 |
| Group at the hostel |
Perhaps most famous for its golf course, the beautiful
stretch of coastline at Portrush was our home for the day today. Everyone
made the tough decision whether to spend the morning rock climbing and
abseiling or coasteering. The climbers were quickly on their way and they
made short work of the initial challenge.
It may have taken the sea
millions of years to knead the bulbous cliffs into shape, but it took just few
seconds for Hugh Linklater to scale their heights. The challenge of not
using one’s fingers proved a little more challenging, but the group coped
admirably. Meanwhile, the coasteerers were struggling into their wetsuits
before taking to the sea.
 |
| Rock climbing |
It was not the sort of weather to tempt the
average person into the North Atlantic, but we maintained stiff upper lips as
our body temperatures plummeted. The thrill of leaping off the cliffs
into the brilliant water eventually proved well worth the slight discomfort of
being freezing cold, and most of the group opted to do the ‘hardcore’ extension
section. We had a few tense moments when we thought that Simdi may have
to wear her wetsuit for the rest of the trip, but with some persistent manpower
from Miss Blatch, she was eventually liberated from the constricting neoprene.
After lunch, and with an appetite for caramel smoothies, the forty-strong group
overwhelmed a local café, but left suitably sated and ready for the afternoon
of Archery and team-building.
 |
| Skipperty-doo-dah |
The first activity, group skipping,
proved almost impossible, and was quickly abandoned in favour of archery and
team building. Nora Rotmand and Tom Scott were amongst those who scored
bullseyes on the archery, and the team building challenges proved highly
entertaining, thanks largely to the irrepressible energy of the activity
leader, Steve.
 |
| Impromptu History Lesson |
 |
| Fun with two cones |
 |
| Down on the beach |
Our route home took us past two dramatic cliff-top castles
and, thanks to the wisdom of our dependable driver, Jeremy, we stopped at both
for impromptu History lessons, effortlessly delivered by Miss Day. Our
final trip to the beach after dinner involved a mass game of “infection”, with
children scrambling all over the sand dunes with uninhibited excitement.
Finally we were driven from the beach by a mildly terrifying encounter with a
herd of local cattle. Fingers crossed for more good weather tomorrow
after a beautiful red sky at night.
