Whatever the weather

      It was a thin grey rain: hard and fast and cold ... as was my custom in such elements, I hunched against the rain, drew my head into my collar, turned my eyes to the street, tensed my footsteps and proceeded in misery. But my hosts, I soon realised, reacted in quite another way. They strolled calmly and smoothly, their bodies perfectly relaxed. They did not lurch their faces to it and did not flinch as it drummed their cheeks. They almost revelled in it. Somehow I found this significant. They accepted the rain. They were not at odds with it, they did not deny it or combat it, they accepted it and went with it in harmony and ease.

      I tried it myself. I relaxed my neck and shoulders and turned my gaze into the wet. I let it do to me what it would.  It was simply falling as rain, and I, as a man, another phenomenon of nature, was sharing the space in which it fell. I was much better regarding it that way. I got no wetter!

The weather frustrates

The weather continues to frustrate work on the mast which, as it is 66' long has by necessity to be outside. However, it has improved enough for me to be able to increase my cycling. I now am aiming to try and get out every 2nd day and the standard loop is 37.6 km so this should bring up my levels of fitness and stamina. I would run but after many miles of this my knees are, literally, worn out and after two internal inspections the only option seems to be a new one! This I will wait to do as hopefully technology is improving all the time. Also, our new sponsors http://www.sportssurgeryclinic.com/ may have some answers when we meet up later.

When it all goes well

I dislike intensely cycling in rain so that is what governs participation! Wind is always a struggle and wrecks havoc with times and as I say to many, the west of Ireland is a place where you have to peddle hard downhill....! Negotiating, or rather annoying the traffic is constantly of interest and the best policy seems to be to stay in the middle of your lane to prevent being 'encouraged' into the ditch! I also have recently bought http://www.knog.com.au/gear-lights/boomer.phps which I have found car drivers actually notice....!

I also find that my knee stays much more flexible the more I cycle and less painful when doing any walking. Maybe time to look at some expedition style cycling trips for the winters as this rather gray one has been long. Alongside the economic tales of woe, time to think of some more positive things to do....!"

by Jamie Young

Something everyone should follow

"To laugh is to risk appearing the fool

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental

To reach out for another is to risk involvement

To express feelings is to risk exposing your true self

To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss

To love is to risk not being loved in return

To live is to risk dying

To hope is to risk despair

To try is to risk failure

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing

The person who asks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing

They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change , grow, love, live

Chained by their attitudes, they are a slave, they have forfeited their freedom

Only a person who risks is free!"

sent from Jamie Young

Coming home to recession

    I came home to Ireland last March 2011, after living away for eight years. I left in 2003 for New Zealand, mainly because I wanted to travel and New Zealand had always been one of the top 5 places that I wanted to live. Nearly 3 years later I moved from there to Sydney. Like New Zealand, I found it fairly easy to get work and build a good lifestyle. Hot, sunny weather helps, and it never takes long to get used to good things! I'm now 35, home, starting from scratch - trying to learn about and develop a new career, build a new social network and find that sense of belonging, which, I have to admit, is still proving pretty elusive. I loved my time away, but despite the recession and all the warnings not to come back, I haven't for one second regretted the decision to come home..

    

          There was no huge catalyst around making the choice to come back. Life had just started to speed up and I realised that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in Australia. Sitting at the beach in the sunshine, the recession seemed awfully far away. People told me I had no idea what I was facing and that I would quickly regret giving up what I had in Sydney. One friend asked, half seriously, whether I was determind to move back to Ireland just because everyone told me I couldn't. (I'm still not sure whether that didn't play a little part in it.)

            Its now been nine months since I arrived home. In lots of ways my friends were right. I had no real idea of how bad things were economically, and found the stories of so many people in financial distress frightening. It was strange, while basking in the novelty of being home and being welcomed by family, hearing radio and TV programmes advising on how best to leave again. Advice on how to apply for working visas abroad, and phone in's from those who were out there, finding their feet in a new country – some for the first time and many not through choice – were everywhere. It was unsettling to listen to. It was also a bit like walking into a room ready for a party only to find everyone else is not in the mood and heading somewhere else. 

