Before arriving at the River Valley lodge we went for a walk in a National Park. This park is featured in the Lord of the Rings films. We were doing a walk to a waterfall where we would have a picnic lunch. It would take 50 minutes to get there and 50 minutes back. When we got off the coach it was very dull and quite windy so we all put jackets on and started the walk. The landscape was green hills and forests. There were snow capped mountains in the distance and theoccassional patch of snow / ice on the floor. When we were about halfway there it started to rain slightly. It got heavier and heavier and at one point it was even hail!! Josh our driver made no sign of turning back so we kept going and got absolutely soaked. I also discovered that my boots leak and my socks became soggy from all the puddles. When we reached the waterfall it had actually stopped raining but we didnt have a picnic there. We took photos and the boys climbed down the hill to get closer to it. It was quite a tall waterfall and quite fast. We then started our walk back and once again it started to rain. I didnt really enjoy the walk as I was too cold and wet but I guess it was good exercise. We ate our sandwiches on the bus on the way to the river valley lodge.

It was a nice little lodge in a forest in the middle of no where. The dorm room had 16 beds but they were 2 very large bunk beds. The bottom layer had 8 mattresses in a row and so did the top bunk. So it was just one big bed really! We needed our sleeping bags as there were no duvets. The other amazing thing about the lodge was we could have a roast dinner with Yorkshire puddings, so obviously I put my name down for that. We also hung our soaking wet clothes around the huge fireplace in the centre of the room to dry. We sat around on the sofas until our roast was ready and then watched the rugby on the big screen. In the morning there was the option to go white water rafting. I chose not to go as once again it was raining. Those of us that didnt go sat inside and amused ourselves by playing cards and Giant Jenga. When the others got back we had our lunch and left on the bus.