St Davids College

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Outdoor Education Exeat Weekend Trip to Bala

02-02-12

The January exeat saw our annual pilgrimage to Bala change venue slightly, with us staying at Gwersyll yr Urdd Glan-llyn, on the shores of Llyn Tegid, just outside Bala.

From here we were able to make great use of the lake, and on the first day, we constructed three trimarans out of six canoes, and took to the water. Considerable effort was required by all to get the canoes out of the bay, as a stiff wind was blowing down the lake. Out of the bay however, the wind was behind us as we flew down to our lunch spot in some woods.

Here, we got the Kelly Kettle (a water kettle in which it is possible to light a fire to heat the water, the smoke coming out of a small chimney in the top) roaring to make some hot chocolate…until someone piled loads of wet wood into it and we had to revert to gas stoves…still warm, but everything seems to taste a bit better when it has been heated naturally!

Unfortunately, we now had to slog back into the wind to get back to Glan-Llyn, but we had nothing to worry about. Even through the stronger gusts, the two teams of paddlers managed to get the boats back into the calm of Glan-Llyn Bay, and to shore.

In the afternoon we had the chance to go ten-pin bowling, followed by a brief look around Bala before heading back to the hostel for food. After this, once it was properly dark, we headed out to find a suitable venue for a night walk.

Armed with head torches, we ventured along the old railway line between Bala and Trawsfynydd, crossing the Nant Prysor Viaduct. Quite a few of the group enjoyed trying to make themselves invisible and jumping out from behind bushes, while a few more tried a bit of star spotting with the help of a star gazer app on a phone.

The next day, we travelled back to school via the high ropes course at Betws Y Coed, giving some the chance to jump around in the trees and experience a short freefall on the powerfan drop at the end of the course.

It was another successful exeat trip to Bala, a big thanks to all who came along and made it work.

 

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