Our Holiday

For our holiday we went to Turkey.  We arrived at 1.15am exact, tired because of the time difference.  The next day after a hot, restless sleep we went to investigate the holiday complex, and to find out where the pools were.  After lunch we decided to go into the pool, there were only us, and three other families in the pool.  My brother saw a rubber ring and got it. We were mucking around, tipping each other up.  Dad came in, still mucking around when, it got stuck on Dad my brother and I laughed sitting on the side.

“Hey you boys” said Dad “come and help me get it off.”

There we were, looking at him, trying to get it off.  Little kids started coming in, dad was laughing.  We went into help but we couldn’t get it off, this was ten minutes after.  We then let all the air out it slipped off.

 “That was so embarrassing” Dad said “especially when all the children came in to play football in the water and I was in there way.”

There was a big red line right round his belly and back.  That night dad blew it up for the next morning.

 The next day I said to Dad “I think you had better stay on the sunbed today and have a rest, you don’t want to embarrass yourself again.” The temperatures were hot by day, and night.

We went to the clothes market down the road the next day me and dad went one way around the market and mum and Jas the other. We were looking at shoes and t-shirts. My legs were hurting walking around the market however time went fast. It was time to go we phoned each other and said meet at the black avenue (the avenues were colour coordinated) so we did and so did mum. I and dad were hungry. I said “where are they I’m starving.” “Me to” said Dad. We phoned each other and said “where are you. “We asked the member off public and they said there are two black avenues north and south after a twenty minute detour we found each other and went back to the hotel for some dinner.

   BY DAN HEARD

Travel Writing

Finally I was off the plane, I wouldn't say it's my favourite way of getting abroad but it's durable. Even though it was dark and late at night, it was still very hot; I would've hated walking out of an airport into the freezing cold. So far I wasn't impressed with what I had seen even though we had only just paced out of the airport but the Dominican Republic just had a natural dullness, that's me, always judging a book by its cover, I felt that I was in for a boring time...

I remember waking up to the sound of rain, great; I had come away from the grey cloudy shadow of the U.K to sit inside for a week whilst listing to the sound of thunder and rain. By now I was bored of reading; this particular author couldn't grab my attention by writing page after page about a teen vampire's and humans impossible love. It was ridiculous trying to get attached to a pointless book, so I trudged down to breakfast to find something that would amuse me. Sitting with my parents at breakfast as they planned out their day was more amusing then sitting in my room. I had taken a little drawing pad with me down to breakfast, every so often my eyes would lift from the paper and glance outside at the weather; it seemed to have gotten worse in a short amount of time. I guess I took the Bude weather with me on holiday!

The wind started howling softly, slowly getting louder and louder until its voice turned from a cats whine to a roar of a lion, everyone went silent. Questions were being asked but answers were not being given; after fifteen minutes the manager came out, he was sweating slightly, he looked worried as he glanced at all of our eyes anxiously. His facial expression basically told us there was bad news. Finally he managed to choke up the answer to all of our questions, nearby there had been a hurricane and apparently it was heading towards us. All of our faces dropped, chills ran down my spine, it was predicted that because we are staying a beach hotel the sea could reach harmful levels, which meant possible flooding.

That night I didn't sleep at all, I could hear the harsh winds beating against out windows trying to break in to reach my fear. It was weird, after all night of being frightened, I couldn't help but feel the excitement running around my body, just the general wonderment of what could happen, what will happen, I was scared of course, but excited? Defiantly. A sudden bolt of lightning ripped across the sky, jumping out of my skin I ran up to the window, I peered down at the beach to see it mostly covered by water. I feared of the hotel flooding; the rush of excitement came back into my mind. I know it sounds so strange, we're in the middle of the leftovers of a hurricane, we weren't allowed to leave the hotel, we couldn't go out in the strong winds, surely I should've been more scared then excited, but I guess the excitement just ruled over my fear.
After a few days the water died down back to normal, the winds broke out into sunlight, after days of being trapped in the hotel, we could finally leave. This was defiantly a holiday to remember, not for the fear; for the excitement.


