Saturday 30th July 2011 ~ Day 1



29th Belfast Venture Scouts – Trip to Malta 2011

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On the trip were Kieran Hannon, Angelica Kelly, Eamonn Kelly, Catriona Napier, Matthew O’Reilly, Nathan Black, Connor McManus, Niamh Leneghan, Courtney Drummond, Rebecca O’Rourke, Anna Walker, Emma Curry, Eileen Rooney and Jordan Morrison.  The leaders were Roisin Mulholland and Pat Polin. This is our story.

Saturday 30th July 2011 ~ Day 1

 

On Saturday 30th July 2011, 14 Venture Scouts and 2 Leaders met at Carryduff Scout Den, ready to travel to Malta. Rosemary the bus driver was picking us up at 2.00pm, leaving us with enough time to check the weights of our rucksacks, talk about the journey, and get our annual “before” photo.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to relax, and shop. Most people enjoyed their last Starbucks of the week.

Everybody got through security fine, except Ruby, who beeped and had to get checked for any dangerous items she may have been carrying on her. Fortunately none were found... got away with it Ruby ;). Once she was searched, she was called over to the baggage area and had to have her bag searched. The security men definitely thought there was something suspicious looking about her! Everybody thought this was incredibly funny, especially Angie and Eileen who whipped out their camera and took a photo. Little did they know photography is not permitted in security, therefore the camera had to go through security again by itself. Poor wee camera.

Once everyone was finally through, we headed up towards the gate to sit and wait to board the plane. The flight took just over 3 hours and soon we were arriving in Malta. According to Angie: Malta was “STUNNING!!” and the airport looked like a Castle. The 25 degree heat hit us as we got off the air-conditioned plane and it was 8.45 in the evening!! It was going to be a tough week!

The minibus picked us up from the airport and we arrived at the campsite around 9.15pm. We were greeted by Pat and Leslie, the camp wardens, who were simply outstanding throughout our camp, helping us whenever we needed. We had already arranged for tents and mattresses to be put up for us in advance so all we had to do was move our rucksacks into them and we were settled for the night. While Pat, Roisin and the boys sorted out the food delivered by Pat and David O'Neil the rest of us explored the campsite and headed down to the beach to introduce ourselves to the locals, enough said! The evening went in so fast, and everyone was sound asleep in their tents by midnight. It was a well deserved sleep.

 

Sunday 31st July 2011 ~ Day 2

The sun was barely in the sky at 5.00am, but Courtney, Eileen, Emma and Caitriona were up and dressed already. They were determined to make the most of their first day in Malta, so they went down to the beach for an early morning swim. What’s better than that?

The 4 girls made their way back to the campsite just before 7.00am, perfect timing for breakfast. The rest of the Ventures were also up due to the heat inside the tents. The morning was spent relaxing on the campsite, before making a group decision to visit Popeye Village which was a short bus trip away. This was the actual set used by film producers when they made the Popeye film.  Everyone walked around the village for an hour or more - stunned at the detail of the houses, taking photos etc. Some of us took a boat trip around the island, while others went for a swim in the sea. When everyone was back we settled down at a café for lunch. Characters from the film casually strolled around the village talking to visitors and dancing around. One character, a man with a beard, came over to the table the girls were sitting at, and sat (rather uncomfortably) on Ruby’s knee. The startled look on Ruby’s face made everybody laugh. He pulled out toy saxophone and told us he was going to play us a song that he wrote, but he didn’t know the words. He was very funny, and we all enjoyed his craic. After lunch everyone went for a swim and messed about on the inflatable slides and water trampolines that were set up near the shore. After a couple of hours we all headed to the shaded swimming pool. The pool was big enough to have some games in and (of course) the girls beat the boys every time. No question about it! As usual Pat headed for the shady sun lounger and promptly fell asleep.

The mini bus picked us up that evening and we headed back to the campsite to get showers and dinner, and ready to go horse riding. We then set off for a 15 minute walk to “Golden Bay Horse Riding School” for 1 ½ hours on the horses. The horse riding was amazing, it was a good chance to see what Golden Bay was really like and show us around our home for the next week. After horse riding the rest of the night was spent down at the beach, having good craic and taking as many photos as simply possible.

 

Monday 1st August 2011 ~ Day 3

Pat woke the camp up at 8.00am and gathered everyone under the shelters to talk about what the plans were for the day. The mini bus picked us up from the campsite at 9.00am and took us down to a place called Melina Bay, where we met Leigh, and his colleague, who were to take us kayaking for the day. Once our life jackets were fitted we all set off for our days kayaking around the North coast of Malta. We travelled at an easy pace, and made the most of the beautiful weather and warm calm sea. Eventually we ended up on a small beach where we had lunch and a swim. The lunch was supplied for us, and it was lovely, not one piece of bread was left over!!

