Form 8 Watersports Adventure Week Diary

Date: Wednesday 1 July 2009

As a Form 8 pupil, I enjoy spending time with all my friends, and an adventure week in France could not have been a better opportunity to have great fun and learn something new about others and myself!

On Friday the 5^th June we left school at 5:00pm having been excused school to pack. The coach journey was around 18 hours long so we arrived at the PGL site, Mimosa, on the French Mediterranean coast near the border with Spain. We arrived at about 11:00am the next morning.

Saturday

We got settled into our tents first, which were all in a big circle and named Village 3; there were other villages around us from different schools all over Britain. Then we met our ‘groupies’ and had the first run of our role call. We then had lunch at about midday. In Mimosa there is a ritual whereby on receipt of your cutlery you are also given a random question, namely the “Cutlery Question”. This question could be anything from “Yellow or purple?” to “Would you rather save a baby seal or a baby polar bear?”

After lunch we went as a whole group and played games in the sea and met our instructors.

In the evening after dinner there was a team activity. This night’s was called “Robot Wars”. We were divided into four teams and each team nominated a member to be dressed up as a cardboard robot and blindfolded so that they couldn’t see where the other team’s robots were to throw water bombs … everyone got a bit wet.

Another custom in French PGL centres is to attend a disco every night from 9:30 up until 11:00!

Sunday

Today we had our first taste of Mimosa breakfast and then headed off down to the beach to learn some Catamaran sailing. Unfortunately though there was no wind … so I was made to paddle.

After lunch we went on some S.O.K’s. This stands for “Sit-On Kayaks”. But the instructor got a bit too cocky and was boasting that we would never be able to capsize his kayak … so we did … and he got wet.

Tonight’s activity was the “Have a Go Show”. Everybody placed their left shoes in a pile and two or four, depending on how many people were needed, were picked out at random by their shoes. The unlucky owners of the shoes had to take on a task. For instance, two people were made to bash oranges with their heads and eat as much as possible … without the use of their hands. And four other victims were blindfolded and told that they would be blowing out the lighter … so you wouldn’t be surprised to read that there was a bowl of flour in front of their faces instead!

Monday

After breakfast we headed across the border into Spain, to go snorkelling. This surprised us all, as all the meetings we went to told us that we were on a “French” trip. But it was really fun as there were multitudes of fish and other creatures one could normally only dream of seeing in real life. As there were only enough wetsuits for half of us to be in the water at once, the other half had a sandcastle building competition!

In the afternoon, we were again split into two groups, but this time, one group was having a go at Ringo’s and the other at Windsurfing. Ringo’s is being pulled by a speed boat at speeds of up to 40mph on a doughnut shaped inflatable!! It is an activity not to miss, as it is like a healthy adrenalin rush and a moment worth treasuring! The windsurfing started off well and looked like it was going to be a fun course, but unfortunately the wind kicked up and the waves got so fierce that the instructors had to abandon the windsurfing for our safety. So we had a few crash courses on the sand instead.

Our last evening activity in Mimosa was called “Get Them Back”. We were in four groups and competed in physical and mental games to fill up our jugs of water. The team at the end with the most water nominated a teacher to be soaked by Vikki, our ‘groupie’. This teacher was, with regret, Rosie, the Choir House gap tutor.

Tuesday

Today was meant to be banana boating, but the wind from the previous day had not dispersed, so it was cancelled. We girls didn’t mind terribly because we went on a shopping trip instead! This was at the local village, where there was also a henna parlour, where many girls and also a couple of boys had a black henna print applied to their body!

After a fantastic few days we said goodbye to Mimosa and set off on our next adventure into the Ardèche.

We arrived at Segs on the Ardeche River at lunch time. We were given chalets, each with five beds, a kitchen, bathroom and a little sitting area, it was great! We spent the afternoon in relaxing free time. Then in the evening we had races in teams and a disco.

Wednesday

In the morning we were given a river talk in which we got very wet as the instructors were chucking water all over us! We then set off on the coach to the river for a briefing about the kayaks and safety drills.
Having got onto the river we covered four miles, playing games and singing songs along the way whilst going over rapids. We then returned to Segs for evening activities - boys dressing as girls and girls dressing as boys, which was a great laugh!

Thursday

Today was the time for a night sleeping out on the river. We paddled 12 miles in our kayaks and pulled up on a beach to make a camp. We found out we had to make a tent out of a tarpaulin, which we did, some more successfully than others! The overnight camp included plenty of singing and a scary story, which was good! Then it was off to bed with a long day ahead of us.

Friday
After dismantling our shelters and having breakfast, we set off in our kayaks and paddled a further 14 miles to complete the descent of the Ardeche river. Tired but satisfied from the expedition, we took the coach back to Segs to pack our things and say goodbye to our instructors. We boarded the coach and left Segs at about 6pm and set off on our 14 hour journey, arriving back at school at about 8.30 in the morning.

Lucy Crooks and Alice Kirkness