At the end of September, students who participate in sport in the school were given the opportunity to go on a camping trip to Donard, Co. Wicklow. Twenty-eight of us made the trip down to Moat Farm, ready for the weekend ahead. However, this would not have been possible without the generosity of the parents who gave up their own time to drive us happy campers to and from Donard. We were also accompanied by nine enthusiastic teachers: Mrs. Graham, Ms. Furlong, Ms. Goucher, Mr.Glennon, Ms. Parker, Ms. Fitzpatrick, Ms Sheanan, Ms. Thompson and Mrs. O’ Toole.
On arrival at the site, we students were givena crash-course by Ms. Furlong in the art of putting up tents while the teachers were set to work by Ms Graham. As soon as we got stuck in, the heavens opened. This however did not dampen our spirits, although the same could not be said for our clothes. Once the tents had been erected, we headed off to Toomey’s, the local pub, for some well deserved grub. Afterwards, we played some pool and cranked up the cheesy dance tunes. We then retired to our make-shift homes for a good night’s sleep.
The next morning we set off for Glendalough National Park in a warm, cosy bus. Although it was still raining heavily, and we were wet, we were in happy moods and looking forward to the hike ahead of us. We started up towards the Spinc, had lunch at the top and then carried on along our 9km walk. We traipsed through river, mud and rock before coming back to the starting point where we dived into hot food and drinks. The highlight of the day, however, was the hot showers we had back at Moat Farm. That evening, we all had our fill with a delicious BBQ cooked by Chef Glennon, Chef Furlong and Chef Goucher and Chef Graham. For dessert we had toasted marshmallows, and then we got a private screening of “Enchanted” in the kitchen, courtesy of Mr. Glennon and Ms. Goucher. Sleep was at a minimum that night due to the ‘’singing tent’’ and the sheer volume of rain.
The owner of the site was kind enough to dry our wet clothes for us. This, however, was completely pointless, because they were wet again the next morning. We took down the tents, packed our bags and ate breakfast. Some dedicated fans even watched the rugby!
The icing on the cake was the fact that it stopped raining as we drove home! Everyone agreed it was a great trip, even better than the last! Roll on the next.