 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Lough Allan Adventure |
Niall Murphy |
July 03 |
It was a cold crisp Friday morning in July as I bid farewell to the comforts of my home and set out on a voyage of exploration. Having signed up for the Presidents Awards I needed to complete a number of tasks in order to receive my medal (Bronze). One of these tasks was a venture. Before breaking for the summer holidays my teacher Mr. Moore, who organises the awards in our school, handed me a letter he had received from Gaisce. I read it expecting it to be boring and of no relevance to me whatsoever, yet as I read on and learned it's content I suddenly became very interested! Immediately I put my name forward. All I had to do was wait for conformation. Fortunately that came when I received a phone call from John Mc Gee (organiser) telling me that I had been accepted. I had signed up for a weekend at Lough Allan adventure centre and I couldn't wait.
So on the afore mentioned Friday I found myself at the Castlebellingham roundabout at eight in the morning shaking hands with John Mc Gee and waving goodbye to my father who had dropped me off. As we sped off in John's maroon coloured golf I couldn't help but feel excited! A weekend of canoeing and camping what more could you ask for! Two stops, three hours of driving and one more passenger later we arrived at our destination. Lough Allan adventure centre is small but the atmosphere there is fantastic! Instantly you're made feel at home and to a certain extent free to do what you like! Having met all of the staff and taken the grand tour of the place there was nothing more to do than wait for the other people to arrive! The original number expected was thirty! It had now been reduced to six due to last minute dropouts! Nevertheless the weekend went ahead. The first day was spent getting used to the Canadian canoes. Learning how to use the paddles, turning, etc. However not everything went smoothly! After everyone had capsized several times we eventually got used to the canoes. That night we slept in tents outside the centre. The next morning the plan was to paddle up the Shannon canal into Lough Allan and on to an island situated in the middle of the Lough. There we would set up camp spend the night and the following morning continue on up the Lough back to the centre. Our route was planned, our bags were packed, and everyone was ready for what lay ahead: 3-4 hours canoeing!
Out of the six people who went on the trip four from Northern Ireland already knew each other from school. Since James, a student from Dundalk, and myself had both come alone we got on well together. In a way not having any of my friends with me left me free to socialise with the rest of the group. This way I could talk to everyone freely without having to worry about how the person I came with was doing!
When we finally set off on Saturday it was about half ten maybe eleven o'clock in the morning. The boats were all in the canal, fully loaded and ready. I chose to go in the single Canadian canoe with John Mc Gee while the rest of the group sailed in two canoes tied together to make a catamaran. The instructors followed close behind in kayaks. The weather was lovely as we paddled down the canal. We had the whole day ahead of us so there was no rush! After about an hour and a half the canal brought us to Lough Allan.
Not too far now! With the island in our sights and a steady breeze on our backs it wasn't long before we were dragging the boats ashore and setting up camp. Our next priority was to get a fire going and a meal in our bellies! Since everyone was weary after the long journey we all just sat around the campfire and got to know each other. That evening we had an hour long workshop with a man who worked on cross border projects. This I enjoyed as a lot of varied topics were discussed in that hour, all to do with the problems in the North. After that we were free to do what we liked! James and I took it upon ourselves to search for the mysterious goat, which inhabits the island, we had previously heard all about this animal from the instructors. The going was tough and very mucky and after about forty minutes of aimlessly trekking around the island and no sightings of the illusive goat we gave in and returned to camp.
Sunday morning we were up early and preparing for the journey back to the centre. This involved taking down the tents and cleaning up the area around camp. With our bags and tents packed into the canoes we were ready to set off once more. The Lough looked beautiful in the morning haze as we slowly paddled towards home. The group in the catamaran were in a jovial mood as they headed to shore, they passed the time playing word games. However I was too busy paddling the canoe to concentrate on anything else! For some reason no matter how hard I paddled the canoe still went in the wrong direction! I soon overcame this problem and we continued on at a steady pace. We made it back to the centre in under an hour, not bad considering we had to paddle 7 km.
Wearily we dragged the boats ashore and collected our bags. When everyone was showered and fed we were given a summary of what we had just achieved. Over two days we had paddled 14km and spent a night in the open on a deserted island. I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. It was an experience that left me physically exhausted yet mentally exhilarated. It was excellently organised and run and I want to thank all of the instructors and John in particular for a wonderful weekend that I will most certainly never forget!
[ Home ]
Websites are developed as part of Personal Skills.