On Wednesday the 20th of September, Our TY group set off on our journey to Delphi up in Connemara. We all gathered in our school gym struggling to carry all our bags with everyone having atleast 3 with them for just a 2 night stay, reminder we weren't even leaving the county. We left Portumna at 10 o clock and set off for Delphi. It was a long bus drive but we eventually got there in the end after 2 and a half hours later.
When we arrived in Delphi we were all sat in 'The Den' whilst one of the instructors explained the rules to us and assigned us to our dorms, They also put our year into 2 groups for the activities for the following 2 days. Everyone brought their bags to their dorms but we had a complication with ours because the room wasn't ready for us. We were assigned to another dorm, we followed the instructor to our dorm not knowing we were separated from the other dorms but that didn't bother us too much because we knew we would have lots of peace and quiet. We weren't too impressed with the room as it was very small and there was 3 of us in it with huge bags filling up the room and a broken shower but we didn't let that stop us from enjoying our time there!
At half 1 on the Wednesday was our first activity , 1 group went surfing with Mr. Maguire whilst the other group went to do high ropes with Mrs. Murtagh. I was in the group that went surfing, we grabbed our wet suits and traveled on a bus to the beach from the resort. When we got to the beach it was quiet windy which was a good sign so there would be some big waves.
We first had to learn how to paddle and lie correctly on the boards, we did this on the shore , after about 15 minutes we were finally allowed test out what we had learned in the water. The water was quiet cold at first but after a few minutes it started to warm up and it was time to attempt to surf, i wasn't very good at it and was unable to stand up but i still really enjoyed myself and was saddened when the instructors blew the whistle when it was time to head back to the resort.
We got back to the resort at 4 which gave us plenty of time to shower and get ready for dinner at 5 in the dinner hall which they like to call the 'Grub Hub' we got served a chicken curry which was very un-edible but it didn't bother us too much as the majority of the year had packed enough food to last a week.
For the evening activity at 6, My group went into the Adventure Centre to play lots of team activities together and listened to music which was really enjoyable.
For supper at 9 our year joined together again into the Grub Hub where they gave us cookies which were surprisingly nice.We had to go back up to our dorms for half 10 and lights out at 11. My 2 room mates, Alison and Alsun and myself fairly depressed lying in the very small dorm , but we just laughed it off and took jealousy on the other rooms which were much more spacious than ours. So we patiently waited for the night guard to come around and tell us to turn off our lights and go to bed. We were in a deep chat until we realized it was half 11 and no sign of the night guard, we thought maybe he just forgot about us but surely would remember in the morning.
Thursday morning came and there was a knock on the door all thinking to ourselves that the guard didn't forget us this time, Alison hopped out of bed to open the door and it was 3 of the girls from one of the other dorms wondering why we weren't down for breakfast, everyone else was called for breakfast at 8 except us. We arrived down to the grub hub at half 8 but keeping quiet that we were forgotten about over in our dorm so no one would make sure to inform the night guard about us, so moral of the story we took a love to our very small and dis-functional room and forgot about the problems we had with it.
That morning on Thursday the 21st was when we had to take part in a 27km hike in the mountains for our Gaisce Bronze Award. We took a bus to the mountains where we were starting our hike , We started walking at about half 10 and didnt reach back to Delphi till about 4 .The walk wasn't all that bad to be fair the scenes were as fab, looking out over the mountains and we were lucky to have such good weather for it with it only drizzling rain twice during the entire walk. Being truthful i'd probably never walk that distance ever again it was tough going but i semi enjoyed it all the same.
When we got back to the resort it was the same routine again dinner in the Grub Hub, on the Thursday evening we had spagetti bolognese that i didn't even attempt to touch so i enjoyed a nice pot noodle instead.
Our Last evening activity was a campfire out in the woods as a full year group, we all gathered around the fire and we all sang songs together while someone played the guitar,it was alot of fun
For our final day in delphi , having to set an alarm to wake us up for breakfast this time as explained above.
Our last activity was high ropes while the other group went surfing. The first challenge in the high ropes was to climb up a wooden pole. Then walk across a wire with ropes dangling from above to give you something to hold onto,once over that we had to climb up another wooden pole and walk across a wooden pole at the top with nothing to hold onto this time , we were then lured down by a wire we were attached to by our harnesses. The next challenge was to climb up another wooden pole and there was a little platform at the top which we had to stand on and try to jump off and hit 2 red buoys dangling from a wire. The last challenge was a group task that involved 4 people. To complete the task you had to climb up the wooden pole and stand on the very small platform together, once everyone was standing on the platform you had to hold each others hands and lean back. This was easier said that done and none of the 4 groups were able to do this. We then had some extra time left so we did the 'Free Fall'. 4 at a time, we climb up a stairs onto a bridge. We were then hooked to a wire and we jumped off the bridge and dropped onto a blue mat.