            I was very lucky to find work within a month of coming home, helping organise peoples holidays exploring the best that the west coast of Ireland has to offer. (Yes, I landed on my feet! See www.connemaraadventuretours.com) It's funny the things you find yourself appreciating. I can speak at a normal pace again and not worry about slowing down so that people can understand me. I like how Irish people are always up for a debate over anything, and keep you on your toes with quick wit and a great sense of humour, even in tough times. I like walking into the local and have everyone know your name, but mostly I like just having a local again!  Being around family and old friends is great. Being able to call up my sister and hang out for a weekend, spending time with my brothers again, or arriving home to my parents house unexpectedly, knowing that there will be some dinner kept in case one of us pops in, is a fantastic luxury. I'd forgotten what it was like to have support, be understood (often better than you understand yourself) have people to ring up and ask advice from and not have to struggle to make things work in unfamiliar territory on your own all the time. It takes time to settle in and there are alot of the same challenges to face as you would settling in anywhere, and some bigger ones, particularly in Ireland right now, but it's still early days.

            Catching up with friends who were home from various countries for short visits over Christmas I was glad to find that that I didn't envy them flying away again. It can be tough not feeling completely on solid ground yet ... but someone told me that it takes 18 months to really feel at home after a big move, so hopefully I'm halfway there! 

     

by Claire Riordan       

Working in the Adventure Industry

           

    I am very priviledged to enjoy going to work everyday. I spent half of my time working at managing Killary Adventure and the other half working on the Gaelforce races. Like any job it does have its ups and downs but after 16 years in the industry I cant imagine doing anything else. Here is my story.

    I was approx 12 years old it was Christams day and like all other good Irish Catholic familes we were all ignoring eachother and glued to the afternoon movie. Back then the only way to see a decent movie was in the cinema (we did not even have a VCR)and so the Christmas day movie caused unbearable excitement. Despite the interuptions every 10 mins from my Aunty Noreen who could not follow the plot, Raiders of the Lost Ark was beyond amazing and it effected me deeply. Partly I suppose as it ignited my long term love for Harrison Ford (this was long before the earing and the skinny wife ) but also because it created a drama in my head, the thought that no matter what I do life needs to be an adventure. This thought lay dormant for many years but it never went away. I followed the path set out for me, well worn by my olders siblings-good leaving cert, good degree and good solid job.

    I did ok on this but one day without hardly realising what I was doing I just slid off the road, crept of to the west and started working as an outdoor instructor earning 70 pounds per week and living in a caravan.

    Looking back I think it wasn't just the genius of Speilburg that resulted in this decision. I remember meeting my school friend Oisin Van Gelderen on the Dart most mornings. I was heading into smog filled city centre college to study  the statistics of ecomomic deteriotation of the Rhur region in Germany. He was heading to the Malahide estuary learning to waterstart his windsurf part of his outdoor course in Colaiste Dulaigh (if you know who Oisin is he clearly  learnt that quite well!)

I knew there was something deeply wrong with this scenario.

Secondly myself and my friend managed to get elected on to the field tip committee for the Geog soc and this resulted in our  field trips to study Limestone being to Petersburg Adventure centre and Majorca respectively (and yes there is very important formations of limestone on the North of the island)

After 3 days “studying limestone” in Petersburg adventure centre I could not get over the life that these activity instructers had, the fact that they were actually getting paid for doing something they loved.

    So off I went to the west answering a job advertisment for trainee outdoor instructors in Delphi Adventure Centre. My mother was mildly amused to start with but  as time went on became seriously unimpressed. Certain aunties started sending me job applications and the words -when, real and job starting floating towards me at increasing speed.

    However I was having a blast. I could hardly say I was getting paid but it was enough to get me to the pub and really I didnt care. Sitting in my kayak, watching the gulls fly over the mountains, trailing my hands in the cystal clear waters of the Killary and teaching kids things they really wanted to learn-life could not get better. We would work all day and then head off enmass to the beach in the evenings and surf till the sun would go down. Some evenings we would have the immense priviledge of being joined by a school of Dolphins who seemed to get as much pleasure out of the waves as us.

