Group 6 members: 

• Olivia, Lara, Molly, Jake, Riley, Harvey, Filip, Talia, Fay, Dan

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 took a journey back through time and visited the Rhia Bach slate mine! After the winding roads leading to the mine site, the group geared up and entered, the now abandoned, area. Through the course of the day we tackled tight spaces, pitch black tunnels and flooded passages. From rafting, to abseiling, and even scaling waterfalls, our group showed great resilience and determination to face fears and overcame new obstacles. 

Wednesday

The fun filled Tuesday had taken its toll, with many of the group taking in a few more winks on our journey to today’s activity. After wriggling into wetsuits, the team assembled to take on gorge walking at Afon Ddu Gorge (The black river gorge) in the Conwy valley. The freezing cold water came as quite a shock to the group with the slippery rocks proving to be too much to handle. We quickly realised that perhaps today would be Westacre’s very own diving competition, where the slip, trips and falls got higher and even more stylish as the day went on. Smiles and laughs were a constant, and with some brilliant team work, the group managed to overcome obstacles such as waterfall climbs, plunge pools and wet rock climbs until we reached the finale - a spectacular waterfall! 

Thursday

The group were happy with the news of no more struggling into wetsuits as we started today’s activities with canoeing, which was just a short journey away at Llyn Pardarn. Once establishing that “water is wet” from a few unfortunate mishaps, we set off exploring the lake, stopping off to play games, swapping boats while on the move, and even rescuing another child’s lost shoe. Despite a random duck attack nothing seemingly could dampen the day…but then again we are in Wales!  

In the afternoon, we put our feet back on solid ground and swapped paddles for ropes as we began to climb a local rocky outcrop, Lion’s Rock. After an initial lesson on how to scale up mountain faces, the group began a tricky series of small climbs up increasingly difficult traverses. After the heavens open, we changed location and had a go at weaselling through a small hole on the mountain side. Bumps, scrapes and bruises were all part of the course and through some brilliant encouragement and support, all were able to reflect on what they had achieved and were proud of their accomplishments. 

Friday

On our final day, we finished the week with zip lining across a local quarry. Scaling the huge side of the quarry was challenging but the end result was a descend back to the ground! Fast, thrilling and super fun were some of the common words used to describe our brilliant final experience of the week. We reflected as a team and looked back on the week we’d completed with smiles on faces and memories to last a life time. We each summed up our experience with three words, here’s what we had to say: 

Filip - Fun, Friendship, Teamwork 

Talia - Scary but amazing 

Riley - Teamwork, Challenging, Fun 

Harvey - Interesting, Fun, Challenging 

Molly - Scary, Fun, Friends 

Jake - Painful but exciting 

Olivia - Friends, Inspiring, Joyful 

Lara - Cold, Wet, Teamwork 

Dan - Exciting, Tiring, Journey 

Faye - Challenging, Rewarding, Eye-opening 

Mr Sankey - Battered, Bruised, Unforgettable