Prince's Trust Day 4: Harrisons Rocks

Something about camping just screams early morning start... But Bear and Penguin got up earlier then they meant to... Especially Bear...about three hours too early at half five. So we decided the best thing to do was go for a small walk, not to far or we'd get lost, for Bear to do Penguin's hair and then decide there is too long a gap for everyone else to wake up, so we went back to our tents and try and sleep. We both failed..

But when everyone did wake up after the promise of bacon, the bacon had to to be made! And after breakfast before going to get ready to climb big scary rocks the best thing to do is get yourself pumped up!

While still around the camp fire, Bon Jovi's 'Livin' on a Prayer' came up for a nice camp sing-a-long. Beats 'Kum ba yah' in my books...

Then we were let loose in the back of the coach with Bryn listening to Queens 'I want to brak free', Survivor's 'Eye of the Tiger' - To which Bear and Penguin HAD to do Dean from Supernatural's dance to! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTsxF47wx5M 

If you don't know what we mean, watch this thank us later!

And Wild Cherry's 'Play that Funky Music.' You can only imagine the madness that went on as these pictures does NOT do it justice! But it was SO much fun and so funny that we shall forever love Bryn for joining in!

Harrison's Rocks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison's_Rocks

So we got to Harrison's Rocks and were told that before the big climb there were going to be little challenges. The first one was to run up this small rock. We had to get everyone from the team up at lest once. We did it! Some people found it so easy they had to make make it extra hard by saying 'You can't have a run up' or 'You can't use your hands'. I think at one point it got to both and still someone managed it - to most the guys surprise it was a girl, it was Amy! But as you can see, penguins are not meant for climbing... And I needed help.

Next, we had to run/ scramble and climb up a set of rocks as fast as we could. It's in the below collage - the rocks on the top-left. I can't remember my time but Bear got 17 seconds (Better the most the boys..Nerr).. So let's skip to the next one... There is a picture of Bear, Bryn and Amy doing 'Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil' next to it.

We had to climb up threw some small gaps in the rocks... Not really sure how to explain it. But anyway when we got to the top we did find a really cool hiding place that looked like a den! A Bear's den!

Little at the time did we know that it was to do with the next challenge.. Firstly we had to go to the other side that was just a little gap, with LOTS of spiky holly leaves and crawl to the other den side. I have to say the den side is much comfy-er. We then had to hold our hands on the weird face, run round to the other side as quickly as we could and crawl threw and touch the face again. Not everyone did the race... but it was hilarious watching the ones that did - especially with the amount of muck on their faces!

This is coming down from the part where we climbed up threw the small spaces in the rocks. It would of just been easier to go up this way.. But I guess that was the point...

We then went to the rocks we were meant to be climbing but another group were already there. So we had to carry on and find others. We stopped to have lunch. But it wasn't really a stop. Bryn showed everyone how to climb across this wall. Bear got all the way! Penguin got most of the way, but her stupid sprained wrist wanted to give up before she did. (Damn weak wrists!)

Then it was time for the big climb! Penguin went before Bear and made it to the top! (With a HUGE assist going to Bryn!) There aren't any pictures as the camera was forgotten and Bear was beelining Penguin. But as Bear already started climbing before Penguin came down, Penguin got some pictures of Bear climbing! (I would like to point out that the height that Bear is at here is the height that Bear threw her phone down. I think she was about 20-30ft in the air!) Bear made it all the way to the top too!

This is us relaxing next to where we climbed while the others finished. Do we look like we'd just had panic attacks 40ft in the air? 'Cause we had! And we have the bruises to prove it!

On the way back to camp we stopped in a field. Bear and some of the other strange and wonderful people decided to run threw a bush....

But the brilliant idea came afterwards... DIZZY! DIZZY! DINOSAURS! And yes it was as much fun as it sounds. 17+ year olds running in circles as fast as they can 10 times to get dizzy and run towards a tree. So much fun!

