Today we got up at 8 and breakfast was at 8:30. We had toasts and cereals for breakfast and we were told our activities for the morning by our teachers. I was going caving. I was really looking forward to it because some of my other friends said it was really good from the day before. So my group got into our wetsuits and wellies and headed off for a 10 minute drive to the caves. Our instructor made us follow a river to find the mouth of the cave by ourselves. When we found it we crouched inside and he told us a few safety points and not to touch the stalagmites and stalactites, which were very pretty . He also showed us some really cool fossils that were millions of years old. We then set off deeper into the cave with the lights of our helmets on and the water got a bit deeper and it flooded into our wellies. It was so cold and not a nice feeling. The water then got waist hight and was so cold, even with the wetsuits on. Our instructor also spotted a bat on the roof of the cave which was small and fluffy. The cave was quite narrow but really tall made up of lots of rock layers. At one point the ground got very uneven and had ledges and dips which we had to be really careful on. Then we got to a bit like a narrow slide like tunnel which was fun to go down. Once we got as far as we could we had to turn back. Then the instructor told us all to turn off our lights for the way back up the tunnel. A bit of my soul died then and I was to terrified to turn of my light. You could literaly see nothing when it was off, we were meters underground. So he told me to go at the end with my light on, he was kind of annoyed I didn't turn my light of, but it was scary because it was very bumpy and uneven and sharp rocks all around you and I didn't want to fall on one in the dark, and funnily enough someone up ahead fell and hurt his ribs, I was glad I had my light on then. Some of the others were kind of annoyed I had my light on to, but if I had turned it of I think i'd of had a panick attack, so yeah. I made it out alive anyway and I had fun. I don't think it was going to be my favourite activity somehow. We trudged back to the bus with our wellies full of water (which is not a nice feeling) and had hot miwadi and headed back to the centre for lunch (which was soup everyday, or sandwiches).
We were then told our evening acivities. I was going to be doign hill walking. I thought it was going to be kind of boring. But when we were dropped to the mountians and started walking I realised it was quite fun and relaxing. We started on a trail along the bottom of the mountains and there was a very pretty waterfall, and lots of sheep. It started to lash rain so we sheltered under a storm shelter for a few minute, which gets very warm very fast. Then the weather cleared and we started walking again around the lake. There was such beautiful scenery. At one point our instructor (who was extremely nice and helpful) told us we could slide down a hill, but the lake was at the bottom of the hill so we would have to stop quickly at the end and then climb back up again. I didn't slide down because I didn't want to get my trousers dirty. We then stopped for a drink and biscuits at an old famine village. Our instructor told us what it was like during those times and how they lived off the lake. We then walked along the edge of the lake and our instructor told us you can sometimes find fossils in the stones along the edge. So myself and Bronwyn had to find one and spent ages cracking open rocks while the rest of the group moved on. I found one, I was so happy (Bronwyn wanted one even more now) I had found an imprint of a shell millions of years old. We also walked by some bog holes which were really deep, and I didn't notice and nearly walked into them. We then got to a pathway and walked all the way back to the centre, we had to rescue a sheep stuck in a fence along the way. I'm not sure how far we actually walked but the time flew by and my feet weren't that tired. I had lots of fun and talked to some new people along it, but I was glad to sit down when we got back. I also wish we had got to walk to the top of the mountains like some of the other groups because I can imagine the views would have been amazing from there, maybe next time though.
After dinner everyone got their phones for half an hour, we were playing cards at the time and as soon as the phones were given out everybody became unsociable. It was really noticable and put a dampener on the fun, I'm glad they took our phones during the day, otherwise we wouldn't get to know anyone. I didn't get my phone out, I just kept playing cards.
For the afternoon after dinner, we did orienteering. I really enjoyed this. We were split up into teams and sent off to find posts with letters carved on them throughout the centre. But before we could start looking we had to solve 10 word riddles. Our team was the first done and out the door. It was dark outside so we needed a torch which also made it hard to find the posts. The girls and guys in my team split up to try find more posts. We couldn't find a load of them in the dark so moved onto other ones. I also tripped on some thorns and got a few in my hand, ouch. All of the other teams were struggling too and some didn't even have torches to find the posts. I was out of breath from running around. But we were the first team back with all the letters and we won mars bars, which are tasty. I had fun overall because I love orienteering. But i'm not great on a team and ran ahead to some of the post without the other girls on my team. I don't think they minded once we won. Everybody enjoyed it, I think.
The views while hill walking
The famine village
My fossil!! apparently its millions of years old
Rescuing a sheep
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