As I stepped onto the coach, rearing to go, I knew that this was going to be an amazing time, and I would never forget this trip. I went to the back of the coach and was surrounded by my friends. We had a brilliant time chatting all together and waiting in anticipation for what was going to come.
We stepped off the coach and assembled into our dorm groups. I gazed in awe at how big the hostel was and waited to be allocated a teacher and sent to our bedrooms. When they told us who our teacher was, a shine on my face lit up as I knew I had an amazing one – Mr Labatut. I had a nice dorm with big bunk beds and a sink (the bathroom was just down the corridor). Unfortunately, two of my other friends had ‘called dibs’ on the top bunks, so I ended up sleeping on one of the bunks below to one of my best friends.
As the evening set in, we were called for a meeting where we were told our activity groups and the plans for the next day. I didn’t know most of the other people in my group, but I knew that this was a great way to make some new friends, and that is what I did. Promptly, the meeting ended, and the teachers allowed us to have some free time to play and chat. We were allowed to go into our rooms, or we could go to the games room and play with some of our other friends. Then was dinner. The main was the beef burger, but I had ordered a jacket potato, which was super.
When the clock ticked 9:40, we settled in for the ‘big game’. The game consisted of four stations: a tennis ball catching game, an obstacle course, a throwing game, and a code breaker. We had to go round to the stations, and whoever got the most points won. Unfortunately, we didn’t win, but we had a great time.
Dark clouds covered the horizon as the night rolled in, and we settled down to our dorm to sleep for the night.
Beep! Beep! The alarm rang out, signalling that it was time to go to breakfast. What a delight! There was a wide variety of food, and it was all so amazing. We then got changed, ready for the tough challenges ahead. We started off with the caving. Stuck in some stiff over-suits, I was not hopeful for the hours to come, but I was horribly wrong. The experience was like no other; we traversed through the cave, wading through puddles, and we even had an outstanding experience of cave diving. We had to crawl through very small holes, but I managed to do so and had a lovely time.
After we came home, we got all ready for the trip to Peveril Castle. Rearing to go, I got changed and then gobbled down my chicken sandwich. Teeming with anticipation, I pursued on the long, tiring walk up the hill to the castle. My legs were shattered, but not even that could stop me from appreciating the once-in-a-lifetime view I was getting. All the hills and mountains fit perfectly, and it was like a dream. Behind me were the great ruins of Peveril Castle, and we even got to go inside! We took the long walk back and then played with our friends in the evening. We queued up for dinner, and I had an amazing jacket potato and peacefully drifted off to bed.
The morning sun rose up as the alarm, yet again, disturbed our peaceful slumber. We woke up and ran down to breakfast, full of trepidation. Yet again, I took some sausages, but this time decided to try some bacon – that was a great decision. We filled up our packed lunch to get ready for the massive hill walk to come. Promptly, we set off to go up a massive mountain, see a Blue John cave, then walk across some other mountains until we would finally make the descent to the Youth Hostel.
I had walked up to the Blue John cave, and my legs were already beginning to ache. But I pushed on and persevered, even finding a nice rock with some Blue John on it. We had finally done it, we reached the top of the tallest mountain in the valley. Even though the pain in my leg grew and grew, even though I was out of breath, even though I thought I could never reach the top, I had done it! I placed my hand on the obelisk as a broad grin grew on my face. We sat down and had our lunch, over the outstanding view, it was worth the effort.
When our lovely time ‘on top of the world’ ended, I dreaded the long walk we were about to encounter. Across like a million mountains and then like a long walk down, not something to look forward to, right? But that was so much fun. I got to talk to Mr Labatut, who is a nice teacher, and was merrily chatting away with my friends. The time flew by and before we knew it, we were at the end, just five mere minutes back to the hostel, but this was the hardest part. My legs and feet hurt like never before, but I persevered and before long we were back, ready to come home.
I really didn’t want to leave; I had had such a good time. But all good things must come to an end. I got back onto the coach and chatted to my friends for the two hours it took to come home.
Sehej (Shells)
