Above: The ever buoyant contingent from the 3rd De La Salle on Camp 2004.

We had been absolutely terrified about going to Kerry.  It's just that camp and Kerry weather have occasionally proven to be quite a poor mix.  Kerry '97 in Glenbeigh had been very rough and the hurricane/typhoon during the Regional Camp in '92 was still being spoken about by campers who had obviously been through a lot of trauma. But there we were in the den on Thursday the 19th of August 2004 loading up Paschal's van, ready to take on the Kingdom once more.

Above: Sarah Kennedy, ready to take on the challenge of Camp 2004.

The Waterford VEC minibus, with no less than Joe Gough at the helm, had been chartered for the day to bring us down to Cappanalea Outdoor Education Centre. Cappanalea is an impressive spot located in the wilds of Kerry overlooking Caragh lake.  It's about 10 kilometres outside of Killorglin and very well sign posted. Needless to say Colm got the bus lost, forcing it into a few spectacular hairpin bends on a narrow road as he attempted to get us back on course.

Above: Canoeing and rafting on Lough Cappanalea.

It started raining as we stepped off the bus into the Cappanalea courtyard so we headed inside to the massive centre.  Needless to say we weren't actually staying in the centre and most of it was out of bounds but our campsite on the shores of Cappanalea lake was perfect.  One of the instructors gave us the grand tour of the facilities and made arrangements to call us for the 10k run the next morning and also asked for volunteers to milk the cows. No bother, all we needed now though was Paschal to arrive with the van.

Above: Darren climbs on the spectacularly situated crag above Lough Caragh.

There is always a fear when Paschal is driving anywhere that he will have been tracked down and abducted while en route by a secret government agency (it's the beard).  Not this time though and as soon as he arrived we got stuck into the campsite. Meanwhile there was now a sheep swimming in the centre of the lake - he was doing very well, probably better than Ireland's Olympic team, having been driven there by all the noise (and the chasing). Our one Icelandic tent had the wrong middle pole which had to be tackled with a Swiss army knife for half an hour.  Eventually everything was up and barring winds above Gale Force 6 would hopefully stay up.

Above: Paul Power with a radioactive trout.

That evening a mighty dinner of Spaghetti Bolognese was prepared by Kate Hayes and her assistant John Kinsella. Paul and Aaron tried to add fish to the menu and while Paul did eventually catch a small trout you wouldn't have exactly feasted on it. We took it easy for the rest of the night and after an Odd One Out quiz, we found the tents but did not find sleep. At 7.30am a somewhat tired Colm Ennis in search of vengeance woke up those who were actually still asleep to get them ready for the weekend's first official activity - a 5k run. It was more like a 1k run to the top of the hill and disgracefully Stephen O'Rourke managed to hide in the cooking tent but at least he got stuck in to frying up the breakfast.

Above: The elite climbing team of the 3rd De La Salle.

(Click to view a larger image)

Rockclimbing was our second activity of the day and it took place on a windy crag overlooking Caragh lake. Everybody gave either the abseiling or the climbing a go with Sarah showing excellent technique especially on her third ascent. Simon and Richard both made superbly determined top outs with Darren and Aaron Mariano the only real challengers to Colm for the fastest ascent prize. Rafting which is a bit of a troop speciality was our activity after lunch. The instructors eventually decided to let us at it and John Kinsella was appointed as project manager for our trademark very sophisticated dual framed unsinkable vessel.

Above: Construction in progress on the L.E. Kate.

Initially the raft was launched upside down and had to be flipped over but it was a solid enough to take it and 12 scouts managed to get on board.  John, the instructor placed two buoys in the middle of the lake for us to circumnavigate and we headed off at a determined pace. On our way back to shore, the two instructors attempted a bit of sabotage and one of them had even tied one of the knots wrong in the hope that it would help their attack. But it was no use and the raft successfully returned to the shore although it might have lost a few passengers.

Above: The patented raft design of the 3rd De La Salle.

Above: Lady overboard but still unsinkable.