By Rachael Gould

Burrowhayes Farm

It was Sunday morning and the sun was glistening in the sky. I got up and remembered I had a 2 hour hack, so I jumped up out of bed and quickly got dressed and picked up my gear. When I was finally ready, I saw mum waiting at the door tapping at her watch, I knew I had to hurry so I skipped breakfast and quickly went out the door. We had just made it in time for us to just have a look at all the ponies/horses in there stalls before I went on the hack. There were loads of horses, all different colours and breeds, but there was one that stood out from all the rest, she was a bay with white socks and had  a slightly  darker mane and tail, her name was Tommy and she was beautiful. As we headed towards the yard office we saw a tall skinny lady coming towards us, she had a very pale face and long fine blonde hair. She asked if we were here for the 2 hour hack, and if we knew which horse I was riding, I answered back saying that I was here for the 2 hour hack and that I have no idea who I was riding. The lady disappeared into one of the rooms, while I waited patiently outside in the cold breeze. Finally the lady came out of the room and got Tommy out of her stable; she looked at me and said this is the pony that you will be riding today. So I climbed onto the mounting block and jumped onto her (Tommy). I was waiting for my instructor to get on her horse and then we would be ready to go.

As we set off I saw my mum waving goodbye, I gave her a wave back and mimed see you later.

 We started walking up this steep hill that headed towards Porlock, as I looked ahead I could see some nice canter tracks in the woods. We had started to trot now and we were just about to enter the woods when suddenly a car came zooming past making the horses spook. Tommy went galloping up the hill as she was not used to cars at that speed. My instructor came cantering after me on her horse, while Tommy was slowly slowing down, chewing on her bit at the same time. Eventually Tommy slowed down and came to a stop, I steered her back down the hill towards the woods entrance. We got back on the right track after that little incident we had. As we went along the path I looked down and saw the campsite that we were staying at, it was a lovely view, especially looking down at it. I asked the lady what her name was and she answered back and said my name is Ella, and then she asked me what my name was I said back Gemma and then we carried along the track. As we were passing through the woods I could hear the water rushing down the stream. We went across the small bridge that led to the beautiful moorland which had loads of different animals. Ella and I was having a race up the hill, Tommy was going really fast, it was a great feeling to have the fresh air blowing in my face. Tommy and I were in the lead and as we were approaching the top of the hill I could see 3 red dears happily grazing. As we got closer I could see that there were more and more dears appearing in the distance. We had started to canter across the moorland, which was covered in heather all over. I could tell that Tommy was starting to get tired, so I brought her back to trot to have a rest. Ella looked behind to see where I was as I was far behind her, I could see that she stopped her horse and was waiting for me to catch up. We were just about half way across the moor, and as I looked ahead I could see some Exmoor ponies all in little groups. As we got closer I could see there were quite a few foals about with their mothers. The foals were so cute, but some of them ran away as they were scared. As I looked up into the sky I saw a black cloud directly above us, at that moment I knew we were going to get wet (good job I brought my coat!). A few minutes later it started to pour down, so we quickly cantered up the hill and found some shelter under some trees. After the shower passed we came out from under the trees and carried on walking across the moor.

Ella and I took a short cut onto a very narrow road and then we went back onto the moors that lead back to the campsite. As we were slowly walking through the heather, Tommy pulled her head down to get some of the fresh green grass. I quickly pulled up my reins as we were just about to go into trot. We were entering the woodland which had very narrow tracks and was very high up from the ground. When we were walking along I had to steer Tommy the right way else we could fall down 40 feet down a big drop. I kept looking at the floor to check that we were not too close to the edge, at one point I had to jump over a tree trunk as it was the only way to get past. We had finally got through the dangerous part of the woods and started going down a steep hill that lead to a road. Tommy had started trotting when we was going down the hill, I grabbed onto the saddle as she would not stop and then broke into gallop. I had lost both of my stirrups so I had to hold on for dear life, I could hear Ella behind me shouting “hold on Gemma im coming”. Tommy finally stopped because Ella had grabbed hold of my reins and calmed her down. Ella reckoned that she spooked at a rabbit or bird in the hedge, so I gave her a pat on the neck and spoke to her. Now we had to quickly hurry as time was running out, we had to go into trot. Tommy and I had to canter to catch up because Ella’s horse was going to fast for Tommy’s little legs. We had to go on the road as the track stopped at a dead end so we had to turn off onto the road which was about 5 minutes away from the campsite. When we turned the last corner I could see my mum waiting for me by the gate, she didn’t spot me until she heard the horse’s hooves on the floor. I jumped off and thanked Ella for the lovely and interesting ride. After I got off I put Tommy away in her stable and gave her a little treat, I quickly un tacked her and shut the stable door. A little girl came over and took the tack away for me. As I left the yard I looked back and saw Tommy looking at me, she gave me a neigh and tossed her head side to side, I gave her a wave back and said thank you.

 When we got back mum asked me how I got on, I answered back “well, it was very exciting and we saw quite a lot of wildlife and other interesting things”. We sat down and had some dinner in our little tent; I thought to my self what adventure I am going to do tomorrow...

