TS St Albans French Foray: ‘Serious Fun’
16-23 August 2007 See the picture library here
This summer 9 lucky cadets and three members of staff from TS St Albans Sea Cadet Corps were lucky enough to participate in an awesome Adventurous Activity Camp in the foothills of the Pyrenean Mountains in South West France, courtesy of considerable fund raising activities throughout the year and generous sponsorship from the Ulysses Trust.
With staff on site having established base camp the 9 senior cadets flew into Barcelona, Girona on Thursday 16th August and after a two hour drive across the Spanish / French border set up their accommodation with girls billeted in the main house and boys inhabiting tents in the garden. However, some of the worst summer weather for a number of years resulted in the boys quickly finding more comfortable and drier accommodation in the house utility area.
Some excellent activities started with basic French lessons and a reconnaissance of the local area and the home town of Quillan, followed by an educational tour of the nearby medieval city of Carcassonne where Cadets learned about the historic religious intolerance that led to the inquisition and a catastrophic war between the indigenous Cathars and ruling Catholic Church – identifying current similarities between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims following the war in Iraq.
The next day was spent learning to white water raft along the awesome River Aude, working as a team to navigate the dramatic Gorges St George and Pierre Lys. After comprehensive safety and capsize drills in the freezing mountain water even a few unplanned capsizes (or Le Crepe (the pancake) as the French called them) failed to dampen the tremendous sense of excitement and achievement. Late afternoon was spent recovering in a more relaxed mode swimming & sunbathing at the nearby Lac de Puivert.
Sunday started with a cultural trip to the local French market before returning to the house for map reading lessons including methods of finding North, orientating a map and conducting re-sections to establish exact locations in the mountainous terrain. Having planned a route and completed ‘route cards’ cadets conducted an expedition into the foothills, cooking dinner over an open fire in a rescue ‘bothy’ before learning basic rope work, climbing and abseiling skills in preparation for the next day. Having returned home Cadets took part in driving lessons around the garden, novices learning in an automatic jeep, the more experienced using the manual hired minibus.
Monday was the pinnacle (no pun intended) of the adventurous activities, according to many of the cadets – Canyoning. After an exhilarating drive over mountains higher than Ben Nevis the cadets met their guide halfway up Mount Canigou, where they were issued their wet suits, climbing equipment and listened to a safety brief…Then the descent into Hades...10 metre jumps into swirling rock pools, 30 metre abseils down raging water falls and slides down natural granite water shoots before being dumped 5 metres into yet another rock pool, ABSOLUTELY AWESOME…. The only bit that should never be repeated was the 300m shear climb out of the canyon at the end... in 30 degree temperatures !!
After a night recovering yet another day of physical and mental challenges started with a visit to the ‘Parc Acrobatic’ in Alet-les-Bains. This was something resembling the Parachute Regiment’s infamous ‘Trinasium’ or Royal Marine ‘Tarzan Course’ with climbs, swings, jumps and ‘death slides’ set high in the treetops. Many cadets had to face their worst fears and overcome them, cheered on by their friends as they hesitated at some of the more challenging obstacles. However with good guides and encouragement all completed tasks they initially thought were impossible.
The last Adventurous Activity was a 15km white water canoeing expedition along the (slightly) calmer sections of the River Aude between Couiza and Limoux. Using open Canadian and closed Kayaks all cadets tested their canoeing skills to the limits, improving their paddling through various slalom courses, practicing their ‘rolls’ when necessary and playing in the canoe slides at the many weirs - but still making time to explore Neolithic caves on route and find impromptu ‘seal launches’.
The last evening was spent at the superb beach at Canet Plage, Perpignan where cadets explored the ‘ethnic market’ and local fairground attractions before attending an ‘end of camp dinner’ sampling delights such as French Fries, Calamari and L’Escargot (believing them to be onion rings and ‘sea food’) together with a small glass of the free Vin de Table! ..resulting in a tremendous and memorable fun filled end to an absolutely outstanding week
Individual boating and rope work skills have improved dramatically throughout this arduous week but more importantly personal confidence and team spirit has soared immeasurably. Cadets, including some who have never before travelled abroad, have completed once in a lifetime events and had life changing experiences. Projects by each of the cadets are currently being completed, with ALL expressing their pride and sense of achievement after completing these unbelievable activities. All appreciate the assistance of the Ulysses Trust and hope the collaboration with TS St Albans can continue.
August 2007
See the picture library hereStaff:
C/Sgt Peter Lansdown
Civ Inst. Christine Ridgeway
Mrs Margaret Lansdown
Cadets:
Sgt Adam Lansdown
Cpl Laurie Wales
L/Cpl Callum Wales
L/Cpl Steven Buck
Able Cadet Hailey Boothroyd
Ordinary Cadet Emma Brown
Cadet Grace Bowe
Marine Cadet Lewis Dempsey
Marine Cadet Ben Lansdown