It’s been a mixed day today as the children have thrown themselves (sometimes literally) into their activities proving to themselves just how brave, resilient and adventurous they are and then the sudden realisation that our time at Dol y Moch has come to an end began to sink in.

We – as staff – have been so proud of how each child has supported others, conquered their own fears and enjoyed their time here. We will all be going home with fond memories of this time together.

Here are some snaps of our day today…

We have had another fantastic day around Dol y Moch and the surrounding areas. We were really lucky with the weather and managed to complete lots of fun things. Some of us made it to the top of a mountain, others completed the Dol y Moch dive and we all smiled until our faces ached…

Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to today!

Speak to you tomorrow!

Today was our first day out and about exploring. The groups went off to complete a variety of activities and the children developed their understanding of the Three R’s (Respect, Resilience and Responsibility) all whilst making memories that will last a life time.

Here are a few photos that have captured the day…

It was a long and tiring journey, but we have arrived safely at Dol Y Moch. So far we have: made our beds; shared our first meal together (fish and chips…delicious); collected our kit and had a fire drill…busy, or what?

We are all SO excited to see what we get up to over the next few days, so please follow our blog page for regular updates

Group A

Today, we went into a slate mine. First – we climbed up the mountain side with lots of different waterfalls. We climbed up five levels through the mine and ate lunch by torch light. We had to scramble through some tunnels and also use the safety harnesses to go up steeper sections. It was great fun and everyone felt a real sense of achievement. When we came out at the top, we then found a great rock face to try out abseiling. Whilst this was a challenge everyone had a go – including the teachers. We made our way back down to the minibus. Well done everyone!

“Today we went to the mines. It was very fun, but I fell over in parts as it was a bit tricky…but I’m fine!!” Niah.

“I did abseiling – it was fun but scary. I wish I could stay at longer at Doly Moch” Cara

“I went abseiling and it was really scary, but I’m ok!” Ashleigh

“Today was very fun (just live every other day at Dol y Moch). It was fun, but scary! I wish I could stay longer.” Jessica

Group B

This morning, we went on a mountain adventure. We walked all the way up a mountain and there were various obstacles and pathways that we needed to navigate together. We even ate our lunch in the clouds and took in the scenery – we even bumped into some alpacas and horses! The children built on their team work and leadership skills that involved using ropes to guide each other up the mountain. Each of us took it in turns to be the leader and guide the group! It took lots of determination and resilience not to give up!!

“I really enjoyed the last day at Dol y Moch; it was awesome! All of my team mates showed resilience, respect and responsibility.” Renae

Group C

We spent this morning kayaking on the DYM lake. On the lake, we practised our technique and played games (such as Cops and Robbers and Fish). We even had a chance to throw a few sponges at Mrs Richardson (oops)! We worked together to join our boats together, organise the equipment and help each other out. We then had the chance to do the Dol y Moch dive!

Later on, we had the chance to do some mountain biking around the Dol y Moch site. We all took turns to weave through the practise run and then finally went onto the Dol y Moch pump track. We also watched videos of an inspirational biking Youtuber (Danny MacAskill) to encourage and motivate us further!

“We went kayaking today and it was really fun!” Cara

“We ate our lunch today around the fire to warm up after we went kayaking in the morning!” Taya

“Today I had loads of fun, even when I fell in the slimy water! It was hilarious. Overall, I had an amazing day at Dol y Moch.” Brandon

Group D

We had another superb day at Dol y Moch. We spent the morning learning some climbing techniques on the DYM climbing wall and played lots of games. We then pushed ourselves to put our skills into practise by abseiling down a slate rock face next to a stunning waterfall. We all developed our teamwork skills and encouraged each other to be resilient – even when times were tricky!

In the afternoon, we had a great time kayaking on the DYM lake. It was amazing fun, and a few of us capsized (even losing a few shoes)! Jude taught us many games to play and together we had a really good laugh. Each of us even plucked up the courage to do the Dol y Moch dive and plunged ourselves into the icy waters. . .

 

Group E

Today we spent part of the morning  on the Dol Y Moch site developing our orienteering and map reading skills. We worked in pairs and small groups to find our way to key places on the map. Then we went off in the minibus to the forest by the lake and tried out our new skills. We had a great time tracking a path through the forest and had our lunch by the edge of the lake – with three nosy ducks and a family of Canada geese and their goslings watching us!

After lunch, we went off to the beach at Criccieth for the afternoon. We made pebble towers and tried to make them as high as we could – before they fell! Then we all took a deep breath and did ‘the longest scream’ run along the beach! Finally, we went to Caswalder’s famous ice cream café and had an ice cream. It was very difficult choosing as they had over 20 flavours. Then it was back on the bus to Doly Moch.

“Today was a fun-packed day, we climbed big rocks and my favourite part was when we got to run across the beach while screaming at the top of our voices!” Jiya.

 

We’ve had a lovely final evening together sharing our memories and accomplishments. Thank you to all of the Dol y Moch staff for our fantastic trip.

Group A and Group B

We spent the morning exploring the beach and playing lots of exciting games. We enjoyed our free time splashing around and jumping between the rocks. We also enjoyed a delicious ice-cream! In the afternoon, we did a walk where the pupils were dropped off in a forest and had to work together to get from point A to B (the Dol y Moch campus). We really pushed ourselves to work as teams and tried our hardest not to get lost!! Luckily, we all made it back in one piece, even though some of the Snowdonia terrain was challenging. . . Thanks to Jonny and Kelly for setting up our challenges!

“Today I enjoyed exploring the beach, especially when we were playing “the floor is lava” between the rocks!” Ashleigh.