By Gemma Curtis x        

            

Travel writing

I went to Paris with my family; we were going to an adventure park. We would be there for a week, on the first day we got put into groups with another family. We got put with a family called the Browns and we were going to go on the zip wire and on the leap of faith after lunch but first we had free time to explore so my family and a family we had met went swimming together. The sun was so hot, when you got into the swimming pool it was more like a bath then a swimming pool. After lunch it was time to do the zip wire and leap of faith. First the zip wire, it was a tree 40 foot high tree with a platform at the top had only enough room for 2 people to stand at the top. As I climbed up tree I was scared but really excited at the same time. The instructor strapped me in and then said when I was ready “jump”. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath I jumped. It was exhilarating speeding down the wire. I forced my eyes open and saw blurs of people as I went. Hitting the end, I swung back and forwards in my harness.

            After everyone had been on the zip wire, so next it was the leap of faith. It was a 20 foot high tree truck with a platform at the top no bigger that a pizza box. Climbing up it was no trouble, it was getting myself on the platform that I found tricky. After scrambling on to my feet, I paused for a seconded, took a deep breath and jumped. YES, I had caught the pole and was hanging tightly to it. I let go and hung suspended in mid air for a few seconds and then was reunited with the ground. I felt a great sense of achievement.       

 

                             

On one of the days, mid week, we went into Paris. Gasps filled the bus as we drove past some of the most amazing buildings I have ever seen and probably will ever see in my life, Notre Dame was one of them. When we arrived at Seine the gold statue along the river were beautiful then as soon as you turned around the Eiffel tower was right across the road. I was surrounded by architectural beauties. Mile long lines seemed to smother the tower. Wondering around Paris every building was a work of art. There were cake shops filled with interesting colours and aromas. After that we went on the Seine, we passed the Louvre and a little further down on the opposite side there was a river side beach. Leaving Paris was sad and a few days later we left France, I was left knowing I was going to miss the heat and glad to be going home but not wanting to leave yet.

By Lily Harding

FOREST OF DEAN

9^TH – 13^TH APRIL

We are in the car for hours and hours, traffic slowing us down. We finally arrive at our destination, whilst the rain spat on us. We patiently waited in the Reception area, having a hot drink, until we were allowed into our cabin. Time flew past, it turned 4.00pm, and then we got the key and drove the short distance to our cabin in the woods. As soon as we walked through the door, my brother laid claim to the best room! I on the other hand, just picked a room with 2 single beds in it, and started unpacking.

Soon it was time to eat, we were all very hungry after the long journey. As soon as we finished dinner it wasn’t long before the adults decided to have a snooze as it had been such a tiring day, but my brother and I were too busy doing homework ( J ).

The next morning started with light rain and a dull grey colour to the sky. The room I was in was quite big, with the 2 beds and a mirror, relying on light from the window. During the morning we got BAD NEWS that an 8 year old was missing from the Park we were staying on! Whilst lots of Police cars and men searched everywhere for him, even around the outside of our cabin. Things started to get more serious so they called in the Police helicopter to help the search, flying over our heads very low, also going in massive loops. Hours past, no sign of him, Policemen walking by calling his name. On the TV in our cabin there was a message alerting us of the situation : “8 year old, male, missing. Keep a look out. If you aren’t using your hot tub, please check it for him”. Then came the GOOD NEWS early evening. We get word that he has been found (from the TV, and passing Policemen), but nothing on the late news on the TV.

Next day, Wednesday, we travel in the car to the Dean Forest Railway where we took a steam train from Parkend Station to Lydney Junction, about 30 minutes ride. Back to the hot tub after this, on the decking outside. We shrivelled up like prunes we are in so long. We see squirrels climbing in the trees, raiding all the nuts every morning.

The next morning we went to Symonds Yat where we visited lots of view points to admire the view of the Wye Valley. The RSPB are at the Rock lookout to point out the different birds to be seen. There are hoawks, falcons and many other countryside species. After that we drove on to Tintern Abbey, which was built in 1131 by monks. We had lunch in Tintern and then drove to Chepstow, past their racecourse, and on to see the Seven Bridge which divides England and Wales. Then we went back to Monmouth to get some shopping for dinner at the cabin.

Next morning came round quickly, and this was our last day. We had to be out of the cabin by 10am, so it was a rush around the cabin, packing and tidying up. We were all ready to leave at 9am, but we had a quick drink and check everything again. We is – me, my brother, my Mum and Dad and my Nanny and Grandad. My dog – Lilly – came with us also (her first holiday). My Nanny and Grandad head off back to their house in Surrey, whilst the rest of us walk our dog for the last time in the Forest of Dean around a long Sculpture Trail. After that we head back to Cornwall, and the journey is much faster, and dry. It’s good to be home!

