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Day 1

After we arrived, we organised our lockers, our equipment for the week and had a tour of the Thurston site.  We were super lucky that Duncan allowed us to take part in that age-old Thurston tradition of jumping off the jetty on our FIRST day!

Day 2

Our mountain day arrived early in our trip and we battled through the tiredness and lack of sleep the night before to conquer our trickiest day of the week!  We fought off rain, gale force winds (which caused us to eat our lunch in a tent!) and that little voice within to show that we are capable of anything we set our minds to!

Day 3

Our most adventurous day came on day 3 when we had a ghyll scramble in the morning.  We climbed up and under waterfalls and challenged ourselves at every step.  We then had an afternoon on the lake canoeing, what better way to finish our day of water activities than a sensational ice cream at the Bluebird Cafe.

Day 4

On our final outdoorsy day, we were sent to explore Cathedral Quarry using a set of directions, and we only got lost once!  We also found a 400 year old bridge and found out that it had first been used as a river crossing over 2000 years ago!!  Some of us really fought our fears when we stood in the quarry in the pitch dark, certain our eyes were playing tricks on us.  When we returned to the Thurston site, we donned our wetsuits and had one last go at hurling ourselves off the jetty, a fun day had by all!

Day 1

On day one, we got settled into our rooms, organised our equipment and got ready for the week ahead. We had a tour of the Thurston Site and explored. We enjoyed lots of fun activities such as skimming rocks in the lake, picking and tasting berries and went on a walk.

Day 2

On Tuesday, we got ready for our hiking day up a mountain. We climbed to the peak and saw some fantastic views! Then we went to Cathedral Quarry to explore the cave. Everyone was very brave exploring in the dark and facing their fears.

Day 3

On our third and most exciting day we started off canoeing in Lake Coniston. We worked together as a team to canoe across the lake and even stopped off for a lovely ice cream. Once we got back on the water, we played some games and then headed back. We all jumped off the jetty and had lots of fun in the water. Our final activity of the day was the night trail, we used our listening skills and guided each other through the woods.

Day 4

We started our final day by getting wrapped up and ready for a very adventurous day. We headed off to go ghyll scrambling. We climbed through the water and rocks, gave each other a helping hand, and worked together as a team. We all jumped into the water and got very wet! After lunch, we all got ready for climbing up the tree. Everyone was very brave and faced their fears by climbing very high up the tree.

Day 1

On our first day, after arriving at Thurston, our team went out into the fields and got our hiking boots on. We enjoyed the beautiful views, the higher we went, the better the view.

Day 2

On Tuesday, we spent our day canoeing across Coniston Lake, grabbing ourselves an ice cream and enjoying it whilst we took in the views of the mountains! We then paddled back and got ourselves into the water before jumping off the jetty, we had so much fun. In the afternoon, we climbed up some trees and went on a treasure hunt around Thurston. What an amazing day!

Day 3

On Wednesday, we put on our waterproofs and headed up to Levers Water. Although this was a challenge, we really pushed ourselves and managed to reach the very top to see the beautiful waterfall and views. After lunch, the heavens opened and the rain poured down as we began our descent. Once we returned, we had hot chocolates to warm up and watched a movie.

Day 4

On Thursday, we went ghyll scrambling. We enjoyed climbing up the ghyll in all of our waterproofs and wellies (some of us lost one!) After some lunch, we explored the tree obstacles and then did some orienteering and problem solving. Our amazing leader Jacqui helped us through some challenges, and we ended with a chat about our favourite parts of the week.

Day 1 – After we arrived, we were placed into our groups and bedrooms and we made our way out into the forest for our first adventure.

Day 2 –

Day 3 –

Day 1 –

Day 2 –

Day 3 –

Day 1 – After we arrived, we were placed into our groups and bedrooms and we made our way out into the forest for our first adventure.  We scouted out a beautiful view and spent some time taking in sights and sounds before making our way back to a stream that we had found on the journey.  We splashed, jumped and climbed through the tunnel before taking some Rambo-style photos.

Day 2 – A busy breakfast set the tone for the day and we set off for our onsite adventures.  We had a busy morning climbing trees and orienteering before heading for lunch.  In the afternoon, we headed to the lake and sailed on the ‘funboats’ across Lake Coniston in gale force winds and torrential rain fall but that didn’t stop us!  We had so much fun!  We enjoyed jumping off the boats into the water and warmed up with a lovely hot chocolate at the cafe.