“Today, I enjoyed the beach as we had an ice cream. I also liked when the tide came up and soaked me up to my knees! Dol y Moch has been really fun!” Minnie.

“People in our group had to achieve the tricky task of walking back to Dol y Moch. Some of us got a little bit lost in parts, but it actually taught us the way and we worked together as a team. I really enjoyed it” Renae.

 

Group C

Today we spent the day exploring the Welsh wilderness (Bear Grylls style)! This included walking up a mountain and having lunch together once we reached the top. We also walked through a forest and discovered an abandoned log cabin – which reminded us of a fairy tale! We set up a camp fire and toasted marshmallows…delicious! The terrain was very uneven, which made it tricky at times (particularly in the forest). We were also told (by our instructor Conor) about the legendary folktale of the faithful hound Gelert of Beddgelert. We were fascinated by the story and even got to meet the stone structure in Gelert’s memory.

Group D

We spent the entire day exploring the abandoned mines hidden beneath the Welsh moors and thoroughly enjoyed it all! To get to the opening of the mine we had to trek up a steep, rocky path and dodge lots of sheep’s poo…gross! To enter the mine we crawled between a narrow opening and carefully walked between the old mine cart tracks. Our instructor (Jude) taught us all about stalactites and stalagmites! Lots of challenges were found on our journey including walking along the edge of a plunge pool, taking a boat ride over an old quarry pit, experiencing complete darkness and finally climbing up a waterfall. We learnt a lot about each other throughout the day and developed our responsibility, resilience and respect for each other and the environment.

Group E

Today, we went to the beach and did rock scrambling. We learnt how to traverse across a rock and cliff face finding foot and hand holds. Everyone had a buddy, who helped them to climb and encouraged them that they could do it! We had hot chocolate and explored the caves and beach.  We went back to Dol y Moch centre for a quick lunch and then it was down to the equipment room to get kitted out in special clothes and helmets for kayaking. We had a great time on the lake playing games in the kayaks – and no one fell in! However, we all managed to do the Dol y Moch Dive – Mrs Brammer took photographs of everyone creating a splash and screaming ‘its cold!!!!’ Then we squelched down the path to have hot showers! A great day.

“Today we met our new helper Di and we went to the beach for rock scrambling. It was challenging…but fun – you just have to say ‘ I can and I will’ ! When we went out kayaking, I was scared at first and once Di pushed me out onto the water I was OK. We played lots of games and it was actually so much fun. Then we did the Dol y Moch dive which was fun but so cold!”  Abigail

“We climed the rocks and a rock wall. . . I loved it! When we were kayaking, we played a lot of games where there were teams and we had to collect objects in the water. We also played a scarecrow game and it was fun! I was so excited, but also scared to do the Dol y Moch dive! The water was freezing.” Keira

 

We all had an enjoyable evening watching the England game and having a go at the Photo Trail!

  Group A

This morning, we gathered our equipment and ventured up some steep paths towards the infamous Dol y Moch lake. We had enough time to explore the rope obstacle courses on our way – which were incredibly fun! We then spent some time kayaking and learnt some key techniques. Once we were experts, we enjoyed playing lots of games in the water. Lots of us did the Dol y Moch dive!!

This afternoon, we scrambled across the jagged rocks at the beach – which were tricky at times. Some people took the challenging routes; others took the opportunity for a biscuit break! Overall a fab day was had by all – some even said they would push themselves to do the challenges again! Thank you to Jonny our instructor.

 

Group B

This morning, we went mountain biking through the Dol y Moch grounds. We all had time to warm-up on the bikes and perfect our technique by playing games and practising different skills. We even got to have a go at the pump track – which was epic.

In the afternoon, we also got to have a go kayaking on the Dol y Moch lake. Some of us learnt a very tricky move called an Eskimo Kiss where you lie across the front of your kayak and kiss the end of it. Crazy, huh? We also enjoyed playing lots of games in the lake, even when a few of us tumbled out and got a bit wet! Thank you to Poppy for looking after us today.

 

Group C and D

Today, we spent the day together and had a great experience. This morning, we did some orienteering around the soggy, grey Dol Y Moch campus. We perfected our map skills and enjoyed racing against each other to find the markers. We are now super navigators!

After that, we journeyed together to Criccieth beach and battled through the rain to have a great afternoon. We skimmed stones, built pebble towers, went rock pooling and even had time to enjoy an ice-cream! Everyone had a super time together. Big thanks to Kelly and Conor for taking us out and about today.

 

Group E

Today we had the chance to explore an unused mine for the whole day. We had a truly amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed each challenge we came across, including: rowing across a flooded cavern; balancing across the edge of a deep pit; walked up an underground tunnel stream and enjoying lunch in candlelight. Each of us faced the challenge of walking up and down to the mine exceptionally well too. We also enjoyed the spectacular views (even though the weather wasn’t great)! We would like to thank Martin for the great experience.

This evening, we all enjoyed exploring the labyrinth and we all made it out after cracking the codes.

Thanks for reading our post. Speak soon 🙂

Apologies for the lateness of this post…we have already had such a busy time, but we hope you enjoy our first blog update!

We thoroughly enjoyed our journey here and took in the magnificent views of the Welsh valleys – we even had time for a sing-song and practised our performance lyrics. Following that, we enjoyed a delicious meal together, organised our kits and the children even made their own beds!

We cannot wait to share with you what our first adventure day tomorrow will involve. . .

Speak soon 🙂

We are so excited to spend some time at Dol Y Moch with our friends making memories and having fun together! We hope you enjoy looking through these pictures and hearing about our awesome adventures. . .