Clecy 2004

Friday 30th April 2004
After an early start on Friday 30th April from Newhaven to Dieppe on the super fast Seacat, the first arrivals entered the Clecy campsite next to the river side in the early afternoon……… in the pouring rain! After the amusement of Matt forgetting his tent, and then the greater amusement of John forgetting his own sleeping bag, plus not understanding a word the campsite owner was saying (or vice versa more like) and a couple of cheeky pints, the clouds magically opened up and the hot sun rays came flying down on the surrounding area. Woo-hoo! No more rain……………

Saturday 1st May 2004
After a relaxing first night (until Nick arrived in the middle of it, but this time didn’t run anyone over to Dick’s great relief), the group rose at the crack of dawn to the birds cheerfully chirping, the smell of fresh clean air and……………more rain! But don’t worry folks, this was the very last of it because by mid-morning the skies opened up again, and this time the sun was here to stay.

While Paul, Tony and Roy went to do some sight seeing in Normandy, the others took the more adventurous option of a brisk walk in the countryside. Dick lead his followers to the famous tunnel walk which is a disused mile long train tunnel. After much hype from fellow members, much pressure sat on Dicks shoulders to impress and that he did. His followers were not to be disappointed. Dick even went for a swim in a huge puddle while he was in the dark, although he claims it was unintentional.

On the Saturday afternoon, the decision was made that the rock face had had enough time to dry out in the sun, and it was time for some serious climbing. The usual suspects were on the wall before you could say “climb when ready”. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the grippy but challenging rock, which for some was a first experience of the real thing. The Grove School Wall, eat your heart out!

Once everyone had completely tired themselves out climbing to high extremes in the hot sun, it was time to retreat back to the campsite and chill out for a bit in the setting sun before getting ready to go out for an evening meal. The venue for the meal was the bar/restaurant opposite the campsite, across the river where everyone enjoyed the feast on offer. Even the waitress got in on the action at one point by wearing the napkin hat especially made for her. While some made the wise decision of calling it a night and heading back to their tents (beds for Roy and Tony), the remaining group headed into the town centre to continue the fun and games. After some hardcore international drinking games (that Michael and Jeanie particularly enjoyed) and Nigel clearing the pool table single handily (who used to be Hastings champion by the way) they all staggered home in the dark and eventually got back to their own tents.

Sunday 2nd May 2004
Unlike the weather, some woke up on Sunday morning feeling far from perfect. Some even woke up arm in arm with a beautiful, sexy………… camping chair! Once everyone had finally surfaced, it was back to the rock face for some more serious climbing and to make the most of the conditions. Now that people had had a few goes, confidence was starting to build up, and more adventurous climbs were being attempted and great effort was being rewarded from the climbs taken, if in the exceedingly hot conditions. No names mentioned, but John was extremely quiet Sunday morning. A hangover allegedly? Shocking!

In the afternoon, some of the group took timeout from the heat and climbing and opted for a supposed relaxing canoe down the river instead. Weren’t they mistaken? While Roy, Nick and John sensibly chose to go solo in the kayaks, Kevin & Matt and Nigel & Fay paired up in the canoes. After finally getting the canoes in a straight line after some near misses with the overhanging trees, off the group headed down stream……… to the rapids. After much fooling around on the water (consequently leading to Roy disowning us), by the time they came to the last rapid, amazingly no one had fallen in. Whoops – spoke too soon!

Unfortunately (justice some might say) the only two people to fall out into the rapids were Mat & Kevin. After finally getting the canoe straight for the first time, in their excitement they failed to notice the huge rock (aka Matt’s & Kevin’s Rock) at the bottom of the rapid consequently hitting it straight on causing both to abandon ship with an amused audience to witness. After finally coming up from under the water completely startled, both were impressed they managed to hold on to their paddle, and extra credit goes out to Kevin who managed to keep his hair dry and his glasses on top of his head. Shame the same can’t be said about Matt! Fay and Nigel sensibly came down the other side of the rapid, all be it if they came down backwards which added to the growing chuckles of laughter. But at least they stayed in the boat unlike some.

The group rejoined the others back at the campsite in the evening to enjoy the last nights sunset all together on the campsite. While some mellowed out, others burnt their remaining energy on some ultimate Frisbee playing. Although this meant those mellowing out couldn’t because of the worry of the Frisbee being miss-directed. Sorry guys!

That evening everyone went out for the last supper to enjoy a healthy filling of four courses next to an open fire in another restaurant across the river. While Dick enjoyed his sweet desert (only kidding Ruth) and Roy bugged the waitress with his picky French questions on almost every item in the menu, Matt enjoyed his 13 Euro beer, which was twice the size of his belly! Then to polish off the weekend, some stayed up for a quick nightcap of rum before hitting the sack. Luckily everyone was very tired therefore Nick’s snoring wasn’t too much of an issue, well, unless your name ends in ‘M’ and starts in ‘K’. However, despite Paul claiming he was blowing his inflatable bed up every night, the word on the grapevine was the strange noises coming from his tent every night was actually his blow up doll. As of yet theses rumours have not been confirmed…

Bank Holiday Monday 3rd May 2004
To top off a great holiday in Clecy, a last farewell abseil was carried out by most, off the top of the railway bridge. This was the icing on the cake for a majority as half the group had to head back to England that day. Those lucky people that remained for another night then did one last climbing session in the afternoon. They thoroughly made the most of the rock face, knowing they wouldn’t be climbing on such a good surface in the very near future. Climbing didn’t cease until everyone had fully knackered themselves out and pushed themselves to the limit. Roy was so tired from his hard work that he was struggling to get his leg over…………the ledge on one of the climbs, now know as Roy’s ledge.

The remaining 7 people went for a last supper that night, and called an early night in preparation for the long journey back in the morning.

Tuesday 4th May 2004
The journey back??? In a word………….. What a nightmare!

While the four wise men (Dick, Paul, Tony and Roy) wisely drove on to Calais to get a 45-minute crossing after the Seacat was cancelled due to weather conditions, Jane, Matt and John had to sit on a truckers boat for 4½ hours. And boy’o’boy, did they regret it. While John smoothly paced around the boat, Jane and Matt were struggling to keep their stomachs below their mouths. On top of all this, they got pulled over by the French police, but Matt managed to sweet talk his way out of it: “Alle, alle alle!”. However, on a positive note 24-pint cans of Stella cost only 10 smacker roonies (£10) on the boat, so this kept Matt occupied (and quiet). Awesome!

Matt