Posts Categorised by 'Blue Group'
Left, right, left – Mission Day
5th August 2012
The weekend brought thunder storms and heavy rain to Torgon, with an almighty storm taking place over night that continued in to the hours of the morning wake up and breakfast time. The ground was sodden with low cloud and rain still lingered during the morning as the campers partook in their language lessons and sports sessions.
The scheduled use of the football pitch and tennis courts therefore had to be unfortunately cancelled due to water logged pitches. They opted for the drier option of an indoor football tournament. Following this the campers separated into their squadrons for this session’s mission day. Mission day is an entire camp activity spanning the whole afternoon and requires the campers to work in their assigned teams to complete various tasks in which all aim to build up their score in a mission league. The team with the highest number of points are crowned mission day champions.
The teams – Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo all gathered firstly in the Patinoire for face painting and to devise a team chant of which could be heard all over camp throughout the entire afternoon. After initial preparations, a packed lunch was high on the agenda, while the teams briefed the squadrons for the tasks ahead.
Due to the stormy weather conditions, most activities were re-located indoors, apart from Archery where the campers dashed out in the midst of a sunny spell to shoot some arrows. The mountain bikers completed an obstacle course before clambering on to the climbing wall. The teams carried out an orienteering task by finding treasure around the centre and then they were required to make use of their inventive skills and design a rocket to be launched in a distance competition at the end of the afternoon. All squadrons completed their tasks with an impressive rocket launch by Alpha, which secured them their victory as overall champions.
After dinner the campers stayed in their mission day groups for the evening’s entertainment comprising of a murder mystery game. A fictional plot claiming that camp Director had been murdered was read out to the campers before they were given one hour and 6 locations to complete tasks that won them information from each suspect to enable them to piece together clues, leading them to the murder , motive and weapon. The majority of the campers correctly deduced that Night Angel Rachel had killed Rich in the Tuck shop over language teacher Lattifa.
The day ended with the clouds darkening and another storm looming over Torgon. Scheduled outdoor activity have been reshuffled with the Aqua Parc being tomorrow’s activity.
Goodbyes, Hellos and Hiking
4th August 2012
Another glorious day at in Torgon at Camp Suisse so the campers indulged in some breakfast, but today wasn’t like any other day as campers bid a farewell to fellow campers and 3 members of staff (Aimee, Calum and Sarah) Three new campers did, however, join us yesterday so we extend a big warm welcome to Anabelle, Constantine and Lara.
Campers embarked on their day with a sports session either led by JP (football) or Oli (Tennis) and a one hour language session. After topping up on plenty of sustenance for the great afternoon walk ahead the entire group we were treated to a chairlift ride to the top of the mountain. They then walked down the mountain while enjoying the postcard
like view of the Rhone valley, which became a central part of the conversation! Avery from the blue group kept everyone entertained on the walk with his campfire songs.
Upon the campers’ arrival back to camp, they were greeted with the exciting news of an alfresco dinner with a barbeque on the decking. After dinner, campers played a game of giant scrabble which was lots of fun and they are all looking forward to mission day tomorrow.
And I Hope It Don’t Peel…Like A Bananaaaaa – Blue and Red
2nd August 2012
After an amazing thunderstorm last night, the campers awoke to beautiful sunshine, ready for the day. They handed in any clothes to be washed, marking the middle of session 3; they headed up for a filling breakfast. Yellow watermelon was the thirst quenching fruity choice of the day plus the daily cereals, jams and toast with muesli being added to the breakfast bar – a fantastic way to start the day.
Tennis and language lessons followed with a scrummy lunch of cheesy tuna pasta and salad. A short bus trip down the mountain landed the campers at Lake Geneva’s side for Banana boating fun. After a thoroughly exhilarating afternoon, the campers returned to Camp Suisse HQ for dinner and to begin preparations for the eagerly anticipated Friday night talent show.
Seasonal Snow in August – Yellow and Blue Group
1st August 2012
The first day of the month of August brought with it a special visit to the glacier for the Yellow and Blue groups in glorious summer sunshine. Whilst the temperatures soared to around the 30 degree mark, the campers wrapped up warm in order to avoid the chill at the top of the glacier before having the opportunity to experience a sled ride driven by husky dogs. A superb opportunity to demonstrate posing skills with a panoramic photo shoot at the very top of the glacier, along with an educational and enjoyable lesson from Rosie and Sarah regarding glacial formation and patterns, meant that campers put on their cheesiest of grins before descending onto the glacier to frolic in the snow.
