A Walk in the Woods

So far our only experience of the great outdoors has been scampering between one air conditioned haven and the next. Saturday brought us to Hemlock providing the perfect opportunity to swap our dress code 1 for outdoor apparel and let off some steam at an outdoor learning centre providing physical, team-work and more cerebral challenges.
Hemlock

Our team of prospective Davy Crocketts ventured toward the wild frontier of the woods of Virginia, accompanied by our guide for the day – Aaron aka The Hulk. How Aaron came to acquire this alter ego was never revealed, I can only assume there is a carcass somewhere in the woods of a bear who incurred Aarons wrath. However Aaron proved to be the ideal guide for our day at Hemlock – providing the perfect mixture of encouragement and motivation. The air dripped with humidity adding an intensity to the challenges. Under the natural conservatory of the treeline we were challenged in an altogether different way than we had been so far on the program. Before we have talked metaphorically of walls to climb, Hemlock added bricks and mortar to reify these walls.


Being America, the land of the lawsuit, we were amused by the concept of ‘spotters’- members of the group who positioned themselves under ladders and walls to watch should any of us plummet earthward. More amusing was the often gross mismatch between the size of spotter and potential faller, ensuring that a spotters main role would be to break the fall.

Thankfully the spotters were not called into action, despite a few people becoming unintentionally acquainted with a rather murky pond and fun was had by all. A perfect day was completed with a barbeque at the O Hara’s, whose residence was like something from a Keats poem. We can only thank them for opening up their home to over 30 adrenalin fuelled Irish kids. The day drew to a close with another memorable Northern Irish football victory as the Northern wippers defeated our Southern counterparts 5-3 in a keenly contested game.