   Each day would bring a new challenge, a new knot, a new wave, a new adventure.

    However everything in life has a balance. It was afterall a job and it had its bad moments. I can tell you that when it was bad it was pretty gruesome!

    When it rains in Connemamra it really truly rains. No messing about out here, no soft day thank God- it is like it hates you, it wants to abuse you, it stings your face it travels up your waterproof leggings. No space age Gortex is going to save you here. There is nothing quite like  6 hours on top of the abseil tower with 25 miles an hour wind pushing torrents of rain at you until every crevice of your body has been attacked. The children are not impressed either. What was fun and exciting in the sun  is starting to feel like double maths as they wait for a go of abseiling down a tower they actually can't  see through the curtain of water surrounding them.

    I spent close to 5 years as an instructor. It was a wonderful opportunity, one that I will never regret. I would love to be able to share some of the stories of what we go up to over the years but I might be arrested. If you are interested in becoming an instrutor be prepared to be cold, broke and sometimes scared, but I have to say it was probably the best 5 years of my life.

    Instructing eventually became less challenging and thankfully I was offered a position on management team in Delphi and continued from there to where I am today.

    The best advice I can give you to start on the ladder is to check out some of the excellent outdoor course run by FAS.

Altenativley there are private course available in Ireland. Check out http://www.killaryadventure.com/en/get_qualified/instructor_training_course.html

by Mona Purcell

~The Wanderer~

     Any plans to do any physical work on the 'Killary Flyer' have been stopped for a good month now as the continuing gales - storms and rain have made it a rather unpleasant winter so far in Killary Harbour!I have also only been able to get out on the bike three times in this time, all of which were fairly miserable, as I prefer to cycle without rain and only a little wind!

     Plans at present are to try and take part in the inaugural  http://www.roundrockallrace.com/ as it is also my 60th year, solo. This is being organised by Larry Hynes and Galway Bay Sailing Club and is set to take place in June with a finish possibly around the time the Volvo fleet arrive in Galway city. A lot to do to get the boat set up by then so we need some good-ish weather soon....! Also, Neil Hogg who was doing work on the boat is going to become a farther in June and since his partner lives in Dublin will become a less frequent visitor. Looking out the window at present it is hard to imagine green trees and sunny meadows with our 3 Connemara ponies grazing happily....!

Mona, the General Manager at Killary and I took a punt last year and bought two Connemara's; one in foal and the other still a foal. So now we have three (We didn't cover the mare again but will this year.) which are very keen on hay and expensive nuts at present. We hope to break the foals in in due course and sell them on as the market improves.....maybe. They are doing well in this climate however and are a tough breed, well able to cope.

     More sailing plans are for consideration but for now I need to: get the mast sorted after its first take down in 10 years - install the electronic self steering - do some internal jobs - re launch - do a cruise on my own as an entry requirement. You actually never seem to finish work on a sailing boat as there are always small items to attend to. We were extraordinary luck last year when we sailed up to Scotland for 2 weeks in more or less brilliant weather the whole time, culminating in www.hebceltfest.com in Stornoway before our return home via Iona - Ballycastle and Tory. Definitely be back but this time the call for further North is taking hold: Orkney - Shetland - Faeroes - Iceland - Greenland....... (That is also why I am putting in a stove at present!)

So some fair weather is now called for and time to go with this advice ringing in your ears:

“To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. 

"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. 

What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. 

The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. 

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life? ” 
― Sterling Hayden, Wanderer


By ~ Jaime Young

Whats Happening this year

        Its only a month into the New Year and already all the talk is about New Years Resolutions! Well, any resolutions that I may have briefly thought about have been well and truly shattered. Do you find that the get fit, get fast and get fabulous idea that seemed so brilliant before Christmas has been shoved right to the back of your brain? You know, that unless a brain surgeon gets in there with a very sharp scalpel to dig it out, the idea may be hidden for many years! Sometimes it’s a little overwhelming. Everyone striving to do their bit to get fitter this time of the year and a lot of us fail at the outset, because maybe we raise the bar too high for ourselves, setting it at someone else's height instead of our own. 