After an exhilarating lap of the circuit with the husky dogs, the group then made their way up the chairlift to the picnic area for a spot of lunch before heading off to the beach to soak up the rays.At the beach, some superb diving skills were put on display, with flips, dives and bombs a plenty. Some sore stomachs from over-rotating (Sam!) and some wet staff members from being dragged off the raft by some cheeky campers (Bilal!) were commonplace. After a well spent and well sunned afternoon, the group made their way back to the Torgon base for a Swiss themed dinner in honour of the National Swiss Day. Evening entertainments of Music Quiz and 3 Minute Movies provided many laughs for both staff and campers before the sun set on another spectacular day in Torgon.
Day one – Reds and Blues
29th July 2012
Campers awoke to their first day at CS in the clouds after last night’s thunderstorm. Woken at 7.30am by the morning CS team, campers gorged themselves on a breakfast of cereals, yoghurts, fruit, toast and juices before embarking on a morning tennis followed by language assessments. The language assessment is carried out to ensure that campers are places in to the correct group for their ability amd to ensure that they benefit as much as possible from their time at camp.
Lunch was held in resort before an afternoon of navigating the forest in orienteering session led by activity leaders Calum and Kirsty followed by Ghyll scrambling in the nearby mountain stream. Despite the cold, Blue group thoroughly enjoyed their watery adventure and some campers, such as Avery, Maan, Emerine, Renata and Stefania even embraced the elements by dunking their whole bodies in the refreshing alpine water. After a welcomed hot shower during shower hour, campers enjoyed some free time before the evening meal of soup, a selection of pizzas, wedges and salads followed by pineapple upside down cake. The unique CS treasure hunt ‘Torgona Hunt’ followed dinner and campers answered cryptic clues to win a variety of prizes, with the overall winners being the Dancing Pickles.
By now, fully immersed in to Camp Suisse life, campers headed to bed ready for tomorrow, their first proper day of languages and of course the Labyrinth.
Red group
Day one of camp for the red group consisted of breakfast followed by language testing and sports. Spanish and English were first with the rest playing tennis, which was followed by Italian, German and French. After lunch, the Reds took to the archery arena with Toria and JP through the safety procedure the children broke into teams of 4 and practised. Ramzi and Lusitana stood out, with Lusitana hitting the yellow thing earning the name of Mrs Robin Hood. Her flare for sports was carried on to the climbing wall where she show cased her climbing skills a lot with Ramzi, Martin and Eumin. After a big treat of dinner the Red group were on the Torgona hunt breaking in to teams they went to search around camp to find answers in order to win.
Ils arrivent!
28th July 2012
As staff wished session 2 campers bon voyage and farewell as session 3 got under way. Camp Suisse staff were in Torgon and at the airport to welcome our new intake of adventurous youths yesterday.
After discovering who will be their roommates for the next several days, campers received a sterling gastronomic initiation with a quintessential British dinner comprising of cottage pie and bread and butter pudding for desert. Just before bed the campers discovered more about each other, played some games and were briefed on what delights Camp Suisse staff have in store for them in the coming week. Be sure to check back in to the blog as we update you with all of the new occurrences at Camp Suisse on a daily basis.
Reds and Blues Camping
25th July 2012
Reds and Blues
An excited aura surrounded camp for the Reds and Blues as they eagerly awaited their camping expedition at the Ski refuge located further in to the mountain. After a thorough kit check by our enthusiastic activity leaders Toria, Kirsty and Tom, who were leading our hike, the Red group set off in the minibus to be dropped at a higher location. Whilst the intrepid Blue group began their hike from Camp Suisse HQ. It was a hot and sunny day, but each camper found their inner Edmund Hilary and walked overcame difficult terrain with little complaint, accompanied by some excellent singing and stories along the way. Particularly enthusiastic hikers Anjola and Demi led the Blue group, while Jackson headed the Red group.
After nearly 4 hours of walking in the baking Swiss sun plentiful with breaks for water from the mountainous water troughs along the way we reached our destination. Any tiredness the campers may have felt was soon forgotten as the groups discovered the chalet. They eagerly found their rooms and enjoyed some free time relaxing, playing table tennis and table football. For those campers still abundant in energy, they headed across the French boarder to appreciate the scenery and collect wood for the fire.
A long day of walking had allowed the campers to work up a fierce appetite and all were appreciative of the evening BBQ prepared by our wonderful kitchen staff with a variety of sausage, burgers, chicken, potatoes and salads served. Evening entertainment was performed around the campfire and songs and stories were shared between all campers. Maan was particularly impressed with Toria’s Torgon song! Meanwhile Piper, Nathan and Lejla provided some scary Camp Suisse stories. Time enough for hot chocolate banana boats before the exhausted campers headed off to bed.
