Training Expedition by foot 9th March – 11th March Gortatole Outdoor Education Centre
On Friday 9th March 2018 a group of 7 pupils (Morgan Aiken, Mark Armstrong, Tomas Baternay, Kirstie Harron, Louise Sherlock, Niki Sotiropoulou and Georgios Sotiropoulos) all arrived at Gortatole to experience a great adventure as part of their Gold award. Once tents were pitched we had a quick debrief and allocated our leaders Adam and Lisa and some prep work commenced on navigation and route planning. Friday night was wet and baltic with little sleep but we woke full of enthusiasm for the day ahead. Setting off from Gortalughany around mid-day through very wet and tough terrain conditions, we arrived at Florence Court Forest early evening deflated and wet; morale was low but with a few toasted S’mores and an activity based on Search and Rescue things soon were back on track. All Pupils woke Sunday morning after a better night’s sleep eager to get the return journey underway, with a short debrief on their experience and quick lunch the weekend was brought to a close.