Day 3 – After a stellar breakfast, we set off for Cathedral Quarry where we kitted up and headed into the darkest of darkness; so dark we couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces!  Johan lit a candle and we were able to experience the cave as it would have been experienced many years ago – when it was working quarry.  When we returned to Thurston, we put on our wet suits and went ghyll scrambling – an old Thurston favourite!  We had so much fun climbing up the river, trekking through tunnels and clambering over trees.  We finished the day by jumping off the jetty!!!!  We had been looking forward to this part of the week the most – did you know the jetty was almost completely submerged due to the heavy rainfalls in the Lake District recently?  The water level had rose around 80cm!!

Day 4 –

Day 1 – After we arrived and sorted our things, we donned our wellies and headed upstream!  First we had the chance to pick some nettles and ate them!  We then took turns to lead our team through the obstacles before we reached the top of the hill and headed back through the Thurston forest!

Day 2 – Today was a wet day.  From the minute we left the house after breakfast until the moment we returned after our fun-filled activities, it rained.  Rain. Rain. Rain.  But we had so much fun when we went to Cathedral Quarry and ghyll scrambling.  We lit some candles in the quarry and navigated our way out without any light!!  We met a slate dragon and helped rebuild him and after lunch, we jumped back onto the bus and headed to the ghyll.  This was definitely the most fun activity of the week so far!

Day 3 – Today we spent the day on Coniston Water.  While we were walking down to the lake, we stopped and tried some aphids – another great new dish to add to our Thurston menu!  We spent the morning building our canoe rafts and canoeing on the lake.  We learned many valuable skills for our afternoon activities.  After lunch, we donned our wetsuits and went jetty jumping – that old Thurston favourite!  We then went on a stand up paddleboard and put all of our new skills to the test – you’d have thought we were pros!  We met some ‘wanderers’ and played a board swapping game where we jumped from board to board!  We had so much fun!

Day 4 – Today we had our mountain day and we headed for a very rocky mountain.  We had many opportunities to test ourselves and develop our confidence on smaller walls before we reached our challenge – climbing up a rock face!  We all managed to push ourselves way past our comfort point and headed up the rock with determination.  Jessica and Elise kept our spirits high with some dancing and impressions but we did well to overcome some windy conditions and some tired Thurston legs to make it to the top!

Day 1 – After we got ourselves sorted, we donned our full Thurston attire and made our way to the stream just off site. We tested out our new waterproof equipment with a little bit of shallow water scrambling and checked out the beautiful scenery! We had a very fun afternoon!

Day 2 – Today, we headed out to Cathedral Quarry to explore the slate mine – we even managed to walk through the cave without a torch!  After lunch, we scrambled the ghyll and had an excellent time swimming in the deeper waters. We still had so much fun despite all of the rain – it’s a good job we practiced with our waterproofs yesterday!

Day 3 -This morning, we ventured into Coniston to visit the copper miners valley.  We had quite a hilly walk to get there, but powered through with a nice hot chocolate break!  We spent the morning adventuring around and collecting our very own pieces of copper!  After lunch, we were given the challenge to complete the obstacle course blindfolded!  Once we were in the woods, we finished the day den building to protect us from the rain.  We had so much fun!

Day 4 – Today we went canoeing on Coniston and learned how to set up our rafted canoes.  We attached them together then paddled to the other side of the lake and into a secret area called Crocodile’s creek!  Once we returned to shore, we all had the best time jumping off the jetty to see who could make the biggest splash!  In the afternoon, we spent the time on the climbing walls and trees and challenged ourselves to reach the top.  We had the best last day!

Day 1 – After we sorted ourselves into our groups, we skimmed stones and explored the woods.  We ate clovers that tasted like sour apples and plodged in the lake.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have a camera at hand because we wanted to get out and explore as soon as possible!

Day 2 – Today we went ghyll scrambling and climbed over and under some great obstacles.  We then went jetty jumping – that old Thurston favourite – in lake Coniston.  After lunch, we went bouldering at Thurston’s indoor climbing wall and we tested ourselves on some trickier, higher climbs.  When we had practised and learned our techniques, we took them out onto the climbing trees and climbed to the top!