As if this day needed any more awesome in it, it wasn't done yet! We had a BBQ for dinner cooked by Bear, Penguin and Elli.

Archery then followed. We were quite late for it as dinner had taken so long to cook. So we were lucky we got to do it at all! We had 2 rounds each in the end. We had to get into four groups of four and number ourselves one-four. We had four arrows each, each time.

In the end Penguin got:    

• Two white
• Two black
• Two blue
• One red
• One yellow 

In the end Bear got:

• Two white
• One black
• One blue 
• Three red
• One yellow

And I think we were both very happy with ourselves. I really enjoyed it!

Then it was back to camp. We sat around as a big happy group missing only Bear and Bryn (They went to wash up.) Again we were singing. This time it was Bob Marley's 'Three little birds' and I want to be like you from 'The Jungle Book' among others which I don't know the name of. Calvin, who was one of the men in charge of the course was asked to do a song from the Lion King, to which he answered that he HATES the Lion king (Not going to lie, I hated him at this point!) The quote I think we all took with ourselves was 'Get your circle of life around my girth!'

That wasn't even the end of the night! We still had more sing-a-longs, which Bear back, so of course we sang 'The Bare Necessities', ate Raspberry cheesecake, made home(camp)-made wagon wheels (So clever, so easy! 2 chocolate digestives, melt a marshmallow and put it in between the biscuits!) Penguin hates tea, but I drank it!

Finally, we went for a walk in the dark. We stopped near a lake and had to sit on our own and think about what we wanted in the nest year. Whither it was something we wanted to do, something we wanted to get or something we wanted to know. It was nice to have some quiet time actually. Then it was back to camp for bed! I was so tired after such a long day!  

- Mountain Bear & Rock Hopper Penguin x x x

Prince's Trust Day 3: Abseiling

Today is the first day of our residential. We packed for a few weeks rather than a few days!

We made our way to Prince's Trust and started to get our kits together with all our tents, waterproofs and boots in. We had teams getting climbing kit ready, cooking stuff into the trailer and everything else we could possibly use. We managed to fill up the trailer to breaking point with all the equipment 14 of us would need! 

We all sat down and picked our three day meal plan ready to go shopping. We went for spaghetti for the first night and a fry up and BBQ for the next. I think BBQ was the easiest meal to choose! 

When we got to Chatham's ASDA it was Bears job to send everyone out to get everything bit by bit. We had groups running off gathering everything it was hilarious! A lot quicker too! Maybe everyone should shop like this in future and supermarkets will be less busy and much more fun!

It took like forever to get to Broad Stairs Warren where we were camping. Penguin fell asleep for the whole journey there balancing on a panda pillow. We unloaded and set out our tents. 

We split into groups to cook and gather. Penguin helped to cook a yummy dinner and Bear fetched fire wood. Tons of it - enough for the whole trip with a load left over. 

We played on a slack line and inevitably failed miserably. Bear and Amy managed to walk across a few times with a little helping hand but planking along it went terribly. We looked less super hero and more dirt munchers by the minute.

After dinner we waited around to get ready for abseiling and we decided to get into our onesie and got abseiling like it. It was ages until we left and we both got way too hot and decided not too but it was fun running around in there for a while.

The abseil was 40 feet high and very scary!!! It was easy once you are on the walk down but leaning over the edge was the hard part! It was very dark by the time it was our turn to go down but in a way that made it easier and a little less scary as you could see less of the drop!

We got back and roasted marshmallows and ate cheesecake over the massive campfire we had and sing along to stupid yet classic campfire songs!

- Bear & Penguin x x x

Ryan's Cake

My little brother Ryan was turning 20 on the 5th and as he is an amazing electrician he got a tool box cake! It took until two in the morning as we had not long got home and had camping for the next few days! It was mayhem especially as the icing was a nightmare as i don't have my fondant mat or any cling film! My our Dani got some for me and all was saved! I may not of had the time but i made some i found some for my Ryry! And im happy with how it turned out! 

