Switzerland 2015 : July 2015

Friday, 31 July 2015

Day 9 - From the leaders' perspective .....

We are writing this as we are eating breakfast on the ferry home - considering returning to the 'real world' and laughing over the highlights of the week (Hilary has just popped to the toilet - again).

Kathy is teaching Pratima a geography lesson on the location of Calais, Dover and the sun! The girls are spending the last of their euros on a Starbucks.

We think the girls have grown and learnt from their experiences and adventures this week, they will now only need 5 mins in the shower, they can wash up, load and unload dishwashers, cook and set the table correctly! They can also jump off bridges/abseil, cope with long coach journeys and zip wire across valleys. And they can travel down a fast flowing river in a dingy and hike up steep hills (without too much complaining) and appreciate stunning panoramas and marvel at snow in the summer.

We are sure that they will be asking to antibac their hands before they eat and what time they need to be downstairs for duties.

We have all had a fantastic week and enjoyed everyday, thank you for loaning us your girls for the week. We've had a rewarding and enjoyable week helping them discover the wonders of Switzerland.

This was an introduction to international guiding for the majority of the girls and we hope they would like to explore further similar experiences as a member of Girlguiding (they can speak to their leaders for more info about how to apply).

We know you'll like hearing all of their stories and tales from the week and look forward to seeing your daughters all back at Guides and Rangers in September.

The groovy leader team

KB, SA, KG, HW, PC, HK, KH

(The geography lesson is still in progress)

3rd place in Stechelberg's got talent- Song written By CM

Summer Body- (To the tune of Summer loving)

-This song won 3rd place in Stechelberg's got talent-

-WARNING THIS IS A JOKE SONG WITH SOME 'IN' JOKES-

Summer body happened so fast,

Did some walking got some abs.

My head feels good,

Doesn't yours too?

Think it must be this altitude!

Winter Flabs drifting away now I got Summer Abs.

Tell me more, Tell me more,

Did you loose all your Flabs?

Tell me more, Tell me more,

Are your arms stronger than Dad's?

Winter Flabs drifting away ohh now I got Summer Abs.

Kathy's hiking's got us breaking our backs,

But thanks to her we've all got 6 packs.

Swimming hard,

Getting rid of excess Lard.

Winter Flabs drifting away now I got Summer Abs.

Tell me more, Tell me more,

Did you step in cow poo?

Tell me more, tell me more

Take pictures in the loo? (See Hillary and Katie's blog for more info)

Winter Flabs drifting away oooh thanks to Switzerland

We swam in an outdoor pool

exercising whilst playing the fool

Jumping off boards, nobody drowned

We just had fun splashing around

Tell me more tell me more

did we travel far

Tell me more tell me more

we got fit not using a car

On our way home, Switzerland ends

Will you keep in touch with your friends

Home again we all said ciao

Wonder what your doing now?

Winter flap, turned into abs,

Bu-ut oh those summer gnat bites!

Tell me more, tell me more ................

- Lyrics written by CM with the help of PC and HW and co.

Day 8 - Grimmelwald, packing and travelling home

Hey, we are all on our way back now.

I am writing this blog at 10.44 pm so at the moment there is only 8 hours and 50 minutes till we see you all again. We've been missing your lot and we can't wait to see you.

Today we had to clean the chalet which took a remarkably short amount of time and we were all packed with the chalet cleaned at 10.15 this morning. From there we walked to the cable car to start our final adventure (SPOILER ALERT! A pizza nearly bigger than my arm).

Up at Grimmelwald, we walked around a delightful little village, with an honesty shop, which is basically a shop in which it is all self service and they trust you to pay for what you take which is a really cool idea. After that we ate at a really large pizza at a small pizza place, nearly all of us had eyes bigger than our stomachs and ended up unable to eat all of it, even though we were stuffed to the brim.

Then we packed the coach and set off at exactly on schedule. See, I am not always late, Mum!!!

From then on we have been chatting, reading, watching films, playing bingo, having baby raves and playing pass the parcel. Anything to keep us entertained.

We can't wait to see you again and thanks for letting us go to Switzerland!!!

By N.C

Our group outside the accommodation

Our home for the week - the very lovely Alpenhof and our hosts: Diane, Mark & Elen

Walking over the bridge

The glorious valley where we stayed

Stechelberg valley

Honesty shop in Grimmelwald

Getting to talk to the locals

Stunning views

Pizza for lunch

Some of the leaders taking a break and taking in the views

Watching the paragliders

Getting the cable car

Getting their "I survived without my mobile phone" badge

Pass the parcel on the coach

Mini Rave on the coach

Hillary and Katie's Bog Blog

As frequent users of the toilette we decided it was important to share a selection of the facilities we have visited this week.

We have collated some images of top Guide facilities to use in Switzerland when you are caught short.

1. Needs must - any bucket will do (ferry to Calais)

2. Happy we found the official facilities on board the ferry

3. Guess who the only two were who needed the loo in the early hours of the morning on the coach - French service station

4. Another French service station - stopping for breakfast

5. Desperate times - the men's urinal at the Swiss border - wouldn't recommend without a nose peg

6. Really really desperate times - only use in case of emergencies - nose peg and oxygen mask required (compost toilet - woodcarvers workshop)

7. Trummelbachfalls toilet - a necessary stop after listening to 20,000 tonnes of water falling every second.

8. See through door - clean underwear required!

9. Yey - big enough to bring a friend

10. We're in heaven - do we ever want to leave? - in the chocolate shop - our two favourite things combined!

11. On the coach - surpringly smelly for a toilet that hasn't been used yet - nose peg, oxygen mask and SOCO suit required!

12. Yey some ventilation in the compost toilet!

13. A necessity - final chance before the journey home!

14. Baby changing after a steep hike - Weight restrictions do apply!

15. Early morning stop at the side of the motorway - choice of continental style or urinal...
plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Thursday, 30 July 2015

Day 7 - Rafting and Chocolate

Today we went rafting and the 16 and overs went white water rafting. For many of us it was a new experience and very exciting. Almost all of us got wet and we ended up swimming in the lake in our wet suits. We had an amazing time but it was quite petrifying as the water was rough.

We had spam in our sandwiches today which not many of us were keen to try, however most of us ate our sandwiches and were pleased that it tasted much better than we expected! We then had a very special experience at a chocolate shop, where we got to make our own chocolate and learn how Swiss chocolate is made. Finally we went on a quick shopping trip and bought lots of chocolate for ourselves and our families. We came home and had an interesting Swiss themed meal with home made fondue. Lovely way to spent our last day! Good night, sleep tight everyone! We're off to enjoy our pyjama party.

From

JW, MA, AL, EM, LA, AS