Since our last entry, we have all completed our
2 star assessment in Canoe and Kayak and passed with flying colours – it was great
craic, Oísín made us feel like we were just out for a paddle and doing a few
skill drills. The next step is our Level
1 Coach Award in Canoe and Kayak which we will start on Friday morning!!!
Other than that, us guys have been using our
training days and free time to get out and about doing our thing in the
outdoors:
Climbing
We have got out over the past few weeks in the Mournes
on Hen Mountain, Eagle Rocks, Lower Cove and Pigeon. Caoimhe and Claire also got to Dalkey Quarry (Dublin)
with Trevor and a few of the gang from Tollymore, Caoimhe did her first lead on
Winder’s Crack. Caoimhe has now 5 leads
in the oul log book towards our Single Pitch Award (SPA) training eeek! Caoimhe and Claire will be completing their
SPA training in the close future with Kieran, on our Monday training days. Kathryn is logging hours supervising and
assisting with climbing so she can complete her SPA assessment in the Summer
months.
Mountain
Biking
Us girls have been getting loads of experience
on the mountain bike track in Tollymore and the Forest Park. We are improving bit by bit every time we go
out - of course our improvement has come with a number of falls, bumps and
bruises but hopefully this will get us ready for the Trail Cycle leader that
Tollymore will with a bit of luck be running in the near future.
Paddling
There has been loads of paddling the past few
weeks for us girls practicing for our 2 Star.
We now know Castlewellan lake inside out. We have also taken a trip down to Dundrum bay
to have a look at our skills in moving water.
Kathryn, Caoimhe and Claire showed their competitive streak when Jonny
introduced a stopwatch and ferry gliding under the arches of Dundrum. The score lies at Caoimhe – 3, Claire – 2, Kathryn
– 1.
Dundrum Bay
Claire and Kathryn racing
The Tollymore staff have also been getting out
on Tuesday nights for a bit of Sea kayaking.
Caoimhe took her first Tuesday night down the Narrows at Strangford
Lough to Ballyhornan, it was a beautiful night for sea kayaking. The best part of the night was Caoimhe coming
up behind a seal and giving him the fright of his life, that when he jumped so
high out of the water he splashed her. It was amazing to see so many seals out enjoying
a lovely evening.
Caoimhe and Claire then headed out to Salt
Island last Tuesday to stay in the Bothy with 8 other guys from Tollymore. We had a great evening and morning paddle
with a wee BBQ, ghost stories and some class banter in between.