He came around on Friday to pick up his present and got a nice surprise! I hope he likes it! Because i love him lots and lots!

- Bear & Penguin x x x

Prince's Trust Day 2: Canoeing

Somehow whenever we leave the house we find something weird. We had the Flower Thief yesterday and today the marching nurse. Surely they must teach her this in training. She was running yet walking - it was a super fast march! Scary to have that scene making a bee line for us.

Somehow our conversation the whole way to town turned into "How Pokemon influences our childhoods" chats. Penguins first Pokemon card was a shiny Jigglypuff and Bears was a shiny Charmander. We grabbed our lunch before heading to the station and went to Gregg's for our favourite sandwiches and brownies, but found cupcakes with heart rings! We couldn't leave them there for someone else to find, we just had to have them!

 Why do we need so much luggage for a day of canoeing? I think they were mainly full of drinks and towels! As we were smart enough to know us and water wont mix for too long!

We finally made it to Chatham and the Prince's Trust. Before we went out for our main activity we played some mini-games. We played a game where you have to pair up and hold sticks ready someone to walk over. It was really hard but easier than you would first think. We did some skipping games and had to get all our team through a roped web tied to trees. We had to lift people through, organise who was going through what hole and work out the best order.

Today it was Canoeing. Penguin didn't want to wear any waterproofs as she is a penguin but Bears do not like getting their fur all wet and dived into one.

We all helped get the boats off the trailer and paired up. Penguin went with Jaz one of the instructors and Bear went with Bryn. Penguins sail was much more educational than Bears. Jaz taught Penguin lots of canoe skills (Sweep Stroke, Forwards Paddling, Backwards Paddling, Pry Stroke and Draw Stroke) and Captain Bear merely dabbled in them and then went for POWER with Commador O'Neill, but it was excellent fun! 

We played a game of water polo. We had Team Pork Chop and Team Beef Cake. As its Bear writing and i still don't have much of an idea how you play but Team Pork Chop won 4-0 and Lisa scored the last goal by diving and throwing herself into the water while capsizing. It was amazing! The waterproofs turned out to be entirely pointless as everyone was drenched from top to bottom! I mean there wasn't a dry point anywhere! 

After a busy day and a long walk in front of us Bear decided to grab a last minute Shortbread Star covered in white chocolate and sprinkles. It was delicious. 

- Bear & Penguin x x x

Prince's Trust Day 1: Rock Climbing

"We never realised how weird we really are until we were forced to be with other people"

We don't like early mornings... Ever. We were meant to get up at 6.30am, but we decided we could leave half an hour later so we could sleep half an hour longer. It still wasn't enough.

One thing that is sure to make us walk far at a stupid time in the morning is snapple. Snapple makes us happy. 

While we was walking to town to catch the train after getting our Snapples we found a strange man. I mean who goes around while walking your dog and steals flowers out gardens? He had a carrier bag and was leaning over taking them and piling them in. How strange. I hope he has hay fever for his comeuppance. 

We got the slower train to Chatham and it really felt like it took forever!!! But we happily sat and relaxed after our hour walk to town. We sipped our Snapples and read the Metro. The Metro rarely has anything interesting in it (aside from the Wimbledon watching meerkats) but we brought one home to use for the parrots home. Now thats useful. 

Penguin's niece is starting to love penguins. It happens to all small children who know penguin. And most adults... It just happens. Last week the two of us saw a super cute, ridiculously cuddly teddy penguin that was a very good size and only £6 as it was half price. Penguin decided Sophie should have it. Penguin was meant to send her card with money in for her birthday with money in but she left it too late. So what better present than a penguin? The only problem is penguin now loves it. A lot. And I don't know if I want to give it up and get her something else. I should as she is only 4. She needs it more. But it's a fluffy penguin and I want it!

When we got to the Prince's Trust we had to wait around until everyone got there, we played some silly games to pass the time. We did an observation game and Bear got it, Bear is apparently untrickable. Ma ha ha! Everyone turned up and we went from the three of us to sixteen. 

