Outdoor Pursuits Week
On the Monday after the musical, we travelled straight to Carlingford Adventure Centre, with all of us girls weighing the buses down with our numerous bags as per usual. We got there around midday and took in the beautiful picturesque views that surrounded the quaint and charming village that is Carlingford. We walked through the classic cobbled stone streets sweating and giggling with the weight of our overflowing suitcases and reached Carlingford Adventure Centre, our base for the week. We had a quick meeting with Ryan, the head of the centre and we sorted our rooms out and headed off to see where we would sleep and hang out for the week. Our rooms were mixed groups which was great as we got to know other girls a bit better in our year. My room consisted of Amber, Chloe, Rachael, Sabine, Mia, Evelyn, Catherine, Caroline and Jane. I had brought my speaker along so tunes like ‘dancing in the moonlight’ and ‘September’ blasted out of our room and we soon became the music dorm.
Straight after lunch on the first day we headed off on a 3km walk to ‘SkyPark’ a zip lined area which slogan entailed – ‘Get High’ (a terrifying slogan for scaredy cats like me!). As I have a huge fear of heights I decided to sit SkyPark out as the huge zip lines and wobbling tightropes made my legs quiver beneath me! The two Mr Kelly’s and Ms O’Regan were as excited as the rest of my group about the prospect of zooming through the air at a huge height and decided they too would have a go at the SkyPark experience. I was in charge of taking pictures of everyone using Mr Kelly’s very high quality camera. I had great fun snapping pictures of people with nervous grins as they wiggled and wobbled their way across an obstacle high up in the sky.
Eventually I had a
group of people to walk around with while taking pictures as some had become a
bit afraid of the harrowing heights and decided their preferred place was the
firm ground. After hours of fun at SkyPark we walked back to the adventure
centre and were greeted to a lovely dinner which was gobbled up eagerly by
everyone. After dinner, everyone went up to their rooms to relax for a while
and then Group A which I was in went on a 10km hike around Carlingford and the
forests that surround it. It was a terrific hike as we had music booming out of
my trusty speaker and it was in the dark which made the hike more exhilarating
with our flashlights beaming around the forest. We got back at about 9.30pm and
chilled in the common room until bedtime at 11pm.
Throughout the week our routine varied every day and
activities included laser tag, canoeing, team building activities, high rope
climbing and zip lining in Ziptopia. Surprisingly, I managed to do some of the
zip lining and high ropes as even though I was nearly frozen with fear I
decided to push myself to do something different and I was so proud of myself
after completing a zip line circuit and climbing up a pole. I was happy to have
faced my fear and if I can do that then I can do anything.
We also had great fun canoeing in the absolutely
Baltic sea where we were all freezing but had so much fun together laughing and
canoeing along. The funniest moment though was when Mia, Jane, Caroline and
Tom’s boat sank underwater and everyone on the other boats started singing the
theme song to titanic. I felt so bad for them though as they were very chilly
afterwards. It was so peaceful out on the water and canoeing was one of my
favourite experiences out of the whole trip.
I had a fantastic time the
entire week and I really bonded with everyone in the year. I feel like I pushed
myself to do things I would have never done before. I would like to thank all
the instructors in Carlingford who were so kind and encouraging to our whole
year and also all the teachers who accompanied us. It was an exhilarating
adventure and one I will never forget.
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