The following is a guest post written by Jacob Ribbens, 8 years old, for the Tonbridge Local Group's Autumn newsletter originally. He was so kind to agree to a second publication, therefore, please enjoy reading his report about our greatest adventure on Havergate Island this summer:
"This year the RSPB have launched the Big Wild Sleepout at lots of their reserves. We as a family went to the Havergate Island event and this is the story of our adventure…We arrived at Orford with all our equipment just in time to see the small RSPB boat dock on the quayside. Soon we had to put our life-jackets on. The journey was quite short and very exciting.
Once we were all off of the boat and on the safety of the island we carried our bags to the visitor centre were we would be sleeping for the night. We pitched our tents along with three other families then started to draw some fantasy islands with help from the artist Liza.
Jacob is meeting the other children while the parents set up the tents; photo by Kevin Sawford.
Once we were finished we set off on a short photography walk and had amazing opportunities to photograph stunning views and elements of wild life.
Everyone is watching and photographing the hares; photo by Kevin Sawford.
When everyone got hungry we returned back to base camp to have a barbeque in front of the visitor centre. With full stomachs we set off on a twilight walk. We observed magnificent moths, beautiful butterflies and of course some more Havergate hares.
Jacob is watching a hare on the twilight walk; photo by Kevin Sawford.On the walk we caught lots of crickets and grasshoppers. It was quite difficult, especially once it was getting dark, as they kept jumping away. We had lots of fun and I think you wouldn’t be able to catch crickets at many other places at night. After we had looked at all the crickets everybody had caught, we set up the moth trap.
Then we went back to our tents and got ready for bed. I got a good night’s sleep but unsurprisingly I don’t think many others did!When we woke up we had breakfast and we got all soggy because it rained all over Havergate. I had a very tasty breakfast of super berry granola. Soon after we all went to some of the hides to try to spot some spoonbills. The first time we tried we didn’t succeed but the second time we did see some!After all the tents were put away some people got on the boat to go back to the mainland. Luckily we got an extra hour so we went to explore the island again. Soon, when the boat returned, we had to leave. Five minutes later our luggage was on board the boat and we had to get on too.
It was very sad having to leave Havergate and I can’t wait to go back one day."
Jacob on the 'October Storm' for the trip back to the mainland; photo by Kevin Sawford.