By Holly Cole

Egypt

We finally arrived at the hotel our home for 2 weeks, it had taken just over 10 hours in total to get here but we had finally arrived in Egypt. On are arrival we were greeted by a very full and very manic airport, it took us ages to get through security and we even missed the bus to take us to our hotel. We were staying at the Aqua Blue hotel in Sharm el sheik, it had been recommended to my family by a friend. We could already see why they had loved it so much it looked like great fun, although we were going to have to wait until tomorrow to start the fun as it was getting dark, it always seemed to get dark very quickly in Egypt.

We got showed to our room by a lovely member of staff in fact all the staff were very nice they were all fun, happy and could speak very good English which made communication very easy.

On day one we had a good look around the hotel, it was joined to a water park and had a massive 36 water slides in total. You could choose if you wanted to go down in a double ring or by yourself. Me and my brother went down the first one which was the closest to where we were sitting. When we got to the top of the stairs we were greeted by a lovely man who worked at the hotel, he asked us what our names were and where we lived. we said we lived in England and he instantly thought London  that’s what all the staff thought when we tell them where we live. I think that’s the only place they know, when we said Cornwall he looked at us like we lived in a different world it was funny and he always made us laugh. That is my favourite slide it’s like a toilet bowel that’s what I call it anyway.

As the days past we discovered new things in and around the hotel, we found a new restaurant in the hotel and it was right beside our room I don’t know how we missed it. We even found a short chute which we could walk through to get to our favourite market instead of getting in a taxi. The markets were very funny and interesting because everyone was so desperate to get us spending our money, they must of looked it up on the internet because they all seemed to say “cheaper than asda” I don’t think they really knew what asda was. 

On the last week of our holiday we did a lot of exiting activities the first one we did was a Turkish bath it was a great mixture of sauna, exfoliating, massage and finally a long Jacuzzi. When we had the massage me and my brother looked over to see these two women walking on my mum and dads backs and to be honest they weren’t the skinniest of people either.

We also did a few other activities such as banana boat that was funny, the boat driver Kept making us fall off on purpose. When we went camel riding I was at the front of everyone and my camel had a dodgy leg and kept kicking, I must have screamed every time. We also went quad biking but I was too young to ride it by myself so I went on the back of my dad’s.

The final activity was the day before we left we went on a snorkelling boat trip where we stopped at three different stops to go snorkelling we saw loads of very interesting fish and coral. There was a few very evil corals the poisonous and the fire coral if you touched them with bare skin then it wouldn’t be very good.  

It had come to an end we would soon, very soon be returning home to wind and rain.

As we landed in England not to our surprise it was late, cold and raining heavy. It didn’t take too long to get our bags and find where the bus was.  Shortly we arrived back at the hotel to a quite comfy bed, the ones at aqua blue were as hard a rocks. The next morning soon came around and we started to make our way home.

At home we were greeted by barking crazy dog he was of course our final family member Grizzle he had been staying with my Nan and granddad. It was great to be home to my bed and to my friends but I already missed the great warm weather and the very friendly staff at the aqua blue hotel, overall it was an amazing holiday and I hope we go again soon. 

By Emily Fanson

My trip to Thorpe Park

Last summer I stayed at my aunties with my mum and my brother Calvin. We stayed there for a week. On the third day we went to Thorpe Park. We all went for the day out. It took about 30mins from where my aunty lived to get to Thorpe Park.

As soon as we got there and paid to get in, me, Calvin and my cousin went into saw the maze we didn’t have to cue because we had tickets where you could skip to the front of the line. We went in scared. I felt sick I was so scared. We had to go in a line with a few other people that we didn’t know. Calvin went first then it was me then my cousin and then the people we didn’t know. It was all dark in there so you couldn’t really see where you was going. We went through about 4 rooms and then we came to a room that had pigs dangling down from the roof. Calvin wouldn’t go first so a man that we didn’t know came forward and went first. We finally came out of the maze it was so scary! There was about 8 rooms we had to go through. As soon as we got I looked at my shoulders, they were red from where my cousin had been holding on so tight.

We then went to see what else we wanted to go on and we went on Rumba Rapids because my little cousin wanted to go on them. We was half way round and Calvin was flicking water at us and then he nearly fell out because he was messing about.

After that ride my little cousin wanted to go on storm in a teacup which was basically you are in a teacup and there is a round circle thing on a pole that u spin to spin faster.