I really enjoyed the 3 days we spent in Delphi. The activities were really fun and i faced my fear of heights by climbing the mountains and taking part in the high ropes,needless to say i won't be rushing to do again anytime soon! I got very close to my Year and feel like i can be myself around everyone so much more now. Overall i had such a good time and would recommend it to anyone!
When we arrived in Delphi we were all sat in 'The Den' whilst one of the instructors explained the rules to us and assigned us to our dorms, They also put our year into 2 groups for the activities for the following 2 days. Everyone brought their bags to their dorms but we had a complication with ours because the room wasn't ready for us. We were assigned to another dorm, we followed the instructor to our dorm not knowing we were separated from the other dorms but that didn't bother us too much because we knew we would have lots of peace and quiet. We weren't too impressed with the room as it was very small and there was 3 of us in it with huge bags filling up the room and a broken shower but we didn't let that stop us from enjoying our time there!
At half 1 on the Wednesday was our first activity , 1 group went surfing with Mr. Maguire whilst the other group went to do high ropes with Mrs. Murtagh. I was in the group that went surfing, we grabbed our wet suits and traveled on a bus to the beach from the resort. When we got to the beach it was quiet windy which was a good sign so there would be some big waves.
We first had to learn how to paddle and lie correctly on the boards, we did this on the shore , after about 15 minutes we were finally allowed test out what we had learned in the water. The water was quiet cold at first but after a few minutes it started to warm up and it was time to attempt to surf, i wasn't very good at it and was unable to stand up but i still really enjoyed myself and was saddened when the instructors blew the whistle when it was time to head back to the resort.
We got back to the resort at 4 which gave us plenty of time to shower and get ready for dinner at 5 in the dinner hall which they like to call the 'Grub Hub' we got served a chicken curry which was very un-edible but it didn't bother us too much as the majority of the year had packed enough food to last a week.
For the evening activity at 6, My group went into the Adventure Centre to play lots of team activities together and listened to music which was really enjoyable.
For supper at 9 our year joined together again into the Grub Hub where they gave us cookies which were surprisingly nice.We had to go back up to our dorms for half 10 and lights out at 11. My 2 room mates, Alison and Alsun and myself fairly depressed lying in the very small dorm , but we just laughed it off and took jealousy on the other rooms which were much more spacious than ours. So we patiently waited for the night guard to come around and tell us to turn off our lights and go to bed. We were in a deep chat until we realized it was half 11 and no sign of the night guard, we thought maybe he just forgot about us but surely would remember in the morning.
Thursday morning came and there was a knock on the door all thinking to ourselves that the guard didn't forget us this time, Alison hopped out of bed to open the door and it was 3 of the girls from one of the other dorms wondering why we weren't down for breakfast, everyone else was called for breakfast at 8 except us. We arrived down to the grub hub at half 8 but keeping quiet that we were forgotten about over in our dorm so no one would make sure to inform the night guard about us, so moral of the story we took a love to our very small and dis-functional room and forgot about the problems we had with it.
That morning on Thursday the 21st was when we had to take part in a 27km hike in the mountains for our Gaisce Bronze Award. We took a bus to the mountains where we were starting our hike , We started walking at about half 10 and didnt reach back to Delphi till about 4 .The walk wasn't all that bad to be fair the scenes were as fab, looking out over the mountains and we were lucky to have such good weather for it with it only drizzling rain twice during the entire walk. Being truthful i'd probably never walk that distance ever again it was tough going but i semi enjoyed it all the same.
When we got back to the resort it was the same routine again dinner in the Grub Hub, on the Thursday evening we had spagetti bolognese that i didn't even attempt to touch so i enjoyed a nice pot noodle instead.
Our Last evening activity was a campfire out in the woods as a full year group, we all gathered around the fire and we all sang songs together while someone played the guitar,it was alot of fun
For our final day in delphi , having to set an alarm to wake us up for breakfast this time as explained above.
Our last activity was high ropes while the other group went surfing. The first challenge in the high ropes was to climb up a wooden pole. Then walk across a wire with ropes dangling from above to give you something to hold onto,once over that we had to climb up another wooden pole and walk across a wooden pole at the top with nothing to hold onto this time , we were then lured down by a wire we were attached to by our harnesses. The next challenge was to climb up another wooden pole and there was a little platform at the top which we had to stand on and try to jump off and hit 2 red buoys dangling from a wire. The last challenge was a group task that involved 4 people. To complete the task you had to climb up the wooden pole and stand on the very small platform together, once everyone was standing on the platform you had to hold each others hands and lean back. This was easier said that done and none of the 4 groups were able to do this. We then had some extra time left so we did the 'Free Fall'. 4 at a time, we climb up a stairs onto a bridge. We were then hooked to a wire and we jumped off the bridge and dropped onto a blue mat.
I really enjoyed the 3 days we spent in Delphi. The activities were really fun and i faced my fear of heights by climbing the mountains and taking part in the high ropes,needless to say i won't be rushing to do again anytime soon! I got very close to my Year and feel like i can be myself around everyone so much more now. Overall i had such a good time and would recommend it to anyone!