Years 12 & 13, 18 – 19th October 1999
Camping in the Swiss Alps - a once in a lifetime experience - To be repeated again?
I will not be too harsh, as, overall, the weekend was good fun and enjoyed by most of the crew. It was also the first time that the boarders were joined by the more enthusiastic day students! An even more enjoyable aspect of the weekend was the amount and variety of food and the fun we had preparing it. Before leaving we were all given a certain amount of money with which we had to satiate the hunger of the four people in our tent. This was a more than adequate amount, taking into consideration the appetites of girls after a day of hiking and faced with the perilous prospect of a night in a self-devised tent… The easiest food to cook and also known to be the most reasonable, price wise, was suggested by Miss Sedgwick: pasta. Fun ensued. Our tent had the catastrophic idea of cooking so much pasta that the shapes overflowed the pan and curled their way over the grass in a desperate attempt to escape the boiling water.
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Another tent decided that less water would be a good idea and the result was a hard evening’s washing up. However, real hilarity came when the teachers’ tent, being the most successful in their cooking of the pasta, became overconfident, and in the act of serving the dish, poured the contents of the pan over the grass. I am left to wonder whether the ants or the teachers enjoyed their dinner more!!! |
Earlier this week, a hectic Miss Sedgwick asked me for an article about our camping weekend near Les Gruyères. What a foolish thing to do! Giving me opportunity to put into words what I thought of small gas stoves, uneven cold floors to sleep on and sleeping bags that didn’t zip up in sub zero temperatures … what can I say?
To write everything would mean to stay up all night and this is not advisable on a school evening. I should continue to tell of the fun we all had on Sunday, when we went air-yaking, of all things, in the icy river water.
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But as I am no lover of extreme sports and as I promised Miss Sedgwick that I would paint a cheerful picture of our weekend, I shall tell you nothing of the shallow river water, or of how our muscles ached the next day. I shall mention, nevertheless, the exhilaration of the waterfalls and the wonderful sense of relief when we had reached our journey’s end.
I could not sign off without once more mentioning our teachers, Miss Sedgwick and Mr Hill, and Sarah (forever condemned to the name "Gap Year Girl"). I think it was thoroughly admirable to give up a weekend to take a subtly unenthusiastic group of girls into the cold of a Swiss autumn, and to see that they survived the trials and terror (the insects in the bus alone were enough to set some of us shrieking …) of one night in the wilds.
It must have been a sore challenge to see that all the tents were set up correctly (man, they were complicated ...) without being torn or trampled on too much.
Thanks for seeing us through – contrary to what was said we did enjoy it, and yes, we did appreciate it very much !!!
Charlotte Old, Year 13
And now … to allow you to savour the moment … a little pictorial recap …
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Poles … What poles? |
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Ah right … those poles |
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Do you think this colour suits me ? |
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I knew those Physics lessons would come in handy some day ! |
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Now that’s more like it … rest, relaxation and a good meal? |
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Remember …
