Camp Journal
Day Ten – Reds and Blues
14th July 2015
Bastille Day! Reds and Blues had a shock at breakfast this morning when their group leaders and activity leaders burst into song to celebrate this important day for France. After breakfast we jumped straight on the bus to head off to Gruyères for the day. First stop; chocolate factory! The campers enjoyed an interactive experience, first learning about how chocolate made its journey across the globe, and how it arrived in Switzerland. They got to smelt and learn about all the different ingredients that go into bars of chocolate and then watch the factory process. After a few chocolate tasters, the campers took part in a quiz, testing all the knowledge they’d acquired. After lunch we drove into the picturesque old town. We enjoyed the views and took a walk around the medieval castle. Back at camp Bastille Day continued, with Beef Bourguignon for dinner.
Reds and Blues, enjoyed a game of Bingo before heading to bed, after a jam packed day.
Day Nine – Reds and Blues
13th July 2015
Monday for our Red and Blue group campers was kick started with a hearty breakfast and a morning of language classes. Unlike school language classes, our tutors strive to make our classes as exciting and varied as possible. With games, puzzles and plenty of outdoor exploration, our campers have the chance to really get creative with the languages they study during their time here!
After a buffet lunch, the campers loaded up onto the minibuses and headed down the mountain to the Labyrinth Adventure Park. With loads of swirly rides, a massive maze and giant games, the campers went around the park in their friendship groups with the group leaders. Special shout out to Oran who managed to defeat the Labyrinth Challenge.
Once back at camp HQ and well fed from dinner all the campers and the staff ventured up to the football pitches for a head-to-head staff vs. campers football tournament… and they say that history is written by it’s victors…how wrong they were!
Day Nine – Green Group
Today the green group had a choice activity in the morning followed by afternoon language classes and evening sports. Some of our campers chose archery; others went mountain biking, improving their skills on the jumps and paths around Torgon. The majority of campers decided to join our Art Jam session, where they had a blast rocking out to music and showing off their artistic talents. They painted landscapes of the surrounding Alps, drew portraits of their friends, and created a giant banner for Bastille day!
Fun fun fun!
Day Eight – Yellow and Greens
12th July 2015
A restful weekend at Camp Suisse continued on Sunday. Campers strolled into breakfast, many of them sporting new t-shirts and jewellery bought in Montreux yesterday. The yellow and green groups headed straight for the bus down to the valley, taking them to the beach, where swimming, frisbee, ice cream and most importantly banana boating awaited! The group leaders took great pleasure on sitting on the speedboat while the campers braved chilly Lake Geneva, with the wily drivers having most groups fall off their banana at least three times!
Campers were able to enjoy the sunshine for the rest of the day until shower hour back at camp, after which the green group enjoyed dinner in camp followed by a music quiz, whilst the yellow group headed out for pizza and ice skating!
Day Eight – Blue and Reds
Today the red and blue groups headed off on our mountain adventure day! It’s been a very hot day but luckily the trees saved us from the sun by providing all the shade we needed! We spent the morning learning about first aid and cooking in the forest. The campers even made their own hot juice! Tom, our activity leader, then helped everyone slack line over the river for the first time which was extremely exciting. We followed this up by learning about water filtration and everyone got stuck in with the moss to see how fast it could filter all the dirt from the water in a cup! After a yummy packed lunch the children made little houses of twigs and tree bases! They enjoyed it so much that they willingly made beds using flat rocks and leaves! It even had a fireplace on the inside!! Our final activity of the day was learning how to put up hammocks, everyone was very tempted to get in and have a little nap!
Overall it was a very interesting and fun day!
Montreux Jazz Festival!
11th July 2015
It’s that time of the year that all the Swiss look forward to.That’s right everybody…it’s Montreux Jazz Festival!
This year’s star studded line up has already been a roaring success, with artists such as George Ezra, Emilie Sande, Lady Gaga and Lionel Richie rocking the waters of Geneva Lake.
So yesterday we just couldn’t wait any longer. We packed our bags, loaded up on the coaches and the whole camp, staff and all, headed down to the festival!