To break the ice we played some 'get to know you' games. We started with a ball we had to throw around and shout each others names out. It was chaos! It got to 4 balls at once.. And then we played a game where someone dropped a piece of paper, if you caught it all you had to do was call someone elses name and drop the paper. If you didn't catch it, you have to tell the group something about yourself and then do the same. Bear caught it, called out Penguin who didn't catch it and so penguin told the group about how many pets she  and Bear and the Jackaman's have. They thought we were crazy! Then Calvin (I think that's his name) thought he'd see who could jump over a chair with only a standing jump. He was the only one who tried it. But he managed it!

We both went to the store room to help Greg get all the supplies we need like the helmets (Penguin carried all 16 of them in one go!), harnesses and practise ropes for the knots. We watched a very in depth demonstration on how to put on a helmet. We were secure and rocking the helmet head! Then we had the harness demonstration which meant staring at the instructor Greg's crutch for a good 15 minutes as we went through all the safety parts.

We learnt how to do a figure of eight knot and a thumb knot. We had to then attach our figure of eight knots onto our harnesses. We were taught by having to use the end of our ropes as a racing car and follow the previous ropes directions - so we felt obliged to making racing car sounds as we did it. 

 We nearly didn't get to do the rock climbing as we started to feel uncomfortable. Luckily Dean was great at making us see that we should give it a go and at least walk back in and see how we feel. It was much better after they realised we really wasn't happy and sorted through the problems we had.

The rock climbing wall was about 25 feet tall and got harder as you went up. There was a few others that have rock climbed a fair bits and was up, down and all over the wall on the super hard leaning parts. We stuck to the beginners wall. Straight up and no leaning forward! We both got just over 20 feet as we both had trouble on one part where a yellow block was stupidly small and hard to grip onto but we were already really proud of actually doing it let alone nearly reaching the top! When we get as far as we want we get to abseil back down which is a really fun part. When Penguin came down we all did her own Mission Impossible theme for her to come down to - she laughed a lot!

Bear did another abseil after as we had literally ten minutes left. I got all the way up and onto the edge but got stuck - I'm petrified of heights! But after good coaching from Jaz at the top worked with her to do it step by step. I couldn't start the abseil properly but i ended up sitting at the edge flopping down like "a maggot on the string" then getting my bearings and doing the abseil properly! I was really proud that i even attempted it after the height scare of the first climb. It took a lot of time and craziness to actually get back down again but i did it and i had my penguin cheering me on. We did it! Together we got a few climbs done and felt good that we did go back and face our fears to get a few life goals checked off!

Penguin isn't scared of heights, but when she couldn't move because of the stupid yellow block, she did get scared.. While she was going up she was quite nervous anyway. Bear to keep her calm, shouted out encouragement. She called penguin, penguin and not her 'real life' name. When the others heard this they got quite confused.. So bear told them it was her nickname and they all asked questions about penguins, like which is penguin's favourite type - emperor - by the way. And they all agreed it was the best penguin and how awesome penguins where. While penguin was coming down, they call said 'imagine you're a penguin jumping over the rocks to the mission impossible theme!' That made penguin very happy. And very calm.

Coming out of the gym there was the army guys (and 2 girls) all in lines and on guard doing their training drills. It was very weird as they were quite literally right outside the door and all staring at the door. We were in full top gear conversation (more debating) the comic comparing to their films and how good/ crap The Amazing Spider Man is. It was heated discussions but i think they were impressed with our shared knowledge of everything nerdy ^_^. After their drills they suddenly turned towards us and started marching and then double marching in our direction - all 50/60 of them! Full army style and shouting etc.

As we didn't eat all day.. No packed lunch.. We decided we earn a happy meal for dinner. We wanted another minion. We love them. But they had sold out... We were rather worried which toy we were going to get. We are very picky. But it ended up being Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians. We were very happy with this!

"If you don't like it change it, if you can't change it change the way you think about it"

- Bear & Penguin x x x