Mark's Wildlife and Adventures Blog

The weather looked better today which was good, after breakfast, we went on the bus with a set of Canadian Canoes to a Canal and it was really exciting. I didnt take my camera as it was be costly to repair and sometimes its nice to not have to worry and enjoy the fun, Carol has the photos but cant get them on here but what we did was have 6 Canoes, 2 tied together so no risk of capsizing.

We went in 3 teams and we all had special floatation safety wear incase we did get wet somehow and i also had an additional safety device around my neck, Rex said it was incase i had a seizure and its quite clever, it somehow senses the vibration from a seizure and automatically inflates! It got me curious but at the same time i hope it dosent have to do that!

Once we were all in the canoes, we paddled down the Canal and we had to make sure we steered in a straight line by paddling on each side continuosly and if we were heading towards the banks, i put the paddle right in and force it backwards. The other helper said that i was quite good at doing that and was impressed.

It was nice the Sun came out for the first time since we got here! We paddled for about 30 minutes and then had a nice snack of biscuits and hot chocolate which was perfect. Rex also told us a few tales about the Canal and how it used to go for much longer around Kendal and it was interesting to hear.

Then we paddled back towards where we started off, Rex threw several different coloured balls into the canal and we had to catch our colour, i did well at catching the other teams balls lol!

It felt hot wearing all the safety gear as the sun came out but it was really great and i enjoyed it very much. When we got back to the bus, we helped put the canoes and paddles back into the bus and went back to the Lodge to get changed for lunch.

Just before lunch after i got changed into dry clothes, i took advantage of the sunny weather and took photos from the balcony.

I love this view.



Count the Sheep!



Its a beautiful location, something makes me want to run down the hill and explore but obviously i didnt do that lol!



The Zipwire down the bottom.



Carol took this photo of me with the background with my camera.



I did well with this opportunity as half an hour later it clouded over once more!

Lunch.



After lunch, half of us did the indoor rock climbing while the other half did the zipwire again. I loved the rock climbing it was great fun, here are a few photos of me climbing to the top which was about 50ft up.

Me climbing the hardest part of the wall, great fun!





At the top! now the only way is down, abseiling was just as cool



It was great fun and we all took turns and while we waited, we actively played a part of pulling the rope as someone climbed, this is good to keep the climber safe and also encourages great team work which was very enjoyable. There were a few of us that were scared but we cheered them on and gave them lots of encouragement and they made it!

Bendrigg logo on the wall.



It was a fun challenge to try and find the right footholds, the key is use your legs more than the hands as these are the biggest muscles in the body.

I found it a bit embarrassing when after i did the hardest part of the wall, i climbed up the easy bit again and got stuck and slipped off! .... typical Thats probably my overconfidence getting the better of me haha!

After climbing the wall a lot, we started to do the freefall abseiling, it sounds scarier than it looks! It was great fun doing this too and i had a few goes.

Me having a go.



Me enjoying it.



When we swapped round i went on the zipwire but didnt worry about the camera as the light was too dark by then and had a few goes on it again which was fun and we did this until it was dinner time.

At dinner time i took a photo of the menu.



After dinner we went to the Sensory room again, this time Rex put on the different lights and sounds on as we relaxed on the beanbags and it was lovelly. I didnt use the camera as it wouldnt come out. It was very interesting and we enjoyed it until it was time for bed.

When we went to bed i started to pack a little before the next day when we leave, we are gonna stay for longer next time and come during Summer 2011, so Craig booked that. We have another holiday booked for August 2010 so thats why we booked it for the year after.

Hope you enjoyed part 3 folks, Part 4 is when we return back to Chichester.

We all met in Chichester at 9:15am on Friday 13th November and made sure we had all our luggage in the trailer and things for the 8 hour journey. I took my Fuji digital camera with me and the weather wasnt very nice, gusting to 40mph winds with heavy rain!

It was a nice long journey until we got passed Manchester when we lost power steering, so we stayed at a designated rescue spot for the RAC men to arrive and fix our Bus. It wasnt too bad, just a bit drizzly and starting to get dark. Carol the assistant PHAB Club leader had her camera out too and was taking photos of us. I asked if i could use some of the pics for my blog and she said yes so that was good so i can show a few.

Photo of the Bus by the M6 and me.



While we were waiting, the RAC men gave us these foil covers to help keep us warm which was good, the younger ones thought that it was so exciting that they started singing and getting the lorry drivers to honk as they went past!

It took them an hour to fix the Power Steering so we waited at a nearby Sainsburys and had hot chocolate to warm up and we were soon on our way again. We were only an hour away so wasnt too bad but by the time we got there 10 hours had passed!

When we arrived at Bendrigg Lodge the staff there greeted us with a very nice warm welcome and cooked us our dinner which was a very nice Sausage Hotpot and Raspberry Cheesecake for desert which was very delicious

After dinner we were very tired so got ready for bed, as part of the holiday we had to make our own beds as its independant living learning which was fun and we helped each other too. I had the top of a bunk bed which was cool as i could see everyone and was a comfy corner of the room, i shared with 4 other older group members while the younger members of the group had their room and the leaders their own room which is a very good idea. It came complete with a bathroom and toilet too.

Then we chatted for a bit longer about what we are going to do for the weekend and then went to bed, it was a very exciting day! - funy the best part of it was breaking down on the M6 niles from anywhere the next day we are going to explore a cave.

Hope you enjoyed part 1, i will do each day we had in parts so this is part 1 of 4. Part 2 coming soon!