…and what a day it was! Food stalls from every corner of the planet, live music playing around every bend, and the odd jazz boat floating by serenading us with their beautiful tunes, were just a few highlights of the day. Both Green and Yellows, Reds and Blues all loved their time at the festival, many of them claiming it being their favorite day yet! Another gorgeous day of weather topped it off and after a couple of goes on the bumper cars, the campers were ready for a bit of chill time…although several thought of a quicker way and ran through the festival fountains. Safe to say…it worked!
Day Six – Greens and Yellows
10th July 2015
The glorious weather continued in Torgon as the Greens and Yellows came towards the end of their first week at Camp Suisse. The Green group headed off for mountain biking, with all campers successfully negotiating the bumps, ramps and cones up at the training centre, before making it down the mountain through the forest and back to camp for lunch. Meanwhile the Yellow group took their turn at making bottle rockets – some interesting designing took place, even a flying pig was spotted. Once made, each group took their turn in launching their rockets over the valley. Although we were expecting hundreds, the reports of UFOs in the Rhonne Valley were zero. In the end team ‘Average at best’ displayed the best flight with their rocket! They then headed down to the river for the epic adventure of ghyll scrambling. With a little encouragement, all campers managed to climb over trees, through tires, through the deep pool and up and back down the river. Whilst there may have been just a few moments of hesitation in getting a bit wet, all campers felt proud to have made it through. A well deserved lunch for all followed.
After lunch it was time for language lessons, and the camp buzzed quietly with the hum of language games and learning. Shower hour, with ping pong and piano playing, was followed by a Mexican feast for dinner. The evening entertainment saw the first whole camp activity – Dracula! Campers completed a series of challenges around the football pitch, working in teams to complete their tasks. Finally it was time to head to bed, with the added bonus of an extra half hour lie in tomorrow morning!
Day Five – Reds and Blues
9th July 2015
We started the day bright and early with breakfast being served at 6:15! Everyone was excited to get on the road to the Glacier 3000 however most of us had a snooze on the coach to refresh before all the days excitement!
We were whisked onto the giant cable car as soon as we arrived, it was then time to head up up up! We hadn’t quite reached the top yet and we all boarded the chair lift to head right to the summit of Glacier 3000! It was the first time on the chair lift for many but the phenomenal views were a great distraction for those who were a little nervous! Next it was time to go husky dog sledging, everyone even got to stroke the dogs which was the highlight of the day for many!
Once everyone had tried the sledge ride we jumped back on the chairlift where the alpine roller-coaster was waiting on the other side! Most people enjoyed whizzing around on the roller-coaster and when we had finished a yummy packed lunch was waiting for us the other side! After lunch we walked up to the viewpoint to take some snazzy shots of the scenery and to the gift shop and to get some cool souvenirs.
After a jam packed morning it was time to head back down the mountain to Villeneuve swimming pool for some fun in the sun!
Day Five – Green and Yellows
Today, the greens had a very full day! We started the day by doing team building activities which included rock building! The teams had to build rockets from plastic bottles using paper plates, straws, string and plastic cups. The rockets were then launched. The winning team had named their rocket “The Best”- very fitting! After the rockets were launched and remains picked up we headed for the river.
The Ghyll scrambling had our boys and girls squealing from the first instants as they got their feet very wet! As we proceeded up the river, the water got higher and higher until it eventually reached our waists. Some of us were even brave enough to go through some tires! It was soon time to go back home for a hot shower.
After a good lunch and some dry clothes, the green group finally did some outdoor climbing! Everyone climbed up to the top and some even did it twice or thrice; and when they went climbing they were playing volleyball.
A shortbread break followed soon after, and it was time to head home for shower hour, a lovely hot dinner and casino night!
Day Four – Greens and Yellows
8th July 2015
Today the green and yellow groups started the morning improving their language skills. Filled with fun language activities developed by our awesome team of language tutors, the campers has their brains working at full capacity before being whisked away to the Adventure Park in the afternoon. A fantastic time was had by all whilst swinging from tree to tree using the high ropes to overcome obstacles and complete some tricky routes. After a brainy morning and an active tree top afternoon, our campers settled down to an evening meal of pasta bolognese and lively karaoke session.
