As I placed my heavy bag under the arch, I felt excited but apprehensive. Our first residential trip! What would it be like? I couldn’t wait to find out.
The coaches were around the fountain waiting for us to leave. The teachers read out a register and then it was down to us to say goodbye and leave all these familiar surroundings… We finally made it to North Wales. It was a very long coach journey but it was definitely worth it.
In the morning we made our sandwiches ready for the day ahead of us. Our activity that day was gorge walking so we collected some wet suits and went to change into them in our room.
The gorge looked scary and dangerous and at first I didn’t want to go in. Me and Mrs Campbell-John were at the back together hobbling along the slippery stones. I fell in a bit of a deep spot and my wellies filled up to the top. At first it was a cold feeling but after a while I got used to it. Finally Mrs Campbell-John and I caught up with the rest of the group but we were still at the back when we got going again. Lexi was with us this time giving us a hand on the way. I would say that the scariest moment in gorge walking was when we climbed up a small part leading to a large waterfall. We had to squeeze through a little hole just to carry on and get out of the gorge. At this point I was really scared of falling and I wanted to leave, but what I didn’t know was that there was a really fun part coming up where we get to swim in a big pool at the end. That was fun. After that we were soaking wet. When we were getting changed Lexi got stuck in her wellie boots and I got stuck in my wetsuit. That wasn’t fun. We got back on the bus all stiff because of all those horrible wetsuits. We had a good sleep that night, although everyone was chatting.
by Imogen (5G)
The most challenging activity was probably climbing, for it had rained and the rocks were all rather damp. The warm afternoon sunshine floated down onto our faces, creating an ideal day. My feet ached inside the climbing shoes, and I felt partly worried about the large rocks that barricaded the way halfway up the rockface. I took a deep breath. Surely nothing could go wrong, right? But I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I was due to fall, down and down, crashing into the large boulders below. I just needed to focus on climbing, running my hands along each rock, clasping anything available and becoming familiar with my surroundings. I needed to enjoy every second, and grasp hold of memories. I was now happy with the journey up, but certainly still didn’t trust the journey back down. For now, I had to push myself out of my comfort zone.
I came back home with a pocketful of new experiences and ways to have fun. During this trip, I had learnt how to enjoy the adventure of this residential and push myself as far out of my comfort zone as I possibly could. I officially knew how to persevere and work as a team, and trust others when trying new things. I had had an incredibly fun week, and was extremely sad that it was over – although I looked forward to sleeping in my own bed!!!
by Xanthe (5R)
My favourite activity was climbing Snowdon. It was so incredible I can’t think of good enough words to describe it. That morning due to the excitement that had already come that week I was exhausted, but I didn’t let that stop me. I was so determined to reach the top but nervous if I didn’t make it. There was a brisk morning breeze and the sun was breaking through the clouds. As I stepped out of the bus I questioned my ability to do this challenge. We began the walk. In many places I would have thought of it more like rock climbing. As we came a little way up the mountain we found a freshwater stream. Mr Hooker stood one leg on each side of the river and collected us some fresh water from Snowdonia. It was cold like ice but fresh and delicious… After a long climb over huge rocks and clinging on to the edge to stop ourselves from falling we made it. The howling wind seemed to be cheering for us as we reached the summit. We crawled up the final stone steps and stood full of pride and joy, at the top.
The most challenging activity was abseiling. We yanked on our harnesses and stared up at the rock face ahead of us. We walked up a short, slippery path. We reached the edge. One by one people went abseiling down. Some of the others decided not to do it and retreated down the path. The rain was hammering and the smooth rock looked slippery. It was my turn. I clipped myself onto the rope and looked down. I was beckoned over to the edge. My heart was racing. I was frozen with fear. Looking down at Mrs Mason and all my friends. I couldn’t do it. I crawled away from the cliff and unclipped myself from the rope. We skidded down the path and others were persuaded to do it. I clambered for the final time up the muddy path. I clipped myself on again, looked down and let myself be lowered down the towering rock face. I shuffled down. I was unstable and was tossed around. Eventually I had done it. I had conquered the cliff. At the bottom there was a comforting sight of Mrs Mason. I looked up and said, “I really want to do it again”.
Thinking about my trip I have learnt so many things. I have learnt that I can push myself to do something that scares me. I have learnt that I can do things if I don’t focus on the negatives. I know that to get things done I have to persevere. I was disappointed that it was over so soon but still happy to be back to familiar sights again.
by Emilia (5G)