After lunch, most people headed into the crystal clear sea for a long relaxing swim, while others caught some rays. Then we got back into our kayaks and paddled to the very middle of the sea and had some water games. A favourite among the group was the boat swap - where we had to transfer from one to the other without falling in. Needless to say there wasn’t much success! Eventually we headed back towards land and the bus picked us up from a small beach a few miles along the coast and took us back to the campsite. Everyone spent a good few hours having showers, having dinner, doing hair, makeup and getting changed. Again, we all headed to the beach and stayed there for the evening just soaking up the atmosphere and chilling into the night.

All too soon we agreed it was time to call it a night, and we all headed back towards the campsite. Around 5.00am Niamh woke herself and the other 4 girls in her tent by screaming at the top of her voice that she had seen a “giant monster cat” in the tent....which then turned out to be a rucksack. Ohhhhhhh Niamh.

 

Tuesday 2nd August 2011 ~ Day 4

 

Once again, we were up at 8.00am for a group meeting and breakfast before the minibus collected us from outside the gates of the site. Today were going snorkelling, swimming and deep-water scuba diving. The minibus picked us up and brought us to the harbour, where we met Debbie, Seb and Xavier who would be our instructors for the day. They took us on their boat and after a 30 minute boat trip brought us to a small inlet where it was safe for us to dive. Xavier and Debbie provided safety instructions and said we would be going down in groups of 3, with one instructor, so it meant that 6 of us could go down at the same time. So, while the first 6 ventures got kitted up for scuba diving, the rest of us sunbathed on the sun deck, or swam and snorkelled in the warm crystal clear waters around the boat. After a while everyone who wanted to scuba dive had finished and listening to the stories it was clear that everyone had enjoyed their experience. Lunch was provided on the boat, a mix of sandwiches and what seemed like filled croissants, hmmm yummy scrummy. Seb the skipper then took us on a sightseeing boat trip of COMINO, stopping every now and again to let us have another snorkel and swim. Swimming and diving in the iconic BLUE LAGOON is something we will all remember for a very long time!

It was a fantastic day, something dreams are made of, but all too soon we had to head back to the harbour for the minibus to collect us again. Once we arrived back at the campsite it was the same routine that it had been for the past few nights - shower, dinner, keeping the boys waiting, and then beach for a long evening. We all spent the rest of the night on the beach with the speakers on, the chat flowing and everyone was really relaxed and had a good time.

 

Wednesday 3rd August 2011 ~ Day 5

Change of routine today, everyone was up at 7.00am!! The minibus collected us at 8.00am, to catch the 9.00am ferry to GOZO (another gorgeous island east of Malta), were we would be snorkelling, rock climbing and abseiling. 

The ferry journey lasted 30 minutes, and soon we were on the other side and met Cornil, the owner of GOZO ADVENTURES, who directed us into another minibus that brough us to where we would be rock climbing. The climbing was tough and steep but the view from the top of the cliff was spectacular! After rock climbing, the Ventures made the most of the beautiful weather and view, and some went for swim in front of the world famous AZURE WINDOW. A truly spectacular setting! Lunch was served under the shade of the cliffs that over looked the beautiful sea.

After lunch everyone followed Xavier to the next location where the Abseiling was to take place. High rock face abseiling was a brilliant experience and was enjoyed by everyone. After abseiling, we relaxed in the shade of a local café with cold drinks and a couple of bowls of chips. There were small local stalls nearby, and the girls couldn’t help but go over and have a wee nosey! They all came back with I LOVE MALTA tops. The lads were not impressed. 

 

After relaxing for a while, the minibus came back and we said goodbye to Xavier and thanked him for an amazing 3 days which had been packed with amazing activities that we would never forget. We took the minibus back to the ferry port but unfortunately (because we had spent so much time relaxing) we missed the ferry, ahh what odds we were on our holidays, so we had to wait another 30 minutes for the next ferry. That evening our routine was the same as previous nights - dinner, getting ready, then beach. The usual night on our Malta summer camp.

 

Thursday 4th August 2011 ~ Day 6

Today we were going into the capital of Malta (VALLETTA) to meet Dr Alexiei Dingli, Valletta’s Mayor. The minibus collected us from outside the campsite and we drove into Valletta. We have a tradition in the 29th Belfast Venture group to introduce ourselves to the local Mayor of the towns where we stay. This year we decided to keep the tradition and presented Mayor Dingli with a letter of introduction and a small plaque from the Lord Mayor of Belfast. Unfortunately the girls got us completely lost and it took us a while to find his official residence. Luckily Pat was on the ball and saved the day! The Mayor was a lovely man, and we were grateful that he took the time to meet us. Mayor Dingli held a question and answer session for us, after the formalities of the plaque presentation. We then said our goodbyes and left the mayor’s building to explore the city of Valletta.

