Gaisce trip

On Monday 16th May, all the people that had taken part in the Gaisce awards went to the Bluestack centre at six o’clock to do our 25 kilometre walk for the activity part of our awards. When we arrived, we had a few minutes to get ready before we began the first half of the walk. The walk was on the road and was around 14 kilometres. The walk was long and a bit difficult as the road was quite bumpy so it went uphill quite a lot. We got a break around halfway to get a drink at Ms McGroary’s house. We also got to see her tiny cute kittens! After we started again the journey didn’t seem as long and we soon got back to the centre. We had a bit of food and played some games like darts and skittles using cups and a ball. We went too sleep at around midnight. We all woke up around half past eight and soon found out that the rest of the Tys would not be joining us on the walk on the Bluestack mountains. We were then told that it was too dangerous to walk on the mountains. We went back to the school and did the walk around the Knader forest that we had done four the first year walk. It was a long walk but not as long as the day before at around eleven kilometres. After the two walks I wasd really tired and glad for the rest!

Psycho Spaghetti 2

On  Tuesday, 1st March, all TYs went to the great Southern Hotel in Sligo to watch the second part of Ger Carey’s show Psycho Spaghetti. It was hilarious to watch as he talked about teenagers and the media. He talked about how teenage and girls react differently when they see someone they like and also about feeling suspension. This was his idea that although when we are watching a TV programme or film, we know that it is only actors and is not real, we re still scared or worried for them or get angry if they do something wrong. The show was great and although, not as good as the first show, still made me laugh with his jokes and true observations of teenagers.

Ice Skating in Galway

On Monday 14th December all TYs arrived early at the school so that we could catch the bus to Galway. The journey was long but we all chatted and it was good fun. When we arrived at the skating rink, we waited for a few minutes and then were given our boots. They were uncomfortable to put on and stand in but it was exciting and I couldn’t wait to get on the ice. It was almost impossible to find balance and i clung onto the edge for most of the time!! I did let go a few times but couldn’t keep my balance. We had a few photos and then we got back onto the bus to park near to Eyre Square for shopping. We went around Penneys for Christmas shopping and browsed as well as got food. It was good fun and relaxing and we were all back at the bus for 4:30 and left by 5. We arrived back at the school for around 8:30. It was a great day as we all relaxed together and had fun together outside of school.

Delphi

Delphi is an adventure resort in Galway that all TYs went to from 14th September to 16th September. We had three days of doing outdoor activities like kayaking, rock climbing, abseiling, raft building and zip-lining. When we arrived we were put into groups of about five or six for rooms and into groups for the activities with people we may not have worked with before. As a lot of the activities were team building this meant that we made new friends as well as doing new activities. On the first day my group did tunneling and zip lining. They were both fun and I enjoyed the zip lining despite my fear of heights. On the morning pf the second day we did kayaking which was great craic. We all had a laugh and all fell out at least once. In the afternoon we did abseiling and rock climbing. For the evening activity we went for a scenic walk. We decided to walk up through the forest to see the area from the highest point. The Wednesday morning was the last morning. My group did raftbuilding and we were split into two teams to race the rafts afterwards. My team won!

I enjoyed trying out the new activities particularly the kayaking as we were all working together and having a laugh. I enjoyed chatting to and working with new people other than my friends. This trip was great for learning to try out new things. It was also great for team building as the more you helped other people, the more they helped you.