On Monday, the 19th of February 2018, The Transition Year students headed off to ‘Carlingford Adventure Centre’ in County Louth. ‘Carlingford Adventure Centre’ is located in the middle of Carlingford itself. There is also a lake situated beside the town called Carlingford Loch.
Day 1: Monday 19th
We arrived at the school at the usual time - 8:30 AM. All of the students got onto the buses at the back of the school. Before we left, we all met below the splash and had a quick meeting with Ms.Aylmer. Our bags were then checked by a couple of teachers and before we knew it, we are off to Carlingford! All throighout the bus ride to Carlingford we had music playing off of Molly and Ralph’s speakers. After an hour and a half of driving we arrived to the town of Carlingford. We took our bags off of the buses and walked into the town Square to the adventure centre. When we first arrived we were directed to the sports hall which was behind the centre. We all sat down on the couches and we were then introduced to the C.A.C team. Liam introduced us to a couple of the instructors and told us about the rules of the adventure centre. After about 10 minutes the teachers assigned us all to different rooms. I was in room ‘33’ with Abbie, Ella, Sarah, Adele, Sallyanne, Molly, Rebecca and Rachel. When we first arrived to our rooms I accidentally went into the wrong one! (Room 32). I eventually got called back to room 33 by the other girls and I chose my bed. I was a top bunk (beside both Ella and Abbie). Each of the girls brought treats and crisps for the room but unfortunately I got braces the weekend prior so I could only eat soft foods for example bananas or grapes. We all left our rooms after a while and went to the canteen to have lunch. After lunch we headed off to our first activity. Our year was split into two different groups (Group A and B). I was in group B. Group B‘s first activity was laser tag. We went to the ‘Laser Lane’ and got handed our guns and camouflage suits. We then went on a 15/20 minute walk up a steep hill to a forest on top of the mountain (‘Laser Tag’, ‘Ziptopia’ and ‘Nightline’ we’re located there’). When we arrived we went into a den.we were shown how to use our guns by instructors (The instructors included Jimmy, Jack and Warren). We were given randomise coloured guns either red or blue (I was on the red team). We then headed up to the court and began shooting! If you died you were sent to the dead shed (You could with stand 30 shots before dieing) and would wait for the next round/game before you could engage again. We played about 4/5 games of team death match. My team won the most and I only ever died once! After that game mode we played capture the flag/point. The attacking team would have to kill five enemies before they could attack the base were the flag was situated. When the attackers reach the flag they will pull a rope to get their flag. Neither team succeeded in defending but before we knew it we had to head back to the Adventure centre to have dinner. I would rate this activity 9/10
After dinner we had a break before going out for a night time activity. Our group was doing ‘Murder Mystery’. I was on a team with Sarah, Jennifer, Adele, Pearse and Ken. We are given a map of the town as well as objectives to take part in. One of the tasks could for example tell us that we need to follow a path to a house with a big wheel on it and look for a plaque. The plaque could have a date or name on it and you will have to cross off the name/weapon on the list that matched the clue. Our team got the correct weapon but the wrong murderer. Anyways my group and I headed back to the adventure centre and we came third. I would rate this activity 8/10
All of the students then went to their rooms and got into their pyjamas. Our curfew was 10/11 PM so we had a few hours to chat before going asleep. We could either go to the games room to play ping-pong, watch a movie and sit down to chat, go to the sports hall to play pool and sit down to chat or to go to the volleyball court to play volleyball. After a couple of hours day one was finally complete and it was time to go to sleep.