We deserved our 'sort of' home made burgers that night while the lads reported that they had caught a load of fish but had given them to the local farmer - a real fisherman's tale.  Meanwhile we had managed to get in a few games of volleyball on our half Olympic sized court.  All we needed was that good looking Australian team in the bikinis. It was a clear starry night - good for a campfire and good for some sleep this time.

Above: Aaron with the winning serve on the volleyball court.

Above: Is there any fish in those waters?

The first activity on Saturday was the canoeing which is always a good laugh once you convince yourself that you are not going to capsize, get stuck in your boat and drown. After figuring out how to paddle and all that we were made to run across the front and back of the kayaks and swap places.  The canoe singers and dancers didn't exactly do us proud but we all did a pretty good job of getting to know our canoes by rubbing our noses off the tip of the boat. A game of water polo (tough work) was followed by some boat surfing. It was a good session - bring on the rapids.

Above: Tommy tries the hands free kit on the kayak.

After lunch we were going bouldering on an island in the middle of Caragh lake which we reached by boat.  The boat was under a fair bit of pressure with the whole troop on board but eventually we made it. Bouldering is kind of like climbing without a rope or harness and if you fall off you haven't far to go. In this case you would fall in the lake. Anyway if you were good enough not to fall in the lake you got the chance to jump in at the end. Now it was a fair jump - it certainly seemed like about 20 feet. It felt like a good idea until you stood on the edge and looked down but inspired by the synchronised divers in the Olympics quite a few of us gave it a go. Sarah, Kate, Deirdre and Betty led the ladies to a clear victory over the lads with extremely stylish and inspiring dives. And yes the water was cold.

Above:  Betty taking part in the style category of the cliff jumping competition

Our last dinner was a magnificent mince stew. Meanwhile preparations were underway for that night's camp award ceremony sponsored by the stuff that comes free with magazines in the Book Centre. The Best Bread Sculpture award this year went to Richard Smith with Simon Gaffney taking the Godfather impersonation award. The Best Camp Cook and Most Time Spent in the Water Award went yet again to Kate Hayes. John Kinsella's contribution to the cooking was acknowledged but he did take the John Kinsella Memorial Raft Engineering Award.

Above: John and Jamie on Lough Caragh.

Eoin Smith was the clear victor in the U13 hill running league while Aaron Mariano received a special award for best moves on the volleyball court. Tommy Carney had the honour of 'most spectacular and ridiculous trip and fall causing a table to collapse in a tent'. Lila the sheep posthumously received the gold medal for the Cappanalea Lake breaststroke.

Above: Aaron prepares to make a leap during the bouldering.

Deirdre received a commendation for the most graceful run across the back of the canoes while there was nobody even close to Betty in the style category of the cliff jumping competition. The fishing trophy was taken by Paul Power who in fairness produced the only visible evidence. Jamie took the Coca Cola sponsored highest vending machine spend award while Luke took the Thermarest sponsored Deepest Sleeper medal.

Above: Tommy, Paul and Stephen in Sid's 'never get lost' van.

For the fourth consecutive year, Darren received the gong in the Darren Doheny Booming Voice category.  Sid took the Ian Sinnott Special Award which recognised his road navigation skills while the honour of having the most exotic feather in his cap went to Mr. Paschal Guilfoyle. Stephen Bailey received the Daz Clean Clothes Award and finally the speed climbing award and the award for making up awards went to Colm Ennis.

Above: Recipient of the Bread Sculpture Award: Richard Smith pictured at the campfire.

On Sunday morning we ate everything that was left over from the last couple of days before tearing the campsite down. Meanwhile Betty was sent to guide David White's bus out from Killorglin.  On the way back we stopped in Killarney at the outlet centre and celebrated our highly successful camp at McDs with a crate of free Sprite Zeros. Thanks to the guys at Cappanalea for the activities and don't worry you should have no problem sinking St. Paul's raft if they ever visit.

Above: The Camp 2004 Contingent with Caragh Lake in the background.

Above: Lough Cappanalea overlooked by a slender moon.

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