Faith S-S, Harriet T, Eve W, Ruby N, Jasmine U, Megan D, India B-W, Lara Y, Alfie W, Finley P, Lucas L, Jayden L
Wednesday
Well...Group 2 smashed Day 3!
We started the morning with Fan Descender - most of the group climbed up the tower and stepped out onto the platform three times, and descended in increasingly flamboyant style...from superhero poses to TikTok dances! Meg, India, Ruby, Eve, Harriet, Jasmine, Lara and Lucas can be seen (on video) taking flight from the top, and Fin, Jayden and Alfie gave it a really good go.
Our final activity was Tree Trek, and it was the absolute best way to round off an amazing few days. Meg, Jayden, Lucas, Lara, India, Ruby, Eve, Harriet, Finley, Alfie and Jasmine completed the course. A special mention goes to Finley and Alfie who pushed through and completed the course...more than once! After their first couple of goes, the rest of the adrenaline junkies in the group tackled the course whilst wearing a blind fold - wow!
At the end of a fabulous few days, Group 2 are feeling exhausted but full of pride...thinking back to all the amazing experiences we've had, and all the fears we've overcome at Blackwell Adventure!
Tuesday
The first activity for our second day was abseiling.
Day 2 with Group 2 - what a day! We started off with Abseiling Wall, and every single person pushed themselves further than they thought they could go, which was amazing to see! Meg, Harriet, Eve, Mrs Hennessey, Lucas and Lara flew down the wall (safely, of course) and Ruby, Jayden, Finley, India, Jasmine, Faith and Alfie experienced just how high the tower was by making it onto the platform and chatting with our amazing instructor, Ben. A little bit of rain wasn't enough to dampen anyone's spirits and I'm sure everyone left the Abseiling Wall feeling proud of themselves.
Next up was Archery and, by the end, Group 2 were a group of expert marksmen and women! The session was broken into a variety of activities: getting to know the basics; aiming practice, with a pizza theme (where toppings including whipped cream and broccoli); a second aiming practice, with an ice-cream theme; and a final aiming practice, with balloons as targets. Our group is clearly motivated by food (so they're the perfect group to be with Mrs Murray) and there were some 'interesting' pizzas and ice-creams created! One memorable (and rather strange) moment from this morning was when the children were asked to look after the balloons before the final archery activity...and they decided to give them names and break out their best American accents, talking to their balloons, as if they were babies!
Group 2's first activity after lunch was Dual Zip Wire. Everyone had a go climbing the steps, getting clipped onto the zipwire, chatting with our instructor (Sophie) and looking across the stunning countryside, in and around Blackwell Adventure. Almost everyone in the group whizzed down on their own, and again with a partner, and I'm sure their shrieks of joy could be heard from miles around. A couple of memorable moments were Meg losing her shoe as she hurtled down the zipwire (before retrieving it on her way back up) and Jayden's motivation speeches, in an attempt to support his friend in their zip wire escapades!
Crate Stack was our final activity before dinner. Similar to High All Aboard yesterday, everyone took it in turns to climb, belay (keep the rope tight using a karabiner system) and be a tailer (carry the climbing rope). Each pair (in harnesses and attached to ropes) took it in turns to climb a stack of crates which got higher and higher each time, thanks to another pair adding to the tower after each step up was taken. When the stack finally fell, the children hung in the air, secure in their harnesses...doing their best impression of a fairy! Team work was a key feature of this activity and the whole group did brilliantly!
Monday
The first activity of the morning was ‘High All Aboard’.
Group 2 have had an amazing first day! We started off on an activity called High All Aboard, which involved four people climbing up a telegraph pole with a small square platform on top...then scrabbling over its edge to stand on the platform. It was incredibly challenging but everyone did brilliantly - Meg, India, Jasmine, Lara, Faith S-S, Harriet, Ruby, Eve and Lucas made it all the way to the top, and even did a few tricks when they were up there! Next up was Indoor Climb, and there were climbs and games aplenty. After lunch, we joined one of the other Westacre activity groups for swimming and laser tag. There were some stand-out moments, not least of all from Jayden, Finley and Alfie. Today has been full of fun, friendship and fabulous get-stuck-in attitudes and we can't wait to do it all again tomorrow...after a good night's sleep! ;)