TY Carlingford Trip

On 17th September we left the school at half nine and began our journey to Carlingford Adventure Centre in Louth. We were on the bus for an hour and a half, singing , chatting and having the craic. We were all so excited and anxious to see what kind of activities we would be doing. I think that we were all hoping that we wouldn't be the first group in the water because it was freezing outside! When we arrived at the adventure centre we were brought to the sports hall and we were split into two groups. Of course... my group was the first in the water! We got our water gear and left our bags in the storage room. We walked down to the boating area and we were given our wetsuits. They were cold and wet. I was not looking forward to this. We got changed and I don't think anyone's wetsuit was actually the right size for them. Mine was huge. Which meant that the water would feel colder for me. At the time I was suffering from a really bad chest infection and I wasn't particularly keen on leaping into the water. We got into our boats and paddled out to a little dock in the middle of the water. We stood on it and some people jumped off, doing flips and crazy stuff. Each of them complained about the temperature of the water but then carried on jumping in and out of it. I hung in the background because I didn't want to get my hair wet and my chest was very sore so it would have got worse.  There was a speed boat that took us in groups of six out to a trampoline where we played games and jumped off it and it was just a good laugh with the girlies. We them paddled back to the changing rooms where we got changed but some of the girls forgot to bring a spare pair of shoes with them so they had to walk back in their drenched shoes.

When we got back we were given lunch, I was expecting soup and a roll... no. We got chicken goujons and chips and beans. I was so surprised. The portions were great too as we were starving from our bus journey. After lunch we went to another activity Laser Tag with the lads from some school. All the girls were screaming asking if they could play with them. I looked like death so I kind of just hid in the background until we started. The laser tag area was huge, it was in a forest and my team won both times. After laser tag we went back to the centre and had dinner and got our room keys. We went to our rooms and had showers and got changed. We then had our night activity which was walking around holding a rope...blindfolded. It was hilarious. We had to follow each other using a rope while the leaders scared us putting grass in our face and screaming in our ears. The group divided towards the end so the first half took off our blindfolds and waited silently to scare the others. As they reached the end and were talking their blindfolds off we all screamed really loud and some of them collapsed to the ground.

I think I had a six pack by the time I was finished laughing at them. We walked back, singing songs from recent charts and hits from movies like Greece and yes...High School Musical. It was really fun.
When we got back to our rooms we got into our pyjamas and some went to the curry shop and the chipper. We chatted until around 2 or 3 in the morning and finally fell asleep getting a total of 4 hours in bed. But. SOMEONE FORGOT TO TURN OFF THEIR ALARM! So we got and hour less than everyone else. Thanks Joy!  We got up, dressed and went down for breakfast. We then went to Challenge Island where we had to complete challenges and figure out a maze that was pitch black. It was horrible. For every time we completed a challenge we got some gems. We went zip-lining too and then went back to the centre and got ready to go home. I slept the whole way... Carlingford was really good, I thought it was great. I had loads of fun with the squad. Thanks Ms. Leonard!