Lisburn City Paddlers
Clubfest……….….Mudfest…………….…FUNFEST!
Clubfest 2011 was held over the last weekend in June at Share, Upper Lough Erne, Co.Fermanagh.
23 Lisburn City Paddlers arrived at Share on Friday night to find heavy rain and a campsite quickly turning into a muddy field.
We put our tents up and quickly gathered in the Paddlers Arms (LCP drinks tent), trying to stay dry from the worsening weather. The rain was long gone when we made it to Crom Castle on Saturday morning ready for the 11k paddle. Whilst we waited for the shuttle to end, a large water pistol provided some fun for Jamie and Cameron who gave Kevin the run around and a good soaking.
We started to paddle on Upper Lough Erne and soon the large numbers of Clubfest were winding their way through the magical waters of Crom. This has to be one of the most beautiful paddles in Ireland, passing by Crichton Tower, Crom Castle Boat House, along the heavily wooded shoreline, before open waters leading up to the Lady Craigavon Bridge. Our new members were loving their first sight of the Erne system.
After lunch we travelled on down the lough towards Share and were helped along by the breeze on our stern. Ali made the trip look easy as he was one of the first to finish the journey from Crom. He and the rest of our younger members were keen to be back in time for the banana boat session…this session never disappoints!!
It was now 7pm and we were ready for the famous Share BBQ, the large plates of food quickly disappeared and we all relaxed back at our tents…..all except Ian who had to perform various tasks for the younger Clubfest gang who were taking part in the evening activites….hard luck Ian!
As the evening grew cold and dark we all dandered over to the campfire. This was the best campfire ever! Plenty of guitar playing, singing, dancing, and great banter! A great way for all the Clubs to end a great day.
Sunday morning 8am - Share Campsite…….not a sound………just how long did the campfire burn last night? Sleepy faces soon appeared. Ian and Derek got the huge frying pan going and before long the cooked breakfast arrived. All the Clubs arranged a coaching session in different disciplines for a few hours on Sunday morning, our members enjoyed open boat, sea kayaking and polo. LCP assisted with the kids games, 23 kids enjoyed getting wet many times during the sit-on-top paddle games. Surely the highlight was the dance-off at the end….did anyone equal Rodger’s breakdance routine???? A Big thanks to Brian, Big Col, Ricky, Pam, Rodger, Deborah and Mo, for the exhausting kids games!
Share Centre celebrated their 30th Birthday whilst we were enjoying their great facilities. Congratulations Share, and Congratulations to the organising committee of Clubfest for another great weekend for all CANI Club members.
As we packed up and headed back to Lisburn we all agreed that the weekend had been relaxing, chilled out, muddy, windy, smokey (campfire), loads of sand in our hair, great craic…all the ingredients of a fantastic weekend.
Lisburn City Paddlers will return at Clubfest 2012!