We walked around the beautiful city of Valletta for a while, making a pit stop for lunch. We then headed to get the ferry to SLIEMA, and from there we took an open-top bus tour, which showed us the main attractions of Malta. We decided we get off at the ancient city of MADINA, which was the ancient capital of Malta and a must-see experience! It houses the Madina Dungeons and the leaders decided it would be a good idea for us to go into them and see how Venture Scouts who misbehave would be treated. It was a pretty tough place to be if you were a prisoner and they showed a tad too much horror for some girls! Roisin and some of the girls visited the beautiful Fontanella Bakery (which had been recommended to us by Pat O’Neill), and bought a selection of yummy cakes. After a couple of hours of shopping, restaurant visiting and cake eating we decided it was time to get back on the bus to Valletta. The bus route passed by our campsite at Golden Bay and some of us decided to get off the bus there, while others stayed on with Roisin and returned to Valletta for some late shopping and a bit of sightseeing.

While half the group took the time to relax, eat and get dressed up, little did they know that across the island, Roisin and the girls and Chief and Manus were running like mad people around Valletta. As it turned out, Roisin struggled with directions, causing them all to get lost about 3 times before finally finding the taxi rank, just in time and thanks to Angie, Ruby, Anna and Niamh pointing her in the right direction!! That’s the scouting skills kicking in. Ohh well, at least all those cakes were worked off!

When everyone was finally back at the campsite, dinner, which had been made by Courtney and Eileen, was served. As had now become customary, we all later went to the beach!  We decided to stay out a little later as we had a lie-in the next day - it was going to be our lazy day ϑ

 

Friday 5th August 2011 ~ Day 7

The camp got their first, well deserved lie-in of the week, but by 9.30am everyone was up and ready to hit the beach. Pat, Jordan, O'Reilly and Nathan had heard about a local car museum and spent the morning there!

The beach was lovely and the girls lay about and worked on their tans whilst the boys grabbed a beach ball and headed into the sea to pose and strut about, trying to impress the locals....pity it didn’t work! With the music blaring, the sun beaming and the water splashing, the day was just perfect.

We stayed at the beach all day, before going to get ready for the evening. We gave ourselves an extra hour tonight to get ready, as it was our last night in Golden Bay, and we had decided to go for a nice meal at a local beach restaurant.

We spent a long time getting glammed up, putting our best clothes on and posing for pictures at any chance we got. Around 9.00pm we walked over to the restaurant, and got our big table of 16 lined up with a beautiful view over Golden Bay. It was just amazing and we were there in perfect time to see the sunset.

Just before the food arrived we all thanked Roisin for all her help on this trip and the past 3 years of being in ventures, as come September she would be leaving us to go to Liverpool for a year. So this was very emotional time for us all.

After dinner, we went to the beach for the last time! And this time we really made the most of it, with the majority of the group not appearing back to the campsite until quite late! This was the night Courtney got bit by midges, and she made sure everybody knew!

 

Saturday 6h August 2011 ~ Day 8

Final day in Malta..... nooo Λ. We were able to have another lie-in but were all up by 11.30am for a late breakfast and to break the camp. Very emotional Λ. A minibus collected us, along with our rucksacks and belongings, and took us into Valletta for the last time! We dropped of our luggage at the scout headquarters of Malta, and were taken on a tour of the building by HARRY, before heading off into Valletta (which was a 10 minute walk away).

Once we had lunch we decided to do some sightseeing. Pat and Rosin gave us a time and a place to meet before leaving for the airport. The day was spent getting some last minute presents for family and friends, or if you’re Emma, getting presents for everyone you know!!! Also, it was time to acknowledge Roisin and think about all she had done for us! So the girls went on a mission to get her something that we knew she would appreciate! Wee Anna came back with a placemat saying “I LOVE MALTA!” and a permanent marker! Everyone wrote Roisin a wee message and a thank you, and signed it!

Roisin, Angie, Courtney and Ruby found the Henna Tattoo stall. So that was them kept quiet for a while! Because it was our last day we were determined to shop ‘till we dropped but it got too hot (38 degrees) so everybody ended up in the same wee café in a lot of shade, just chilling out! Eventually we headed back to the scouts headquarters, before getting the minibus to the airport, and saying bye to Malta Λ. We took one last group photo with our minibus driver of the week -Joseph. He was a great help, as was everyone we encountered during our trip.

The airport was only 20 minutes away and once we arrived we checked our bags in and went through to security, this time with no faults. We said our goodbyes to Pat and David who had provided so much support for us during the week.

We spent an hour dandering around or sitting chatting before Pat gathered us all together! It was time to give Roisin her present! Wee Anna got up and presented it to her on behalf of the group, it was a very emotional time for Roisin, but she just managed to hold back the tears, JUST!

Finally it was time to board the plane that would be taking us away from the beautiful sunshine and the heat of Malta, to the not so glorious cold and rain of Ireland.

 

All in all, Malta was an amazing experience for us, and we have to give Pat and Roisin a massive thank-you for all their hard work in making sure we got there safe, organising all our activities and ensuring we got the best out of our holiday!

All of us agreed although this was our first trip to Malta, it would definitely not be our last!

For loads of photos, see:



A 29th Belfast Venture Scout.

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