So, since Thursday morning I have been going non-stop and it's not likely to slow down for awhile. I figured I better get caught up on the blog (and I really don't want to do my real journals so I will do this instead). As you may have seen (if you were stalking me on facebook) I managed to post pictures from this past weeks OP. We went canoeing and with that activity came outdoor abseiling (which we did the week before at the indoor rock wall) and we also did come outdoor fire building skills. It was such an awesome day! I keep saying this, but I think it was the best!
We started by walking to the Menai Straits to get the canoes. It is so nice that the center sits right on the water! After we go in the water we did some fun warm up activities by playing dodge ball. This was to work on our communication skills with our partners and to work on our maneuvering skills in the water. Riley was my partner and she started out as tail (or the driver) and I started out in the front (or the engine). We had a lot of fun messing around and soon we were all racing across the Straits. I would compare the Straits to the Mississippi but not quite as wide (and it is actually not a river but part of the sea). It wasn't long before we were at our destination so we docked and headed for a camp site. We set up a shelter because it was rainy, and boy was that interesting. We sure have a strange way of doing things! After a few failed attempts at setting up the shelter we finally got it. Then it was on to making fire! That was lots of fun! We finally got a fire going and had our lunch. Then we roasted some mollows, which were kind of gross. They just aren't the same here. We couldn't even get them to burn. At home you stick them in the flame and they instantly ignite. Here they just kind of caramelize. The nice thing was, you always got a perfectly golden mollow no matter how long you left it in the fire! Needless to say, a bunch of 20 somethings had a lot of fun!
Eventually we moved on to the next activity which was abseiling. We had done this the week before indoors. I had a lot of trouble with that activity, but this week was great! I'm pretty sure I had the most trouble with getting to the top the week before, not the actual going down. The best part about this week was the fact that we just walked to the top of the cliff and just did the abseiling off. It was up to us to remember what we were doing. Everyone did really well, including myself! I loved it this time! I even went twice! It was so much fun. After hooking up to the safety line and looking over the edge, it was scary but also exciting. I hooked myself up to the abseiling line with the loop break and as Llion said it "tossed myself over the edge". I guess I did everything right, because I didn't fall to my death! I couple of people even tried climbing back up, not me!
After we were done being monkeys, we headed back to the water. We paddled back up the Straits, against the current. Along the way, we did some balancing exercises. The goal was for you and your partner to stand up in the canoe one at a time and then both together. The real trick was that you were supposed to do this with your feet on the outside edges. This took A LOT of concentration and balance. When Riley and I did it at first she stood on the edges and I stood on my seat and not at the same time. I really didn't want to tip the boat and fall in because I had my camera on me. Eventually, I handed off my camera to Llion and gained a lot of confidence, or I guess I didn't care so much if I fell in, haha! So I made Riley do it again. I went first. I swear it took me 10 minutes to stand up, but I did it. I then stood there with all the balance I could find. For those of you who know me fairly well, know I'm not the most coordinated person, so this was pretty challenging. I stood as still as I could while Riley slowly stood up too. she eventually got there with only a little rocking of the boat. There were a few times I thought we were going in, but we survived. At the same time we both crashed into the boat. We both were loosing our balance so instead of falling into the water we fell into the boats. I have bruises on my kneecaps to help me remember how much fun this was. I was so proud of myself! It was very challenging and we did it!
The rest of the weekend was spent in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. So my next will be about that adventure. Stay tuned, I hope to have it done by tomorrow but right now I should probably do some of the stuff that is due tomorrow.
Until next time...
~Amy
After we were done being monkeys, we headed back to the water. We paddled back up the Straits, against the current. Along the way, we did some balancing exercises. The goal was for you and your partner to stand up in the canoe one at a time and then both together. The real trick was that you were supposed to do this with your feet on the outside edges. This took A LOT of concentration and balance. When Riley and I did it at first she stood on the edges and I stood on my seat and not at the same time. I really didn't want to tip the boat and fall in because I had my camera on me. Eventually, I handed off my camera to Llion and gained a lot of confidence, or I guess I didn't care so much if I fell in, haha! So I made Riley do it again. I went first. I swear it took me 10 minutes to stand up, but I did it. I then stood there with all the balance I could find. For those of you who know me fairly well, know I'm not the most coordinated person, so this was pretty challenging. I stood as still as I could while Riley slowly stood up too. she eventually got there with only a little rocking of the boat. There were a few times I thought we were going in, but we survived. At the same time we both crashed into the boat. We both were loosing our balance so instead of falling into the water we fell into the boats. I have bruises on my kneecaps to help me remember how much fun this was. I was so proud of myself! It was very challenging and we did it!
No comments:
Post a Comment