Then we went on loggers leap which is a log flume. That was quite scary because for a bit you are in the dark and I kept thinking about saw the maze so I thought something was going to jump out at me. 

At the end we went into the beach at Thorpe park and we went on the waterslides and messed about. It was a great day!

By Niamh Parnell

Travel Writing

On February the 10^{th 2011}   my mum and dad took us to the airport, we didn’t know where we were going. When we turned up to the airport my sister Caitlin says “why are we here.” Then my mum said we are going to Tenerife tomorrow  and me , Caitlin and my little sister Summer had a huge grin on our faces because we had never been out of England and neither had my dad who is 41 (old)!!! We had a look around the airport and before we got in my mum says “Never say bomb in the airport. “So we went in and we were going up the escalator when my little sister askes my mum “Mummy, why aren’t we allowed to say bomb! “And my mum replied “Because we will get really in trouble and won’t be allowed on the aeroplane.”

We left the airport and it was cold outside and I say “aren’t we glad that were going on holiday. “We got in the car and drove home to get some sleep before we had to go to the hotel in Exeter. It was 2pm and my dad woke us all up to go to the hotel.1hour later we got to the hotel it was also a bar. We got our room and it was very small I had to sleep on the sofa, it was so un comfy! We could not get to sleep because we all were exited and we also could hear the aeroplanes landing. It was 3:00am and I would not wake up but I had to because our flight left at 5am.

We got to the airport and checked in and went through security I hate them just in case they beep on me but they didn’t! 1hour later our flight left and I was sat next to my sister Caitlin and this old woman who was very kind because there is 5 people in my family and only 3 seats on a row me and my sister had to go on a different row. The aeroplane was on the run way and I didn’t expect it to go off it to fly and my ears went pop and I hated it so, I fell asleep for the rest of the journey. The aeroplane finally landed at the Spanish airport, it was really hot there. Then we went on a bus to our hotel called the oasis golf resort it was lovely. We had to wear this bracelet to say we were all inclusive but me and my sisters didn’t know what that was.

Until my dad picked up a slice of bread and started to eat it and I said “don’t we have to pay?” And my dad said “no we get food and drinks free.” Then we got to the room and got changed in to our swimming clothes and went for a nice swim in the icy pool I looked at the thermometer it was 42 degrees. We stayed in the pool for an hour or so and got out to have a siesta (nap).And we woke up it was time to get ready for the club and we stayed out till 8pm because we had such a busy day!!!We stayed in Tenerife for 2 weeks and had such a great time so we went to Lanzarote in April and at the end of that one week a volcano erupted and we got put in a five star hotel for a week. And we were the first flight back and my mum was on the West Country tonight news.

By Chloe Brawn

Our Day in Cairo

It was December 19^th 2010 and my family and I were going to have a day out at Cairo in Egypt. We would get up very early, around 5:00am to get a bus to travel to them airport at Sharm el Sheik.  Once we arrived at the airport we would catch a plane to take us to Cairo. The flight would be 45 minutes and we would be in Cairo by 7:30am.

At Cairo airport we were met by our tour guide for the day, Abdul. He took us out of the airport, into the car park and on to a bus where we met our driver for the day. Once we were settled in the bus Abdul told us how the day would be.

First we would visit the Egyptian Museum were Abdul would take us on a tour around all of the exhibits. Abdul was so incredibly knowledgeable about all of the exhibits; it’s like he brought them alive for us. Later on in the tour Abdul took us to see Tutankhamen’s death mask, it is made out of gold, semi-precious stones and inlaid with coloured glass. Sadly his red marble sarcophagus was not there.

When we had to go to the toilets we had a bit of a shock, there was an attendant standing in the door way offering 1 piece of toilet paper to whoever walked in, in return they wanted a tip. The toilets in the museum were a lot better than some of the toilets in Egypt.

After going to the museum we would have had a boat trip up the Nile to our next destination but sadly no one was aloud up the Nile due to political un rest, shortly after we left the riots broke out in Cairo which led to their president fleeing the country.

Our next stop was a shop near the pyramids, this shop sold lots of papyrus paintings, they also shown us how to make papyrus paper. After the demonstration we were allowed to look around the shop I brought a painting of the pyramids and got my name imprinted on the bottom of it in hieroglyphics. 

Next we would have a short drive to the pyramids were we would have about two hours were we could walk around the pyramids. We were looking around the great pyramid and saw a tourist police officer standing next to it behind a rock urinating! We decided to take a picture of this for a bit of a laugh. On a serious note we were a bit disgusted by his behaviour towards these ancient monuments. Later on we went down two of the smaller pyramids; it’s quite amazing how far down you travel to get to where the sarcophagus was laid. 

