Page 27 - QARANC Vol 20 No 1 2022

Going underground –
our memorable week in N
Adventure Training (AT) in North Wales, mid November 2021. Not the most promising sentence ever, but fortunately the weather was kind.
As part of the Joint Hospital Group (North) decompression, Captain Geary organised four AT packages for the Unit. No small feat in the current climate.
On arrival, our first activity would be a spot of yoga with a local instructor. Definitely a good call after the long journey from Yorkshire to Anglesey. Not my usual go to activity but, enjoyable non the less.
The following morning, my group undertook mountain biking with our very own Captain Collier and an external instructor. Once issued our kit including a gel seat cover (if you know you know), we were eased into the activity with some tuition and a leisurely blue route to hone those skills before tackling a red section.
There were a few bumps and scrapes along the way but nothing severe. Luckily, I went first so my tactical dismounts went unseen.
The following day we went caving with ‘Go below’, who put on a fantastic three-hour tour of an old slate mine giving lots of information along the way.
Once suited and booted we were led underground. As this was an old
mine, the passageways were quite spacious with lots of ominous looking off shoots. On the way round we came across numerous caverns which needed to be traversed via zip line, not your usual underground activity, but great craic.
On our last evening a game of Zorb Football took place giving an opportunity to compete against the other teams. It was not a display of sporting prowess, but we did get to watch Ptes Dyball and Scott practice their flying skills.
For our final adventure, we made our way to an obscure slip way near the Menai Bridge for kayaking. Again, our local instructors put on a good show, kayaking along the coast for a spot of bird watching whilst keeping an eye out for any sea otters in the area, though they alluded us it was very scenic.
On the return journey we had the luxury of the incoming tide to speed us along before finishing off with a few games. We must have been very good because only one of us ended up in the water, a poor show all-round on our part!
That concluded our mid-November week in Wales, certainly a week to remember.
Sgt S Roulston, JHG(N)
The Gazette QARANC Association 27
orth Wales
Caving in North Wales, one of several decompression activities partly funded by the Association in the past year