Camp Journal
Swinging, jumping and climbing to new heights
2nd July 2017
Green group woke up for their first morning at camp Suisse to a cloudy day, but nothing could dampen their spirits. First things first, everyone took a quiz in their chosen languages in order to organise classes for the session! This was followed by a relaxed activity of football and games in the sports hall, which was a great way for the campers to bond and learn about everybody in their group. Afterwards it was time to up the excitement and the campers headed off to Parc Aventure – a high roped activity in the forest. Campers got to swing, jump and climb new heights together for the afternoon, and there was even a zip line that was extremely popular. There were some nerves at first, naturally, however once everybody had got off the ground their confidence grew leaps and bounds!
After the return home and some refuelling dinner, it was time for some fun evening activities. Our activity leaders chose well: a giant game of capture the flag commenced and there wasn’t a disappointed soul in the group. Congratulations to team 2 for winning the game; we’re excited to see whats to come!
First experiences for the Red Group!
The Red Group had an exciting day first day in store for them! They began their day with a great breakfast and fun games in the big sports hall. Everyone participated fully and it is definitely safe to say that they all had a blast; particularly when they got to play monkey in a tree-house (you can imagine the fun). After a delicious hot lunch, the reds were then able to show off their art skills and their inner Picasso! Everybody painted wonderful portraits of themselves and also were able to paint a group banner with all of their names on it!
After this, the group made their way to the climbing wall where they really proved their strength. For many of the young campers in this group it was their first time trying climbing so it was a wonderful new and challenging experience! Determination was tested, imagination exercised and so when it was time for dinner everybody was ready to refuel! After their tasty curry and rice, the red group headed off to a local adventure ark where they got to enjoy the many bouncy castles and the giant board games such as giant chess. They have had a fantastic evening and are looking forward to a great sleep ready for more adventure tomorrow!
INTERNATIONALS ARRIVAL
1st July 2017
Today is the day!!! Session 1 is finally underway after a long year wait as our campers arrive from all around the world to begin their fortnight of fun. The cloudy skies could not dampen the mood as the children met their groups and the various staff that will be looking after them. Everybody bonded quickly and it was a fast paced day to get everybody settled in and sorted!
After everything had settled down a little and all the campers were happily moved in- it was time for a delicious dinner of bolognese and a salad bar! The food disappeared very quickly. Whilst eating, the Campers were further able to get to know their group leaders and group friends. They were able to ask any questions they may have had and the evening became very relaxed and chatty! To finish off the day and to put their energy to good use it was time for some activities and games and the younger groups were taught how to play Splat! It unsurprisingly got very competitive, and looks like we’ll have to have a rematch tomorrow! Stay tuned!!
St. Ivos’ got talent!
29th June 2017
In the morning, the campers split into two groups, one half headed to the football pitch where they got to try some archery! There were plenty of prizes on offer to be won and so the competition in the air was tangible. After fighting it to the death (or the end of the session) it was decided: Congratulations to Seth, who won a very special Camp Suisse T-Shirt!! The next half of the group enjoyed the big challenge of our climbing wall! A daunting task at first, once conquered, the Campers grew and grew in confidence as they zig-zagged up the wall trying out the different coloured courses and testing their abilities!
After a spot of lunch, it was time to head off for camping. It was a tough 3 hour hike, dodging many a cow, but they did a sterling job and persevered! Once at the site, there was the reward of a delicious BBQ and the food was on the table for about 2 seconds before it all disappeared! Once everything was eaten up and cleared, it was time to set off for another hike to the French border!! The students were in high spirits and once they had returned to camping, the leaders and staff were treated to a special St. Ivos’ edition of Britains got Talent.
Olympic Champions
26th June 2017
Coach 2
Due to a rainy wake up today, the group decided to stay warm and dry, so we headed off to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. There was no end of things to explore as the lucky campers were able to race against Usain Bolt on the light up running track. Next up was testing balance and aim in interactive pods! After learning about the history of the games, everyone was now an Olympic expert, who knows maybe we have a future champion in our midst?