       This year I know not to set it beyond my reach. You too may have ideas to get a little fitter this year, and all you may need is a little bit of inspiration!

This is going to be a fabulous year for sport. As well as all the fantastic Gaelforce events that are taking place, we will be also looking forward to the Euro 2012 finals (starts 8 June), the Olympics (27 July – 12 Aug) and the finishing of the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway (30 June – 8 July). You know that maybe your not quite that calibre of athlete (yet), but when you see all this wonderful array of talent, you do get caught up in the buzz of it all and you do start thinking to yourself..... oh I could be a little fitter, I should get more involved in the outdoors, I will be more adventurous! Events like those are certainly inspiring, so take that buzz factor and work with it for what ever your challenge for yourself this year is. For me this year, I don't want to be the fastest girl on earth. That title was first given to Dorothy Levitt In 1906 for a speed trial in Blackpool. She broke the women's world land speed record for the flying kilometre, recording a speed of 91 mph in a six cylinder Motorcar and was described as the 'Fastest Girl on Earth'. 

          I am going to take my inspiration from Neve McQuaid for this year. Neve McQuaid is the talent development office with Mountaineering Ireland and in an interview that featured in the Irish Mountain Log 100^th issue this winter, he was asked,”what does adventure mean to you”? His answer was “being somewhere different with a group of friend's”. So for this year, I am going to get the buzz factor from my friends! Why don't you try it. What ever it be.. a stroll in the park, a walk on the beach or a hike up a hill, get out there with your friends and enjoy some adventure.

     I am sure a hop, skip and jump to a pub with friends will be good too!


By ~ Linda O'Malley

How a Dublin one ended up West.

Ever since I could remember my family have been coming down on holidays to Connemara and have stayed out Lettergesh and Tully Cross way. Little did I know that I would be returning soon after my teenage years of not wanting to come down to the "quietness" of it all!!!

I thank my secondary school for letting us away in a cold February to another centre for a little break! I didnt really know what to expect as back then in the 90's we had never really heard of anything as great as all the activities we were about to do.

We got a shock arriving to the snow capped mountains and the nothingness of it all but by the time we were leaving my career path had been choosen.

I had always wanted to work with kids, well the smaller ones at first but talking to the instructors I found out about courses that could be done to get into this line of work – nothing like that on the CAO back then!

So I found the course that I wanted, applied and luckily got accepted and there I was telling all my friends that I was going to become an outdoor pursuits instructor... I am still not sure what their expressions on their faces meant to this day!!!!

Started off on my 2 year course and loved it – Sport and Leisure Management. Had work placement to do and went back down the to the centre to do it in again in the February time and still as cold and then again the following year. During that second time down there I asked for a job for the summer time and was delighted they said yes........nothing to do with all the gorgeous instructors working there!!!!!

So the day after graduation, well walking in home at around 6.00 am and then having to get the 8.30 am train from Heuston to Wesport, I had my bags packed (all three of them) and waved off mum who had the tears flowing.

Little did I know then just going for the "summer job" that I would not be returning home – its now  14 ½ years later!!

Worked there for 3 amazing years, met some fantastic friends from all over the world and also my husband.

We went traveling and did the abligitory work in Ausralia for the year and then arrived back home to a very cold Ireland.

We didnt stay East for long, even though nothing was open down here in the depths of December.

I bumped into Mona Purcell one morning and had known her from working in the centre the past couple of years and she had said that there was another amazing adventure cnetre opening soon and that she would see if there was anything going for me and luckliy there was.

That was 10 years ago and now going into my 11^th season here, I still love the work with all the schools and other guests coming through although I have worked my way to management and in a nice warm office.

I'll never say never but on a morning like the recent ones waking up to the Killary and the snow capped mountains home is West for me now.


By : Zoe Goor