After we visited the pyramids we went to a perfume factory were we had a meal, it was a mix if lots of vegetables and pasta. After we finished the meal we got served drinks and all talked for a while, we were allowed to look around the shop at all the different perfumes. The family that owned the shop were very hospitable; this was probably in an attempted to make us by their stock. By the time we went to Cairo I had run out of money and managed to get one for free.

At the end of the day we arrived back at Cairo airport at about 19:00 and back at our hotel by 21:00. It was still very hot so went into the pool. The day we had just had has to have been one of my favourite days in my life. We couldn’t of been to Cairo and come out alive without him.

By Lee Mitchell 

Travel writing

Many people don’t  like plane journeys, but in my opinion they are great! On October 22^nd 2011 my hole family; me, my sister, my two brothers, my mum and my dad went to Taba, Egypt. It wasn’t the first time we had been to Egypt, a few years before we went to sham el shake, that holiday was enjoyable and we did want to go back to Egypt again, but we decided we wanted to go somewhere a bit more relaxed so Taba was the place we chose.

Taba was just beautiful, from the plane journey there to the plane journey back, not even mentioning the most terrific views; there was flying over the alps to flying over the huge mountains, wide rivers and desserts.

We stayed in the Hilton hotel for a week, everything was great, there was a nice view of the beach from our room and the staff were probably the most funny and friendliest people I have ever met, you could tell that they worked very hard! The only down sides that we all thought was that the whole of Egypt gets invaded with Russians, this is not the hotels problem though. Russians are just very greedy with the food and the sun beds and not very friendly at all, at some points it became very comical! Even the staff said about them, the told us thought that they loved the English as they are very kind, they all really liked our family and always said hello to us, they even gave us free rides on the banana boat, (that was so fun!)

Most of the week we stayed there, we where down on the beach, making most of the glorious sun. I loved going in the sea, it was absolutely amazing, there were tropical fish everywhere! It was nice to go in the sea to cool down from all of the sun bathing we did. At lunch times we went to a really good place to eat, all the English people went there as it was nice English food like pizza and chips with also a great view as it was right on the beach.

At night times, we went to a range of different restraints around the hotel, it was great because we were all inclusive so we could have anything without paying. Sometimes we went to a cocktail bar which also had non alcoholic ones, we sat out side as it was over the sea on a little pier with amazing views, you were able to see all the different borders lit up for different country’s like Israel and Saudi Arabia, it was a view in a life time!

The way to the air port in Taba was quite funny but scary, we had our passports checked about five times to the airport and another five at the airport, there was loads of security on they way there but hardly any actually in the air port, they even let us bring drinks through customs! It was a very small air port, only one flight at a time went. There was I think about one shop in the airport, so I tell you, you wouldn’t want to be delayed!

Taba was one of the best holidays I have had, it was quite sad to leave but I think a week is probably enough and I would differently recommend it to anybody.

By Libby Couch

Spanish island boat trip

Me and my family my mum, dad and my two brothers Jake and Kieran also my auntie, uncle and two cousins Adam and Luke we went to Spain to see some other family members who went there and started a holiday let.

They took us to Alicante and we went on a ten minute boat trip to an island.

On this very small boat there was two levels the top which everyone was on until mid-journey when they let us go to the bottom where the whole floor was glass so you could see the reef and all of the many fish one girl who was about fourteen was staring at the floor suddenly screamed so we all took a look and it was a very small fish who looked like it was smiling at the girl she went completely red with laughter.

We all went to the top as it was near the end of the journey. When we got off of the boat we went on the island which was no more than half a mile long.me and my family went into this castle wall kind of complex there where three-four shops all gift shops other than that there were two restaurants and then the rest of the island was beach. Next we went to the beach were we went for a swim there were loads of fish swimming around our feet just as we got out the same girl screamed again she was in the sea and the fish were swimming around her feet the mum and dad of the girl walked over and said “ahh they like you” the girl just gave them a sharp look and we walked back to the boat.

As we were waiting for the boat a man and his dog got on to a yacht the dog lie down on the side and fell asleep. When the man started up the boat the dog fell into the sea it looked very scared as the man pulled it out. Our boat arrived and we got on. Mid-journey we were aloud at the bottom again so we went down to the glass.at the end we got off and went back to the holiday lets.

