Tuesday 13th August 2024 🚂

Day 13

Our Chalet:

After waking up to an amazing view of mountains at Our Chalet, we went to get breakfast and go to the gift shop and we were allowed to get one item of clothing each. Yay! Unfortunately there was limited sizes of the blue hoodies (only XS) which was really upsetting but they was variety of different sizes in the pink. There was also a lot of rugby shirts and t-shirt options etc. So luckily everyone was able to find something that they liked. We then took a photo with everyone in their new clothes.

Photo of the view of the mountains 

Group photo with tops and hoodies from the shop

We then got into our official uniform for the pinning ceremony. We first had split into two lines a walked around in a circle meeting at the flag pole. We then got given our pins and we sung the Our Chalet song. We then decided as a group to sing Thunderation to the staff who were doing the pinning ceremony, some didn’t know Thunderation much to the surprise of the rest of the group.

Photo of the flag pole

After pinning, we took some iconic photos on the stairs.

Group photo on the stairs 

Leaders photo on the stairs 

We then we had free time, we got our bags from our rooms and stripped our beds. We also went to badge swap room where we swapped badges and signed the guest book.

Page with names for the guest book

At the adventure park:

To get to the adventure park a taxi dropped us off.

We then got ice cream and waited for others to arrive in the taxi (since we had two separate trips). 

When our groups arrived we went and checked in and formed a toilet queue but some people in our group were taking ages so we founded ways of entertaining ourselves for example cheering when they came out. We then had the tutorial of how to use the equipment and we went off doing the zip wires. Some of us started at the lower ones and some going straight for the biggest ones in Europe which you had to hike to get to. Some of us are clumsy and kept injuring themselves like me who wacked the carabiner in my jaw and then wacked the METAL pulley into my top lip (and now has a wicked bruise on my lip).

After the zipwires we did speed abseiling (which was terrifying). The majority of us only did it once but Saskia and Lillian went twice. We then ended having our last goes on the zipwires. We then had BBQ and made s'mores. 

Travelling to the hostel: 

After the BBQ, Fiona's train group (my group) had to go for the taxi when we got to the bus stop when waited in the shade for the taxi. The taxi then took us to another bus stop where we waited for the others in the shade whilst the taxi went back to get them. We then got the bus to the train station and boarded the train on time. Yay! At the next train me and Leanne went in a lift that one door kept opening and closing for no reason after a person figured how to fix it (by pressing the button again) we got on the bus where we almost lost some of us due to getting off at the wrong stop. We had nice people tell us that this was the wrong stop since the bus said it was. 

We then checked in to the hostel. We had to figure out the lifts since they had push and pull doors and I didn't fit in the 4 person lift so had to go in the 6 person one which only barely fit 2 of us.

Eloise and Alice dropped my phone from the third floor to the basement by accident and it SURVIVED. Whilst that was happening me and Lillian kept going to the wrong floor. 

But overall, through the screams and the laughs, through the highs and the lows, this day will be one that we will never forget.

Until next time

Team Inter-Rail 🚂

~Aimee