h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

....or a week in Northamptonshire

here is the the journal entry you have all been waiting for (or something)! a couple of saturdays ago (27th July) i went with my church youth group to the Frontier Centre which is near Kettering in Northamptonshire. we stayed there for a week and did many silly and fun things . the first few days were absolutely scorching , when we werent doing activities everyone just flaked out on the grass and sweated. statistics show we managed to consume 80 litres of squash in the first 3 days . there were 22 13-18 yr olds and 4 leaders (who behaved even more like kids than us for most of the time ). for the activities we split into 2 groups and each group'd do a different activity at the same time (is this making any sense?). on sunday my group did kayaking which was muchly fun . after everyone had mastered the basics (ie going forward, using your paddle to spray people with water and colliding with others/the bank) we had a game of water polo which soon degenerated into a violent water fight . we did a spot of raft running which involves everyone holding onto each others' kayaks to form a long line, people take turns to get out of their kayak and run along the line then back again! we got back 2 hours later and spent the next 15 mins climbing out of the water then leaping back in again (soaking as many people as possible). the river tasted absolutely foul and the instructors told us that if you swallow any you should have a shower and drink 2 litres of water so you dont get river sickness. unfortunately no one really took him that seriously but only 5 people spent the next evening chucking up . we were staying in wooden cabins that slept 4 or 8 people, the cabins were locked during activities and the person in charge always took ages to unlock them so i was voted to be the person who must climb through the window to unlock the door the window was very small and i have spectacular bruises on my legs *is impressed*. on monday we did circus skills which were juggling, diabalo, plate spinning and unicycling. i was certifiably pants at all except for plate spinning which i wasnt too bad at . the afternoon was spent on the high ropes which were 6 telegraph poles with ropes and beams strung between them . horsing around on that was muchly fun! that evening was an amazing thunderstorm! the rain heaved down and thunder was VERY loud. i have a photo of Ben (a friend) standing on a bench outside when the storm was right overhead, brandishing a spoon . that night was awfully hot and sticky so at 2am Lorraine and i went for a run in our pjs to cool off, i've never seen rabbits run so fast . tuesday we did abseiling which was brilliant too! at one point i hung upsidedown and attempted to do a handstand against the wall (unfortunately i just ended up doing rather painful flips ). that afternoon was mission impossible which was a series of tasks we had to complete, each task successfully completed would get us a item with which we could use to make a parachute for an egg we were to drop from the top of the climbing tower. i named the egg 'Eggy Fred' as "it is a lucky egg name" (i've done this kind of thing before ). EF survived the fall! and i got to keep him. he's in my fridge now, moulding away to himself as his retirement date was June 19th . we spent the next day in Milton Keynes, we shopped (it's pretty lame really) and then iceskated for 4 hours . i love iceskating! i fell over lots whilst learning to skate backwards and in very tight circles, but that is half the fun . one of our party (Karen) was taken to hopsital after she 'did in' her ankle. we went to a mexican restaurant and there was the obligatory chilli sauce competition . thursday was climbing, after i'd got the hang of it i went up blindfolded with someone at the bottom shouting instructions . Karen got picked up today by her parents, i'm so glad i didnt hurt myself! Anne got taken to hospital today cos she had a mozzie bite on her ankle that'd got infected and had swollen up to HUGE proportions ! friday, Anne got picked up and we did orienteering and raft building. the opposition at raft building sucked, and they all ended up in the drink . saturday we went home . i have many silly photos, but i have yet to work out how to put them on the internet, if anyone knows, please tell! and if you've got this far without giving up, tell me and i'll send you a piece of dried sweetcorn .

Dear Cardinal Noah
What a wonderfully thrilling holiday. Especially the abseiling bit. I would have been scared stiff!!. There are lots of young people on this web site who do all sorts of clever things - including putting photographs onto the site. Perhaps if you contact your Ace s/he might be able to help you I am an oooooold lady but I loved your story and hope we can be friends. An affectionate AR1

thankyou

i really will get round to asking someone, but right now i am in the middle of birthday plans

Dear Cardinal Noah,
Are they your birthday plans? Please let us know and then we can organise a lovely virtual abseiling party for you. Good night AR1

on my birthday i went to London with my dad

the next day i walked to school with my friends to collect our results then we walked to Pizza Hut along the beach (about 7 miles each way). when we got back we had a party and sleepover at my house

muchly fun!

Der Cardinal Noah,
I reckon this posting calls for a congratulations and well done. It is fairly obvious that you passed even if you do not say so explicitly. Well done. What are you going to do now?
The walk along the beach sounds the greatest fun. Is a beach which has tides which go very far out and then come in very high? Are you a Kind regards AR1

i did pass

the tides dont really go very far but the beach is so wonderful just after a storm, and even more during!

i'm afraid i dont but i love swimming in the sea and snorkiling is brilliant! unfortunataly the water where i live is too sandy to see anything but sometimes we go down to Durdle Door which is lovely and clear .