East Ayrshire Saxony link

Had a great day in Edinburgh! The rain stayed off till the journey home. Saw the Castle and the Parliament building and Princes Street gardens and shops.
Had an enormous buffet at a Chinese restaurant and the climax of the day was the Ghost Tour! Our dramatic guide told us scary tales and took us into the underground haunted vaults.

We went down the River Doon in 2 man canoes from Dalmellington to Waterside. Sounds easy but the wind was blowing upstream! Es war kalt aber viel Spaß. Only Derek and Elisabeth were tipped into the water though some others jumped in voluntarily! Pictures coming soon!

After a picnic we climbed a very steep hill to the monument outside Straiton.

“it was the hardest ever” is one of the more polite descriptions. Franz was the first in the race to the top and Rachel the first girl (well, the only girl actually)
Tonight we are working on a bilingual short film to promote the Dolphin House.

Tomorrow will be all day in Edinburgh ending with the ghost tour! Don’t expect any posts tomorrow!!

We left this morning at 10am and returned after 8pm. We (well most of us) cycled round the island, a distance varying from 6 to 12 miles depending on who you believed! Had some time in the seaside town of Largs and had fish and chips and pizza at Doonfoot. Weather has been very mixed, windy, sunshine and showers.

Tomorrow will be canoeing and a short but steep hillwalk at Straiton.

Last night after a meal of soup, then steak pie we ran an orienteering course in the grounds of Culzean country park. Alas we had just got stated when the rain came down in stair rods and we all got soaked through! The race was was by the superfast team of Rachel and Theresa
Today we still plan to head for the Isle of Cumbrae. Henry will provide waterproofs for all!
We have taken lots of photos but there is no broadband here so uploading is painfully slow and has to be done one at a time.

We settled into our rooms then met in the teepee for some name learning games.

Then we had a walk on the beach. Back in the Dolphin House we worked in teams for the egg challenge: build a device to launch an egg safely from an upstairs window. The Mickey Mouse egg was the winner.

Sunday has been a a busy day. We did a team challenge in the morning – the wise owls (die weisen Eulen) against the crazy squirrels (die verrückten Eichhörnchen)

We had a tour of the Castle in the afternoon.

Spirits are high. Germans and Scots are mixing well.

Weather has been very mixed – a few heavy showers but sunshine inbetween.

We have arrived at Dolphin House and have had our first meal together. We are just getting into our rooms and then we’ll have some “getting to know you” games!

The sun is setting over the sea! No doubt will have some photos to upload later!

Ich hoffe, ihr habt verstanden, alles was ich auf Englisch geschrieben habe!

Hoffentlich sind die Koffer gepackt!

Ich wünsche euch eine gute Reise und wir sehen uns schon morgen!!

Bis dahin!

I thought a list might be helpful!

casual clothes for activities – the kind you don’t mind getting dirty or wet!
good/smarter clothes for school visits and Edinburgh

good walking shoes

rainproof jacket

SWIMSUIT to wear under wetsuit for watersports (we’re not swimming)

towel

toiletries (shampoo, soap, deodorant!!! hairbrush etc)

pocket money (for sweets, snacks, presents)

mobile phones allowed

small rucksack and containers (for lunch)

notebook and pen

Remember to give your family and teachers the URL of this blog so they can see what we’ve been up to each day!

Any questions? Ask them in “comments”!

Brian and I went to the Dolphin House today to discuss arrangements with Henry and his staff. The weather was lovely. Let’s hope it continues next week.
We saw the newly finished extension to the bunkhouse. See the photos in the Blogroll on the panel on the right (from “Home” page)
Henry reminded us to bring a container and a bottle plus a rucksack for our packed lunches. He has lots of exciting activities planned for us. I don’t want to say too much and spoil the surprises!

Here are a few words we use. Some are close to the German and show that we have a lot in common!
wee = small
aye = yes
a burn = a stream
ken = know (= kennen!)
kirk = church ( = Kirche)
wean = child
a piece = a sandwich
a fish supper = fish and chips (from a fish and chip shop)