By Lee Marshall

My holiday to disneyland-paris

Once we heard that jade and i were going to disneyland for three days we were over the moon. Mum, Jade, Scott,Luke (my brothers) and i were going. Evan though we weren't going for another week Jade and i raced each other pushing and pulling to get to the bedroom first and pack. taking out all mt clothes from my wardrobe i stuffed everything in my suite case jade did the same, but as we were going through the week we had to take most of our clothes out to get dressed any way.

IT'S TIME! we are finally going to disneyland. we had to travel for four hours to the midlands stopped to have a break and a cuppa tea at my Nans and Grandads house, then got back in the car and three hours to dover. we got to dover and saw the white cliffs of dover, mum,scott and luke Started singing (There will be blue birds over the white cliffs of dover) In a funny accent. we drove the car onto the ferry and set off on our holiday but the sea was very rought and make most of us sick. the journey on the ferry took us 2 hours to calias. We left the ferry and drove through fance and three hours later we were at the explorers hotel in disney land paris.

At the hotle we were shown to our room, had dinner and went straight to the swimming pool that had a huge water slide YIPPY! at the pool Jade and i went onto the big slide a couple of time and our third time  Jade whisperd in my ear "Aimee if you wait for me in the middle of the slide ill come down and we can slide the rest of the was down together" stupidly i said ok and waited for her in the middle. i waited for about five minuets and figured that she wasn't coming down and had played a stupid trick on me so as i was about slide the rest of the was down a huge man that looked like a gorila came down instead and we came out of the slide together. As i came out there was Jade, Mum, Scott and Luke all laughing at me. HUMILIATING! After the swimming pool we all went back the the hotel room and went to sleep dreaming about the morning.

Our second day at disneyland we got up super early had breakfast  and went straight to all the rides. We went on everything there so much i can't remember all but one ride that stood out called "It's a small world" we didn't have to que for it has there was hardly anyone about so we got straight on this little boat and paddled through a tunnel. through the tunnle was thousands of tiny little puppets singing the same line over and over "It's a small world after all" It was very funny. Scott and luke went on a big ride that Jade and i weren't big enought to go on so we checked out chiken littles den and took some funny photos. After all the fun and excitement we had somthing to eat and cooled down back at the swimming pool (don't worry Jade had to think twice before pulling a trick on me again) We played in the pool for a couple of hours then got out and had some dinner. Mum took us all to a very posh resturant but i still had a buger and chips with milkshake on the side. but Mum, Jade, Scott and Luke had piella (It looked GROSS) after dinner we all went in to our hotel rooms ready for bed, Apart from luke he got quite drunk and starded taking the micky out of the french men and chtting up the french women (Evan though he couldn't talk french) Scott brang him in and put him to bed and then we all went to sleep.

The Last day. We had a great time in Disneyland and wanted to make it last so before we left Mum took Jade and i into the disney shop and we brought  LOADS! And LOADS! Of toys too many that Mum had to buy another suite case for the shop the put them in. having lots of memories and photos of what a fantastic time we had we started out very long a boaring trip back home.

By Aimee Ashley

My Trip To The Land Of Romance And Cooked Snails!

                   Roaring down the motorway in our silver Ford Focus we passed various travelers some bickering away at each other but also some more peaceful people so peaceful I'm suprised they didn't fall asleep and swerve into us!

          Yes we were heading to France, and planning to get to Paris for a little delve into the playful land every kid dreams of...Disneyland. The journey wasn't to bad,well actually it was hard to take a nap with the not so soothing racket of my sister snoring like a walrus with a fish stuck up its nose.

          We had reached Weymouth, our journey now progressed on a ferry. We scouted out the cleanest seats we could find and made our make-shift beds, we tried to drown out the sound of screaming babies and the horrible caterwalling of toddlers but it seamed like after a while the little demon infants had stopped and all the noise was coming from my sister on her phone.

          The tanoy blew out a distorted noise that was almost impossible to decipher ; of course my sister understood this quiet mumble, her being a teenager and all. So with Hannah's translations in hand we got off at Gurnsey and had a well deserved rest. An hour or two pasted and we got back on the boat for the last leg of our epic voyage.

          A few popping candy packets and cola bottles later we were there, Land Ahoy. We got in the car and waited for our turn to escape the dark enclosed space that was the ferry's car park. The wait seemed like it went on for decades, Then the light shone on the car it was like heaven itself was opening up. So we began driving on the wrong side of the road up the windy narrow roads that belonged to France.

          We drove from Saint Malo to Dol de Bretagne, we stayed at a campsite called Les Ormes. There were many activities we endured from zooming down a zip wire to eating rapidly melting ice creams but the one I will always remember was when we went horse riding.