After lunch in beautiful Montreux, overlooking Lake Geneva, the afternoon was spent de-stressing in the thermal baths. We enjoyed the hot pools, Jacuzzi jets and lazy river . relaxing tired muscles after a week of jam-packed activities !!
Triumphant St. Ivos
24th June 2017
Coach 3
The group had an early morning in store as they were to set off to the incredible glacier 3000! Breakfast was served at the eye watering time of 06:15 am and surprisingly, all of the campers made it on time!! They were clearly very excited. The journey there included beautiful scenic views of the Swiss Alps and the groups spirits were not dampened by the cloudy weather. Everyone had a blast on the ski lift, being pulled on sledges by Huskies and also getting to have a go on the incredible Alpine roller-coaster.
After our return to camp the kids enjoyed an exciting hour of ghyll scrambling through the fresh Swiss waters and forest. The excited campers crawled, climbed and ambled the beautiful river course full of challenging and crazy obstacles. Once completed there was a sense of triumph amongst the whole group; they could now conquer anything! The fun didn’t stop there- after dinner, they made their way to the football pitch for a game of football and to play each other activities and relax!
Bienvenue St Ivo!
23rd June 2017
The day had arrived! It was time for the long anticipated arrival of the massive and exciting group from St Ivo school in the UK. They bustled excitedly down that driveway into camp, ready for the crazy week ahead. Many of the students sat out on our decking that faces the mountains and absorbed all of their surroundings. After everybody had found their rooms and grabbed some lunch, it was off to the activities field for a gentle and relaxed welcome into camp life with some fun games with our activity leaders and maybe a spot of football and rounders! We can’t wait for the week to come !
À bientôt GES!
Today as their trip sadly drew to a close, it was GES’ turn for a day of learning on their Mountain Edventure Day! After a fun packed day of thrill seeking yesterday it was time to switch it up and mould the fun to be educational for our campers! You never know what might happen in the outdoors, so in this session we were taught bush craft skills in the forest! This included trekking through the forest to become familiar with the surroundings and then some lessons on water filtration, shelter building and even navigation. They learnt it all!
After lots of learning and plenty of fun, it was time for the final lunch at Camp Suisse before it was sadly time to head home back to Geneva. À bientôt GES!
Day packed with fun
22nd June 2017
GES’ really managed to pack their whole day with fun for their penultimate day of the trip! It all began with an extremely early start, as they headed off to Glacier 3000 at 7 am. The early bird definitely catches the worm! They were able to meet the celebrities of the Glacier (the gorgeous Huskies) and after some petting and stroking, it was time for an exhilarating sledge ride pulled by the energetic dogs! If this wasn’t enough thrill seeking for the campers, they then payed a visit to the worlds highest Alpine Roller Coaster and then bravely embraced a walk across the suspension bridge at the 3000 m point! They certainly all proved that they had guts and adventure!
In order to wind down and relax after such an adrenaline filled morning, the students were then treated to a visit at the incredible ‘Bains de Saillon’ to recharge in the beautiful thermal water pools, lazy rivers and have some fun on the slides. You don’t get much better than that!
To finish off the best day, it was time to party at Camp Suisse’s famous ‘last night disco’ in the evening, where the campers were able to find souvenirs from the popular Tuck Shop. They then descended on the dance floor to boogie with their friends and also the other schools also celebrating their week at Camp!
The last night
Conyers school woke up in our cosy camping lodge with some stunning views in the early morning. After some breakfast, everybody headed back to Camp Suisse at a relaxed pace for another day of fun! This included rock climbing and even some archery on our football pitch that, as always, turned very competitive.
As the day drew to a close, it was time for the exciting but bitter-sweet ‘last night disco‘: a Suisse Camp classic. The students flocked to our Tuck Shop, where they can find all manner of things from key-rings, to t-shirts and the most exciting of all; glow sticks!! They then headed to the dance floor as it was time to throw some serious shapes. As the last song was announced, nobody wanted to stop the fun and so staff were given exclusive access to a Conyers Year 8 card trick show before bedtime!
