Venture Summer Camp – Snowdonia 🏰
We set sail in high spirits from Dublin Port on Tuesday 30th June, as a group of four Ventures and two leaders setting sail for a week to explore the delights of North Wales.
From Holyhead we made our way via rail to the beautiful town of Betws-y-Coed where our hostel awaited. The hostel was lovely and most importantly, had a TV common room where Love Island could be viewed each night!! 👀
1 / 2Wednesday 1st July was our planned assault on Snowden. Anyone who has climbed Snowden will know it’s a tourist trap due to the train from Llanberis and the low grade climb from there.
Hence, we decided to take the trail head from the east of the mountain at Pen-y-Pass, which was a 25 min bus ride from Betws-y-Coed. The weather was dry with a little cloud that teased with occasional views, but on the whole the climb along the Pyg Track was no bother for the Ventures.
1 / 4That evening we dinned out on delicious pizza, keeping alive a true Venture tradition, before heading back to the hostel to find out the latest on Love Island.
On the Thursday we were booked into the mining experience of Go Below, situated about 20 mins outside the town at Conwy Falls. The Go Below Challenge presented a series of obstacles deep in a former Slate Mine, now only used for commercial adventures.
Here we encountered deep lakes that required a swift boat journey to reach lofty caverns, where the only way forward was via Zip Lines & Abseiling. All in all our subterranean adventure took shy of 5 hrs and was deemed a great success.
1 / 6Friday saw us take in the Zip World challenge at nearby Penrhyn Quarry. A quickish bus ride & we we’re off, booked into the 1pm session. Everyone was excited apart from our intrepid section leader who decided it was probably best he minded the bags. Fair play.Allegedly this zip line is the fastest in the world, clocking up to 100mph, and by the numbers of people there it’s a gold mine. The general consensus from the ventures was positive but the main event is all over within 45 seconds.
1 / 4A leisurely evening was enjoyed back in Betws-y-Coed as we prepared for our onward journey the following morning to destination number two.
TV rage was experienced when it became clear the World Cup trumped Love Island in the hostel common room. Saturday morning we checked out of the hostel nice and early and enjoyed brunch before the lunchtime bus ride to Caernarfon. Caernarfon is the capital of North Wales, a lovely seaside town, dominated by the huge castle.
Our hostel was situated within the old city walls so was central for amenities. After a ‘days’ travel the Ventures were eager for some downtime exploring their new surroundings and catching up on the latest shenanigans on Love Island 🤷♂️
However, disaster struck. There was no TV…!! 😱
Sunday was an chill day so we visited the seaside resort of Llandudno. We hopped on a bus to Bangor where Greggs was raided before heading onward via train to Llandudno. The Ventures were set loose on the Victorian Holiday Resort, spending their time on the Pier enjoying the quirky stalls on offer, while the leaders headed for the Great Orme Tramway Attraction. Great craic guaranteed!!
1 / 5A thoroughly exhausting day was capped off by dinner on the seafront back in Caernarfon.
On Monday we awoke to great weather and the splendid news that Tommie’s brave England had triumphed over Mexico at the World Cup. Celebrations were in order, so we headed to the Castle. Educationally it’s a great spot, learning how those pesky English didn’t just pick on the Irish!! 😬
1 / 2Within the Castle a museum is dedicated to the Welsh Fusiliers, a chance the Ventures took to sign up!!
The sun shone bright and it was just too much for our brave Ventures, a rest and a Love Island update was required.
As we caught the train back to Holyhead it seemed the week had flown by. All in all the Ventures had a great time, and the leaders thoroughly agreed. North Wales is always a beautiful place to visit and it won’t be the last time we go there.