          It started out alright. I met my horse, made friends and then me Mum and our newly aquainted companion set off, but like any tale worth telling there was a crisis or what in my mind matches to a crisis. We took the muddy paths in our stride and the puddles the only thing that baffled us was how we couldn't read the signs properly! So we took our time,about five hours, and navigated our way back to the meeting point with nothing more than a sweaty backside. But at least we knew when we'd finished these daring tasks we could relax in our large rectangular shaped tent with regular sized Zed beds in our camping territory,The Squirrel Camp.

          We had funny little watches which we were given. My Mum put Euros on it as it was our pocket money but on a scanable watch! Of course me being a goody two shoes I saved all of mine for a reasonable time unlike Hannah.

          After a long week packed with diablos being flung into my face to bubble gum temporarily blinding me it was time to begin another journey.We waved our new friends away and started off again on to our brand new temporary home in the Vendee.

          There we had a great time swimming in the large pools and chilling out in our cherry red caravan we hired from the camp.We spent a lot of time swimming in the swimming pool and buying sherbert fountains from the little shop but the most memorable thing from this leg of our funny expedition is me and my family getting slapped in the face by mini tsunamis created by a fat German man and his son in the swimming pool. Apart from that the campsite was quite nice.

          It was our last day in Vendee and we were packing up the clutter from the caravan, I helped by packing up my clothes and placing the metal ladder from the bunk bed me and my sister were sleeping on on the top of the beds. Of course Murphy's law states anything bad that can happen will happen so me being a Murphy and also a bit clumsy I ended up dropping what seemed to be a one ton ladder, at the time, on my big toe. I screamed and cried but I was over it in a jiffy and we set off to Disneyland Paris were we spent the day on large roller coasters and eating doughnuts whilst watching Captain Hook on a jet ski!

          All in all, the trip was a major success and all the minor bruises and bumps along the way were trumped when I got a toy robot hand and a Lilo and Stitch teddy. Until we got home and I started to feel a little poorly. In the end I was rushed of to hospital and the doctor told me and my family I had Menegitis! So we spent a week or two in the hospital and in the end I was fine, of course I had to go through lumber puncture and various injections in each hand and each foot. Still I enjoyed my little adventure and it was all fine in the end.

By Harry Murphy

           

         

School holiday trip to Spain

As we got onboard the plane that day everyone was very excited yet very scared. The excitement because of that we were going to Spain with all of our friends and the funny thing was the some people were scared that we were going to crash and die.

As we took off everyone sat back and held on as hard as they could. The engine roared and before we knew it we were in the clouds high in the sky. We were all relieved to be off but knew we still had the long journey ahead of us.

When we were landing we could see and feel the hot sun beaming down on us, we saw houses and swimming pools in most gardens, also the busy streets with tall buildings. After that the plane stopped, we made the bus journey to our apartments where we were staying.

When we arrived we saw a football pitch, which we later played on. Not only was that good fun, but the stunning views we overlooked were breathtaking. While we were staying there we went to see the market, we went to see a dolphin show where we watched in amazement as they leaped in the air performing tricks and stunts.

Altogether the best day there for me has to be the beach. The gleaming blue sea to cool off in, in the heat. We stayed there most of that day having fun in the sea and building giant sandcastles, great fun!

I think that as we arrived home at the end of this trip some people were happy and that some people were sad to leave.

By Kane Thorne

Goose fair 2011

We left Bude at 4:00 in the morning, there was me, my sister kayliegh, my mum in one car, my dad and uncle in the other.

We were heading for walsby camp 280miles away around a 6hour journey, nothing much happened on the journey but i couldn't sleep so it felt longer.

When we got there my uncle went home (near the M1) and we put the tent up, it slept 4 people but my sister stayed in my grans caravan. After many arguments we were done. Later that day we took the dog for a walk in the woods then went to get dinner.

The next day i was awake early, the wind and rain kept me up. for breakfast my dad made me, my sister and loads of other people that were there a fry up (we do it every year), it was delicous. later that day we walked the dog to my nan's house in Ollerton about 3miles away.

We didn't do much for the next few days i played guitar most of the time while my mum and sister took pictures and read, meanwhile my dad would be talking to the people on our field like brian and albert.

Finally the fair arrived at the site there were dodgems, walterz and all kinds of rides, although they were really expensive, there was also a falconary desplay, market and raffles with huge prizes. We had fun for the last few days of our holiday, but it was nice to be home!

We stopped a couple more times on the motorway on the way back we were all really hungry, but unfortuanatlly the food wasn't great. Finally we got to bed at 11o'clock after a great week.

By Alex Vernon