I’d made it home from the challenge day in one piece at about 5pm so just had time to take a breath before the first of Lauren’s friends were to arrive at 6.
WRONG!
At 5.2o I found myself knee deep in 7 ten yr olds runnin’ riot with sleepin’ bags and mobile phones. I had to get out of the confined space that is home so marched them all to the shop for takeaway, pop and sweets. I was hopin’ to get them all fed an’ settled reasonably early as we were bein’ picked up at 9 to go Boulder walkin’. “They’ll understand we all need a good nights sleep” I thought.
WRONG AGAIN!!!
The kids had other plans to make the most of the evening and at around 11.3o I gave up an’ left them to it as after my challenge day I was “startin’” to tire. At 3.2o am I finally seperated the girls from the boys an’ they all fell asleep. I woke them all at 8 an’ they were much chirpier than I expected. After a quick head count, Niall, Liam, Sophie, Joe, Aaron, Francessca….
….oh yeah and Lauren!!! the bus turned up bang on time an’ off we set to Summerhill activity and Boulder Park. We arrived an’ they weren’t quite open so we all ran up a hill to an adventure playground an’ messed about on there for 2o min’s ’til they let us in. We were introduced to Ian an’ Helen who gave us a safety talk before we all set off to the boulder park. It was already colder than swimmin’ in the Tees so we kept busy runnin’ about an convinced Joe an’ Aaron there was a crocodile farm in a pond we passed ha ha. We got to the top an’ were shown around some of the boulders an’ started to get to grips with hangin’ on after a quick warm up.
The boulders were man-made, loads of fun an’ the kids loved runnin’ around them. We were then given harness’s an’ started to use ropes to climb the bigger boulders then absailed down them. Great fun, even in the freezin’ cold an’ Lauren decided we would be returnin’ in the summer for her birthday.
Thanks again guys it was great fun an’ we’ll be back soon so get some crocodiles in !!!
Next we headed off to Hartlepool Marina for lunch at the Northstar restaurant. We were a little under-dressed in our climbing gear but found a good table an’ settled in. I took the kids orders (much to the relief of the staff) of assorted sarnies, fat chips, lots of juice/coke’s an’ a coffee for me. The girls were lovely an’ made sure we were well taken care of but as sweet as it was to grab 5 min’s we still had the Hartlepool’s Maritime Experience to get to.
On our arrival we were told that the Fighting Ships experience was about to start so we rushed upstairs to what looked like the inside of a huge galley and were met by a seafaring gent with a musket who told us a little about the background of a life at sea. The exhibition was very excitin’ with the ship’s cabin boy guidin’ us through a maze of scenes from life on board. From the Captain’s table to the the flogging of a sailor who had not followed orders quickly enough, a scene on shore with “ladys of the night” and other ways a sailor could be relieved of his money to the finale of a huge battle at sea with deafenin’ explosions from the cannons and the screams of dyin’ crew members. We emerged into the daylight where our guide showed us the gun firing and set off the cannon wich made all the kids jump!!!
We all went over to the HMS Trincomalee to explore the bowels of a real frigate an’ once aboard we had a good wander round. There was the sick bay, the powder room, sleepin’ quarters and Capitain’s deckpost. We stood at the front of the ship and imagined settin’ off for India or Astralia as the kids had recently done a project on Capitain James Cook. I was about ready to drop by this point as the weekend had been about as busy as any I could remember so we went to the playboat where I let them play one of the best games of tig ever. I couldn’t just watch for long an’ soon joined in but in my slightly tired state I fell down some steps and think I may have cracked a rib or two !!! It was almost time for the musem to close so we went to wait for our ride home. It had been a great day an’ we were all ready for bed when we got home. I, unfortunatly was at work at 8pm so would have to wait til the next mornin’ to rest, but lumps an’ bruised ribs aside it was well worth it.