The next morning, campers awoke to a beautiful morning and quickly assembled for a scrumptious breakfast of beans on toast and cereal. After campers had packed up their dorms and had a final refill of water bottles they bid au revoir to their fabulous chefs and headed off down the mountain. Tom kept the group together at a sensible place with plenty of water breaks in the lovely sunshine. The campers had clearly recovered from the previous day’s exertions and raced down the mountain at a record pace of under two hours.
Reds
After such a busy previous 24 hours the Red group enjoyed a slightly more leisurely afternoon of mural painting and a walk into the forest. Each group painted their own poster with some excellent Italian patriotism on display from Eve and Ricardo. With a swift break for afternoon tea and Red group headed into the forest, where the boys and girls built some excellent rival dens. An evening DVD and hot chocolate settled a thoroughly chilled out day for the Red group.
Green
Another glorious day in Torgon made for a nice start to the morning activities and laid the perfect scene for Camp Suisse’s very own Wimbledon. Both halves of the group gave their best performance and a moment in shade for lunch was welcomed by all. For the afternoon the group was divided in half again and the teams alternated between climbing on the indoor wall and trying their hand at the art of archery. With an evening activity of Giant Scrabble all were keen to jump into bed at the nearest opportunity and pick up a good night’s sleep.
Wandering Through The Woods – Blue Group
23rd July 2012
Without a cloud in the sky, Blue group awoke to the best weather we have had here at camp this season. With a hearty breakfast of cereal, fresh fruit and lashings of chocolate spread under their belt, the normal morning routine got under way however the language teachers had a twist for their morning sessions. Members of the Blue group performed a small presentation in which they had the opportunity to show off their new language skills.
A fresh lunch of salad, pasta and fish finger sarnies set the afternoon off nicely. The Blue group were educated about the wonderful surprises that nature harbours in this particular alpine region. On the bush craft hike, with activity leader Calum, the blue group learned about how to survive in the wild. They learned that if you filter dirty water through moss it becomes more potable. They also went foraging for edible leaves that unexpectedly taste of sour apples.
The sun continued to beat down on the Blue group as they head back to Camp Suisse HQ in the late afternoon. So after dinner, the Blue group were required to condense a popular film in to a 3 minute summary. Check out our Youtube channel and Facebook page to see how they did and leave your comments.
An Enjoyable Escapade In The Sun For The Entire Camp
22nd July 2012
Once again, the campers at Camp Suisse were greeted by a glorious day in the Swiss Alps! After demolishing breakfast, the campers attended either a language session or sports session. Half of the group enjoyed tennis training with Oli in the sun on our tennis courts. The other half flexed their footy skills with Chris and Kirsty at the football pitches.
All campers thoroughly enjoyed sports session and had worked up a real appetite so lunch was a treat with nearly all children opting for second helpings. After lunch all groups reconvened for group and entire camp photos. Check out more of our wonderful photos on our Facebook page International Camp Suisse. Towards the end of the afternoon, all groups were thrilled to visit the top of the mountain after a chair lift with a million dollar view. After enjoying the panoramic view at the summit, they followed hiking trails and trekked across mountainous clearings to reach the football pitch where all groups met up for afternoon tea and a game of footie. Duncan from the Green group expressed how much he loved the lift up and enjoyed the beautiful views on the descent the walk and of course the beautiful views.
An evening of suspicion and investigation bookmarked the day as camp in to six teams to investigate the Murder Mystery. Poirot, Scooby Doo, Marple, Sherlock, Columbo and Frost sought clues from the suspects through various challenges to come to put together the pieces of the case and discover who the murder was and their motivaition. Marie’s team, Poirot, successfully uncovered the mystery of the murder – Beth was found to be Toria’s killer and the offending weapon was a cake, Dun Dun Dun…
Red and Blue Group Together
19th July 2012
Thursday saw the Red and Blue groups team up for activities and the afternoon session. The regular morning routine of languages and sport was enjoyed by all, particularly the energetic game of football on the stunning pitch in the forest. Campers were not quite so keen on the walk to and from, but this is surely good training for next week’s camping!
After a quick packed lunch we boarded the coach and headed down the mountain towards Lake Geneva. Unfortunately the weather was not quite nice enough for Banana Boating, but the substitute of a trip to the Aquapark was more than enough compensation! The sights of numerous slides had all the campers giddy with excitement, and after a quick safety briefing we headed into the wavy delights! General consensus seemed to mark out the pitch black slide as the favourite, but all were much appreciated by the happy campers, as was the stop for sweets on the way out!
A delicious dinner of Fajitas was followed by an incredible evening of karaoke, with some real hidden talents emerging. With the official talent show approaching on Saturday hopefully we will be hearing some of these young Lady Gagas/Bruno Mars again. Approaching the midpoint of the session it has been a great week so far, and we are excited for upcoming adventures like Olympic Day and Camping.
