Ballyhome Residential Centre occupies an elevated site in a pleasant rural countryside on the North Antrim Coast approximately 3 miles from the seaside resort of Portrush, 1 ½ miles from the White rocks, 6 miles from Coleraine and convenient to Dunluce Castle and the Giant's Causeway. In January 1998, it provided the base for the 3rd (and best!) of my 4 camps.
Winter camps were designed to be a short weekend re-union between the longer summer camps - but this 1 turned out to be my favorite! I was now the oldest and by far the most mature of the boys and immediately, i found myself in the strange position of having more in common with the leaders and hanging out with them more than the other kids! The agenda included visits to the Jet Center for cinema (Fri) and skating (Sat), plus shopping on Saturday afternoon. The Fri nite disco was replaced with a quiz which i enjoyed as i was able to show off my intelligence and humour which won me plenty of attention with the girls - including the leaders! After 3 of the lads had got caught in the girl's dorm, Saturday morning began with a dramatised court case! The prosecutor, defence lawyer, witness and judge were all played by leaders and while my 3 accomplices were sentenced to several eggs over the head, my defence got me acquitted due to a lack of evidence! By the Saturday nite disco, i was getting on particularly well with Andrea, 1 of the leaders.
Even though she was 18, we kept having brilliant chats and during 1 of these at the ice-rink, i established that she was single and she asked me about 1 of the girls who fancied me! But i only had eyes for her! During the disco, we had brilliant crack with the others and when it came to the slow-dance sections, we seemed to intuitively get together without either of us having to be asked and then stayed together for the whole duration of them! Sometimes we joked and flirted, sometimes we sang along to the songs and the rest of the time, we just held each other close! Just like Bryan Adams, I found it hard to believe I was in 'Heaven'!
Another hi-lite of the weekend was a return to the White Rocks Bay on Sunday for a refreshing walk along the beach before going home. In addition to others, 1 of the most memorable songs became 'High' by the Lighthouse Family. Another 1 of the leaders, Donal, had been singing it a few times during the weekend and by now, i really liked it! Such a positive, uplifting message which we all need sometimes.
Cache is a small magnetic container. Parking is available at location and you do not have to enter the center's premises.