Location:
Lough Dan is a boomerang-shaped ribbon lake near Roundwood in Co.Wicklow, Ireland. It is quite a popular area/place for hikers, kayakers and photographers. It also lies very close to the Wicklow Way. The Inchavore river flows into Lough Dan from the North-West. Vertical Divider
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My Experience: INTRODUCTION
The day finally came, it was the 13th of September 2017 - The Junior Certificate Exam Results Day!. I was very nervous to receive my results but when i did, I was very surprised with my grades. Anyway, September the 13th wasn't only a day for receiving exam results, my whole year group (Transition year) were heading off to Lough Dan to go camping for 3 days!
The First Day
At around 10 O'Clock our whole year group put our bags and tents onto the buses. We all had at least 4/5 bags each! When we began our road trip to Lough Dan, we had music playing off of our blue-tooth speakers. When we arrived to Lough Dan at around 11 O'Clock, we began to setup our tents and unpack our bags. I was in a tent/group of girls that I wasn't as close to, but I began to get really close to them during the course of the trip. We had great difficulty putting up our tents but we all worked together and some of the boys help us too!. We had five people in our tent but it was only a 4 man tent. We also had other tents (1 for food and 1 for bags) - The four man tent was for sleeping in.
After we finished putting our tents up, we headed off into the mountain for a 6km/7km hike. It was slightly tiring but it was nothing too major. I began to speak to a lot of the "International Students" (Spanish, Japanese, German, Mexican and Ukrainian). Due to this trip, I got very close to these students and i began to know them better.
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Our whole year actually began to get closer in fact!. Anyways when we arrived back to the campsite each tent/group began to cook their dinner on their portable gas stoves and barbecues. Loads of people made chicken and burgers but our tent stayed to the basics - Pasta & Pesto as well as Ravioli & Tomato Sauce. Cooking on a portable gas stove was quite different but also difficult to an extent. The huge campfire was lit by a couple of the boys and when it began to get dark the whole year group huddled beside it. The best thing i found out during the camping trip was how everyone in the year group stepped out of their comfort zone/s, and how we all got to know each other better/well/more. We all had to stay in our tents at 11pm. The atmosphere was great because you could hear the mumbling and chatting from other tents.
The Second Day - The Hike
The next morning we woke up at 7:30am. Bearing in mind the girls in my tent (including myself) love our lie-ins!... but the smell and noise from people cooking breakfast awoke us. At around 10:30am we headed off for our 16km/17km hike which was going to take about 5 hours to complete!.
We all cooked food from the night prior for our packed lunches to have during the hike. When i first started the hike i was walking beside my closer classmates but as the hours continued on, i began to find myself walking and chatting to people who i didn't know very well, which i loved. During all of this socializing , we also saw amazing views of the mountains, trees, lakes, rivers and cliff-sides.
When we arrived back to the campsite we were allowed to go for a swim in lake. It was very refreshing though considering it was straight after a hot and tiring hike. After the swim we all had a nice hot shower. The teachers then gave us a tasty wholesome burger which was amazing. We lit the fire again when the darkness approached. We all huddled around the camp-fire for a good few hours until we had to go back to our tents to go asleep. The rain started so we all wrapped up in several layers and fell asleep. Everyone was exhausted therefore the camp-site was very quiet.
We all cooked food from the night prior for our packed lunches to have during the hike. When i first started the hike i was walking beside my closer classmates but as the hours continued on, i began to find myself walking and chatting to people who i didn't know very well, which i loved. During all of this socializing , we also saw amazing views of the mountains, trees, lakes, rivers and cliff-sides.
When we arrived back to the campsite we were allowed to go for a swim in lake. It was very refreshing though considering it was straight after a hot and tiring hike. After the swim we all had a nice hot shower. The teachers then gave us a tasty wholesome burger which was amazing. We lit the fire again when the darkness approached. We all huddled around the camp-fire for a good few hours until we had to go back to our tents to go asleep. The rain started so we all wrapped up in several layers and fell asleep. Everyone was exhausted therefore the camp-site was very quiet.
The Third Day - Going Home
We all had to wake up early again so we could pack our bags. In conclusion all the students in transition year really enjoyed the camping trip, but we were all upset to be going home. Finally i do think i year group became much closer during this trip because each individual had to step outside of their own comfort zones.
Ag Campail:
Chuamar ag campáil ar lá de torthaí na scrúdaithe. D'eírigh go h-an mhaith leis an mblian sa Teastas Shósearach agus bhí aoibh mhaith ar ghach duine. Phacálamar ár málaí le eadaí teolaí agus bia deas ahus ar aghaidh linn go dtí an ionad campála i sléibhte Cill Mhantáin. (Gleann Maolúra). Bhí sé dúshlánach an poball a chur suas ach D'eírigh linn ag an deireadh. Chuamar ar suíloíd fada ar an gcéad lá. Nuair a d'fhilleamar ar ais, rinneamar marshmallows thar an tine campála. Ar an dara lá, chuamar ag sléibhteoireacht agus ag snámh. Bhí BBQ again agus bhíomar ag canadh agus ag roinnt scéalta timpeall an tine campála. Ní raibh mé ag campáil cheanna agus thaitin sé go mór liom. Ba thaithí fiúntach é.