Day 2: Tuesday 20th
Day two arrived. My room woke up at 7:15 AM and went down to the kitchen at 8 AM for breakfast. After breakfast, Group B headed to our morning activity which was ‘Skypark’. We walked up a different mountain from the day prior. ‘Skypark’ was located up beside a farm (with ‘Crystal Maze, ‘High Ropes’, ‘Aeroball’, ‘Archery’ and ‘Frisbee disk golf’). The walk was about 15/20 minutes long but we were chatting and listening to music at the same time so the walk flew by. When we arrived to the ‘Skypark’ cabin, Group B was split into two. One group went to watch her the harnesses worked whilst the other group received their harnesses and helmets (which is what I did). There was two clips on the harness as well as zip line clip. The double clips had a lock mechanism to prevent you from falling (One of them would be locked at all times unless you released it by locking the other unlocked clip with the clip key). The ‘Skypark’ course had different difficulties, easy, medium, difficult and extremely difficult. I took part in the extremely difficult course. The first obstacle was a zip line. Each obstacle would reach a podium. The obstacles were so scary and tough to pass. I was finished the course within 40 minutes. During this whole course the wind was very strong which made it even more difficult. At the end of the course there was a 200 meter long zip line. I was the first person apparently to make it to the podium. I took two tries/goes. The first time I missed the podium by 2 inches and I went backwards for about 50 meters! One of the instructors helped me to the podium and I try to make it to the podium again in which I did! I would rate this activity 7/10
afterwards we headed back to the adventure centre for lunch, then we had a break and went off again for our next activity which was canoeing. We prepared all of our wet gear and shoes and began to walk down to the pier. It was about a 15 minute walk – That day it was still windy and freezing. We arrived to the changing rooms and got changed into our wetsuits which we got off of the instructors. Luckily our wetsuits were dry unlike the boys’ ones! We walked back outside and received a life jacket and a helmet. We all split off into different boats. Our leader/instructor was Alex. We had three boats connected together. Eventually everyone got into the water and began to row over to the castle. When we arrived to the castle we played two games. The first game was a reaction game. We had to hold our rows vertically and pivot left or right sometimes spin around and catch the row next to you. The second game split our group into two lines. We all had to stand in a straight line and open our legs as wide as possible to allow the person at the back of the line to crawl to the front. Both games we all got dirty from but before we knew it we all had to get back into our boats to row to the beach. When we arrived to the beach we did a warmup game and then rowed back to the pier to get warm and changed. I would rate this activity 7.5/10
After about 15 minutes we walked back to the adventure centre and had dinner. An hour later our group headed off for our nighttime activity which was a challenge competition. I was in a group with Luke, Josh, Paddy, Molly and Lois. There was four tasks to complete. Depending on how well you did compare to the rest the groups your group would receive a certain amount of points. For the first task we had to try and build a tall tower out of our shoes. For the second task we then had to see how far five people in each group could jump from one spot. For the third task we had to nominate two people to try and crawl from the top of the table to underneath it and back on top of it without falling and touching the ground. For the fourth and final task four people including me were to form a human table to see how long they could last. We didn’t do too well but at least we had a lot of fun. I would rate this activity 8/10
Afterwards we headed to the games room and before we knew it Day 2 was complete!
Day 3: Wednesday 21st
Day three arrived.my grip woke up at 7:30 AM and headed down for breakfast at 8 AM. After breakfast my group headed off for our first activity which was ‘High Ropes’. ‘High Ropes’ was up beside ‘Skywalk’. When we arrived our group was split into two (One Group would you ‘Crystal Maze’ and the other would do you ‘High Ropes’ which was my group). We were given harnesses and helmets and we headed into the ‘High Ropes’ course. There was four activities to take part in; the first one was to climb up at 24th one poll to stand on the small platform. Four people would do it together. The second one was to climb up a giant wobbly wooden ladder. Four people took part in this activity too. Each level became tougher because the gas would increase causing it to get harder to climb up. The third one you had to climb up different wooden poles. You had to cross two wooden beams (One was tilted) and you also had to walk over a wire whilst holding onto ropes but each time you reached the end of the beam/wire you would ring a bell. The fourth and final one was to climb of the first wooden pole to the small platform and jump to metal bar (this is also known as the leap of faith). I only took part in the first activity because I was too scared to take part in the other ones.I only made it to about 3/4 of the pole and then I came down. I would rate this activity 6/10
