Our class visited Ardentinny centre in Dunoon for two nights and three days and we were lucky enough to be joined by our friends in Moorfoot Primary School. Over the time we spent there, we took part in lots of different activities such as orienteering, team challenges, seashore safari, gorge walk, night hike and search and rescue.
Everyone loved the gorge walk because you walk up a gushing river of water and then climb up through waterfalls. There’s even a section at the top called The Plunge Pool – it is basically a water slide into an ice cold pool! The best part was just getting soaking wet! We loved it!
Another favourite was Team Challenges. These were lots of activities where the key to success was working together. My favourite was an activity was called Around the World. There was a rope swing and three platforms and you had to land on every platform without touching the ground to have successfully made it ‘Around the World’. We also took part in other fun activities such as Gutter Ball, Toxic Waste, Crane Challenge and the Laser Challenge.
I can’t fail to mention the night activities! Night hike was scary! We all headed out in the dark with our torches and went on a big hike around the area and often in the woods! Sometimes you were told to turn your torches off so we could test out our night vision in the dark . We were really surprised at how well your eyes adjust! We went to a place called Lairds Grave and we turned our torches off and walked in the dark. It was so funny because the teachers were trying to scare us by shouting things like “Who is that?!” and Isla was imitating a wolf howl (which is so realistic!).
We got the opportunity to develop our orienteering skills too. We were given a map and shown where north is and then had to go and find places indicated on the centre map. Each location had a hidden letter. Once we’d found all the letters, we had to figure out the famous Scottish landmark. It turned out to be Ben Nevis. We couldn’t believe how long it took to figure it out!
On the last day, my group went on a Seashore safari to find different shells, sea creatures and rocks. The variety of sea creatures was amazing and I learned about different types of jelly fish and also that crabs shed their shells!
I have come home with a whole new set of skills! Including life saving skills! Our Search and Rescue mission was at night and my team were tasked with finding a camouflaged dummy, a camouflaged small seal and a camouflage duck. We were also taught how to help someone if you find them unconscious. A top tip that I’ve told my family is to saving the word’ ICE’ (In Case of Emergency) in front of one of your contacts in your phone so the police know who to contact if you are in an accident. You can also write ICE2 which means if your ICE number was not responding they would contact your ICE2.
I would just like to say a big thank you to all the staff at Ardentinny and Gourock Primary School for coming with us and making our trip one to remember.
