn’t, hopefully tomorrow evening…
Day 2 continued the busy schedule, beginning with a full English breakfast! The day began by splitting into two groups and zip lining and the low ropes course, in cold wet rainy conditions, the boys behaved admirably and showed amazing resilience by getting on with it all! Then it was time for lunch, before some team building in the afternoon on a course constructed to challenge the boys as much as possible! Whilst very tricky, the boys worked really well together, eventually! After a quick break, we set the mammal traps and put them in position to check the next day, then it was time for dinner no2 and our evening activities lighting fires! We were taught how to lay a fire, how to start it, got to roast marshmallows
and try s’mores for the first time, after a happy two hours, it was time for hot chocolate and bed! Day 2 done! After a better nights sleep, the boys woke up to their final morning at Hudnall. After packing and tidying the rooms, we had breakfast and then began our final two activities; checking the mammal traps and den building!
After all of this, it was a quick lunch and time to jump back in the minibuses and head back to school! What a whirlwind of a week, what an amazing time and great fun had by all!
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