Cranedale 2015
Monday
We have safely arrived at the centre and unpacked our things. The journey was stress free and we made it here in very good time.
The children have been given a tour of the centre and shown where there bedrooms are. The centre is in the village of Kirkby Grindalythe. It is a very small village with one road and a payphone! The quiet takes a bit of getting used to.
Everyday lunch is provided. It is a packed lunch which is always in a brown paper bag. The children are given the choice of a variety of different sandwiches which they select the day before. These are handwritten on the bag by the children and collected each morning before setting off for the day.
After lunch, the children spent the afternoon on the low ropes course. This is basically tightrope walking - 12 inches off the floor. It is a lot harder than it sounds. Harry and Benjamin found out very quickly that balance and not speed was the key to success. Gaya marched across, as sure footed as a mountain goat - with a little support from Harmony. All the children successfully completed the course and there was much laughter from all.
The second part of the afternoon was spent working on map skills. Each child had to know eight points of a compass and direct themselves to various areas of the centre’s tennis court. Joe and Hari came joint first in a competition although Louis surely deserved a prize for his ostrich impression.
Evening meal was a three course affair. Starter was minestrone soup. Main course of meat and potato pie, chips, sweetcorn, broccoli and gravy. The dessert was the highlight for some. Abbie, Harry and Ellie all had multiple servings of banoffee pie. There was also the option of cheese and biscuits but no one had any room left.
We heaved ourselves out of the dining room and made our way to the evening activity. An orienteering competition. Using their expert map reading skills, the children located various check points and raced around looking for as many as possible. At the end of the session there was a clear winner. Gaya and Joe had found the most and were declared the winners.
The last action of the evening took place at the tuck shop. Joshua and Benjamin attempted to buy their own weight in fruit pastilles but were only allowed one packet. Abbie couldn’t resist the rabbit keyring and Louis went off to bed hugging his new “cuddly” hedgehog.
We are off to the beach tomorrow. I will attempt to put an update on before 10.00pm each evening.
