Swings and Smiles

Day three at Marchants Hill and a beautiful blue sky greeted everyone this morning - a little colder than Tuesday, but a perfect start for more outdoor fun and challenges.

Everyone enjoyed a solid night sleep after Tuesday's activities - well earned after a long day of challenges with the PGL team. This morning everyone was pleased to see the sun welcoming them into the forest clearings.

First on the timetable for one group was the giant swing - and this swing really is huge. Two riders are suspended in a harness attached to the swing platform. It then takes a team of children to raise two riders, working together to hoist them up with a long rope, working together as a team to do this, led by an instructor. The challenge on this particular equipment is for the riders - they must hold their nerve and pull the release cord, attached to the swing, from their lofty position. Gasps, screams and plenty of giggles follow!

As one group gave way to another on the swing, some children were up in the air once more, this time on a huge zip-line - one of several around Marchants Hill. This particular zip-line begins with a climb up five flights of stairs to reach the top of the tower. Cheering from their group below helps the rider take those final few steps up to and over the edge of the tower platform before gliding across the grassy space below.

A slower, more thoughtful challenge awaited some more climbers in the afternoon as they attempted to climb 'Jacobs Ladder'. Jacobs Ladder is a tall structure comprising multiple horizontally suspended logs, each separated by a larger gap as they grow higher. As with other challenges, this one also required everyone in the group to work together, with three climbers, three 'baleyers' each holding a support rope for each climber and three more also holding the rope as a backup belayer for the first. Everyone had a good try and couldn't be put off by a few spots of rain that fell briefly in the afternoon. Only a few reached the very top!