Lake District Activity Centre
We couldn't wait to get all our equipment ready for a fun day on Lake Windermere. We helped unload the canoes then we put our skills to the test as we attached two canoes together using wooden poles and velcro straps. With two canoes strapped together this made an extremely stable vessel for our voyage across the lake.
The lake glistened in the glorious sunshine and we had soon perfected our canoeing technique. Team work makes the dream work!
It was a thumbs up from all of us!
There was only one way to cool off......
... and it didn't take us too long to jump into the crystal clear water for a swim.
There were so many amazing activities for us to try at Bendrigg and we couldn't wait to fly down the zip wire, making all sorts of funny poses.
The most beautiful day was spent on a boat tour of the lakes. It really was something you'd find on a postcard. We relaxed in the warming sun, taking in the incredible sights.
Walking boots on and we journeyed into the very heart of the Lake District to walk all the way round one of the 16 lakes in the district, Tarn Hows. We had our breath taken away by the sheer beauty of the landscape and marvelled at how incredible the view is here. We hiked the full 3km around the lake.
It was time to brave the climbing wall and to warm up we had a go at bouldering which means climbing sideways across the wall but only very low so we could jump off and get back on easily. Once we had got the hang of this, we each had a turn at doing the red route, which was slightly more challenging. Everyone in the team managed to complete this and were really pleased with their efforts. We then progressed onto the blue route, which was a little harder still, but determined to complete it, we did!
Down at the bike shed we collected our bikes for a ride round the woods. We all picked our bikes, with so many to choose from. Conventional 2-wheel bikes, bikes that were close to the ground, go karts and even a bike that you could pedal by hand! Once we were all confident on our chosen mode of transport, we headed off on our adventure. We swapped and changed our bikes along the way so we could all experience each type of pedal power.
Off we went for a caving adventure at Ingleborough Caves in the heart of the stunning Yorkshire Dales. We put on our caving helmets fully equipped with head lamps and received a safety talk from our instructor Holly. The first thing we did was to go in the indoor caves which is a great simulation of what our real caving experience will be like as we had to duck, stoop, crawl and wriggle through the cave until we found our way back out. As we explored the cave, we had to watch out for obstacles in our way sometimes walking up right, sometimes having to bend over so not to bump our heads on the limestone ceiling. We saw some amazing rock formations including stalactites and stalagmites and also columns which are formed when the two meet in the middle.
There was always plenty of time to have a little chill out in the sensory room where we laid on the comfy bean bags and listened to some music and played with the sensory lights and equipment.
An evening was spent down in the woods for an evening sitting round the campfire. When we arrived our instructor, Rex was waiting for us with the fire going and his guitar in hand. We started off by singing some very funny camping songs then we did some campfire cooking! First, we roasted some giant marshmallows on sticks over the hot embers, then for an extra special treat we cooked some bananas with giant chocolate buttons stuffed inside. While we sat and waited for the bananas to cook, we sat and had cups of hot chocolate and chatted to one another about what an amazing holiday it had been.
We all convened to the archery course for our evening activity. We all took instruction and after a few dropped and wayward arrows we soon had the hang of it and began a friendly boys vs girls competition. It was really good fun, and everyone had a great time with lots of good-natured sportsmanship between the two groups. The competition was close, but William helped seal the deal for the boys by hitting a bull’s eye in the last round.
We felt so relaxed, being at one with nature. What isn't to love about this breathtaking views?
At the end of our memorable holiday we had an awards presentation. We took our turn to receive certificates, every one had a special note describing what each person had done particularity well at this week. It was a real special moment and we loved being able to celebrate with each other.
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