Group 2 members: 

• Lilly, Isabelle, Phoebe, Isla, Suraya, Jessica, Lily, Chloe, Alysha, Lauren

Monday

After a 4 hour coach journey we arrived at Arete! After we were given bedding and a quick chat, we had a quick 5 minutes to make our beds. This was a challenge for some of us! We then had our second challenge of the week: putting on a wetsuit. Our first activity was rafting on Llyn Padarn. We had a great time paddling round then at the end, we were allowed to jump off the pontoon. 

We are now dry and back at the venue waiting for our dinner! This evening we are off for a walk in the local area. 

Tuesday

Today we went caving in a disused mine: Rhiw Bach. We were kitted out in full waterproofs, helmet, harness and a cows tail. After a 45 minute journey, we got off the minibus and walked up the side of the mine to one of the entrances. We meandered into the mine then walked for a while. We used slate dust and water to create some 'war paint'. We then took a raft over the lake! All was going well until Isabelle lost her footing getting out of the raft and took a little dip in the lake! We carried on through the mine to another lake, but this time we needed to zip wire over it! 

Next was a walk UP a waterfall to find a great spot for lunch. Candles were lit and we turned off our head torches: how civilised! After lunch we even blew out the candles and sat in complete darkness! We couldn't even see our hand in front of our face! We then took the trickier way out - up a steep ladder! We definitely needed our cows tails to keep us safe. 

Such a challenge today, but we loved it.

Wednesday

On today's agenda was Gorge Scrambling! We scrambled, climbed, rock hopped, jumped into water, swam and squeezed our way up the gorge. 

We were met at the top by an amazing waterfall! 

After walking back down, we stopped off towards the bottom of the gorge and used some of the natural rock slides to slip in to the gorge! 

The children did amazingly well! Due to us gorge scrambling, all of our photos are on the waterproof camera (which we'll get at the end of the week) so there are only a few from before we started! 

Thursday

After our morning jobs, we got ready to start the day of activities. After a short drive on the minibus, we headed over to Shotgun Zip Quarry to do a zip wire. We kitted up with the harnesses and climbing helmets, and made our way up to the quarry, ready to begin. We all took it in turns to get clipped up and swing down the zip wire.

Once we got back to the minibus, we had some lunch and drove to the next activity. However, on the way we chased three silly sheep down the road! 

In the afternoon, we did a mountain hike up Moel Eilio, which was really challenging. There were quite a few steep slopes but we paced ourselves and made it to the top! Coming down, we were a lot quicker as we wanted to get back to the bus! 

This evening, we are looking forward to doing the nightline and demonstrating our team work! 

Friday

This morning is a busy morning of packing ready for our departure after lunch. We need to strip our beds and tidy our dorms... I wonder how long this might take us? After breakfast we will have our final activity: rock climbing.