Thankfully that activity was over and we headed back to the centre for our lunch. After an hours break we headed off for our next activity which was the ‘Crystal Maze’. The ‘Crystal Maze’ again was located up beside ‘Skypark’. When we arrived, the same Group that were doing ‘Crystal Maze’ before us did ‘High Ropes’ whilst we did the ‘Crystal Maze’. During this activity we were given several tasks to do. If we completed the tasks correctly we would receive a certain amount of gems. The first activity we took part in was to pull a huge wooden platform to the end of a runway/area. Lily Kate stood in the middle of the object and controlled it whilst each side pulled it along. Eventually we completed this activity and went off to our next one. The next activity consisted of a wooden maze held up by four ropes. Our team leader was Jack Tuthill. We had to tilt the maze and direct a ball to the centre. Throughout the maze was a series of holes and if the ball fell down one of those holes then we would have to restart. After a few attempts we completed that activity too and headed off to our next one which was called ‘The Spiders Web’. There was ropes tied around each other to make oddly shaped holes. Each of us in our group had to go through one of the holes. None of the holes could be reused. Some of the holes you could crawl through and others you had to be lifted through. Unfortunately our group didn’t complete this activity in time but we went off to our second last activity which was called ‘Gutter Ball’. Each one of us were given a piece of gutter and we all lined up to make a pipe. A ball would run through the pipe and when It passed your gutter you would run to the back of the line to keep the pipe going. We had to make our pipe goes through certain posts as well as other pipes. At the end of the ‘Gutter Ball’ course there was a chest were the ball was meant to reach but unfortunately we didn’t complete this task either. Anyways we headed off to our final activity. We had to form a bridge made out of two planks of wood without letting them fall. Everyone had to cross the bridge without touching the posts and obstacles. After a few attempts we completed this activity and the ‘Crystal Maze’ was finally finished! I would rate this activity 8/10
We headed back to the adventure centre and had our dinner. There was also a sweet shop located at the adventure centre it’s sold loads of sweets, treats, hot drinks and crêpes. An hour later we went off for our last nighttime activity. It was called ‘Nightline’. ‘Nightline’ was located beside ‘Laser-Tag’. We walked up to the forest in the complete dark. When we arrived we were given blindfolds and we were all lined up in a straight line. Oskar Rackwell was in front of me and Joe was behind me. Each person had to put their left hand on the person in front of them’s shoulder and the right-hand on a rope on their right. I would rate this activity 8.5/10
After a couple of hours the third day was complete, leaving only one day left at ‘Carlingford Adventure Centre.
Day 4: Thursday 22nd
The fourth and final day arrived. My room woke up at 7:50 AM.we had to pack our bags and tidy our room whilst room 1 to 20 had their breakfast. We headed down for our last breakfast at around 8:30 AM. After breakfast we headed off for our first activity of the day which was ‘Ziptopia’. ‘Ziptopia’ was located beside ‘Nightline’ and ‘Laser Tag’. We were given the same harness that we used at ‘Skypark’ for the zip line course. We stayed at ‘Ziptopia’ for a couple of hours. We went on over 20 zip lines, the view was amazing to. During the course we had to go through an obstacle section (like a smaller version of ‘Skypark’). It was tough but it was really enjoyable. I would rate this activity 9.5/10
Before we knew it, it was time to go back to the adventure centre for lunch. After our lunch break we headed off for our final activity which was ‘Aeroball, Archery and Frisbee disk golf’. All three of these activities were located beside ‘Skypark’. The first activity we took part in was ‘Aeroball’. I was on a team with Michael, Alex and Oskar. There was two games/matches on at once. There was also for trampolines in the ‘Aeroball’ arena. We won in the end and we headed off to our next activity which was archery. Each of us got three shots. In the competition version I ended up getting 100 points. Anyways after everyone took their shots we headed off to a final activity of our trip and it was ‘Frisbee disk golf’. I was playing with Michael, Oskar and Wolfgang. ‘Frisbee disc golf’ is the same as normal golf except with a frisbee. The ‘hole’ was a chain net. We ran through the ‘Frisbee disc golf’ course twice; but before we knew it we finished our last and final activity in Carlingford. I would rate this activity 8/10
We headed back to the adventure centre and thanked all of the staff for our stay. Afterwards we picked up our bikes and headed to the buses. In conclusion, I really enjoyed my stay at ‘Carlingford adventure centre’. The activities were amazing and the whole experience was unreal!