Thursday- It’s already the last day of the holiday and we are doing shooting at another base. On the way there was a little beach which was really nice and there was a little Jack Russell there as well which was really nice-

After we had gone to the beach we went to the shooting range which was a laser shooting range. There were lots of different automatic guns that you could go on which was really good. It was really hard to aim though as you were trying to stop the back fire instead of aiming for the targets on the screen. Although it was hard to aim it was good anyway. I didn’t get very many that actually hit the target though. Half way through the man had to go to do something so we had a break where we went onto the field to get a group photo and one near the mess hall-

After the photos we went to the mess hall to get a drink before returning to the gun range to wait for the man to come back. We waited for around an hour before they returned. Once they returned we continued with the shooting for around another half hour-

After the gun range we went back to their mess hall to get some lunch after we had been for lunch we set of back to the flats on the way we went to a roman ruin -    

Once we were back at the flats we went to a small beach on the base which was better than the one we had been onto on Tuesday because it wasn’t windy and the water was really clear. First we did some volley ball with a ball the boys had bought earlier in the day when we went to the shops. Then I sun bathed and read my book until it was time to go back and get ready to go to the restaurant. We had a kebab which is a four cause meal which was really nice and it was good to talk as we are leaving tomorrow which I am not looking forward to. After the meal we went to bed but didn’t sleep till late at night.  

Wednesday- I enjoyed Wednesday the most as we went to the dog section and the red arrows.

The dog section was really good we got to go see all the dogs that they had and they all barked really loud but it was really good anyway. I want to be a dog handler when I am old enough so I was really glad that we could look at the dogs and ask about them to see what they do on a normal day. We also watched then do a performance of what one of the biter dogs do in a real situation if it thought the person was a threat this was also really good as we got to meet the dog and see what it has been trained to do. Also the dog handlers were really nice and they all loved their jobs at the kennel’s which was really good. This talk made me want to go into dag handling even more as now I know even more about it and can’t wait to do it in the future. Here is our group photo at the dog section-

After or lunch we went to see the red arrows this was really good as we were allowed to get close to the red arrows before they started their performance which they practice three times a day.

Also before there performance they do a team brief so we watched the brief before as well. This was really interesting although it was hard to follow. Once the briefing was over we went to the top of the cliff so that it would be the best view of the red arrows as we were not looking up we were looking straight forward at them. I really liked watching them and I didn’t see anything go wrong really but to them there were things that went wrong.

After the performance we went back to the red arrows and met some of the team and then chatted to them on the way over to the de-brief. We only stayed in the de- brief for ten minutes though but it was good how they did it as they shouted out what they did wrong and what they did right which I thought was really good. Here is our group photo at the red arrows-

After the red arrows we went back to our flats to get changed for our tea and for bowling after tea. The tea was nice again I had a slush puppy with mine which was nice and cold and really nice. After tea we went to the bowling which was quite hard to find even though there was a big sign that said were it was! When we were in bowling and we had our trendy bowling shoes we started to bowl in groups of three. We had three sets 2 in which I came last and one in which I won. I really liked doing the bowling although I was really bad at it and only got a spare once which I was proud of!

After we went bowling we went to a bar and had a drink of coke while some of the other cadets played pool as I watched. After the bar we went back to the flats and started to get ready for bed and then we chatted for a bit and played cheat for a while. They thought I was good at lying.  

 

Tuesday- Today we got up at half six! I was really tired going to at seven, also I hadn’t really got a good sleep either, but I was excited about the day ahead anyway. We went to the junior mess hall where I had a cooked breakfast which was ok but not the best I’ve had. I didn’t like the bacon though as it was too fatty. After the mess hall we had around an hour to kill so we had our first group photo of the week outside the mess hall-

To kill some time we also went to the shop and I sew a modal of the Sea King which was really good as I had never seen one close up before!

Once we had killed time a bit we got to go to see the only air cadet squadron in Cyprus. And we had a look around I thought they had a really big squadron. There were no cadets about as they paraded that night not in the morning! But we were invited back to see them parade if we had time to do it. Once we had been to the squadron we went to see the U2 which is a spy plane so we weren’t allowed to take any pictures of it but there are some pictures on the internet of it if you wanted to see what it looked like. When we got there they took are 3822’s for security and led us to the sight were the U2 was about to take off and we saw the pilot all kitted up to go into the spy plane and get plugged into the plane. Also seven of the ten of us got to go into two cars to look at the plane take-off I was one of them so we had to put ear plugs in because of the sound and then we went down the run was as the plane took off and then saw the red arrows land at the same time which was really good too! When we got back we met back with the three that hadn’t been in the cars and split into two teams so that we could go have a look at the suit that the pilot wears (it is rather like a space suit) and look at the U2 a bit closer and look in the cock pit which was really interesting. Also we had a look at the food that the pilot eats while he is in the air which is also like space food. It tasted disgusting!

After seeing the U2 we went to the beach which was near were we were near our flats and enjoyed our food and the sun! When it started to get later in the afternoon it started to get colder though and it was very cold as we were all wearing our shorts and t-shirts! Only a couple of people went into the water as it would have been freezing cold!  At around half past four it was time to go back to our flats to change for our tea at the mess hall. The food was quite nice tonight and I was already tired and ready to sleep but it wasn’t near bed time just yet.

After our tea we went to the squadron to look how there squadron worked. There were only around 20 cadets there and so we nearly did a drill competition with them but before we could it was time for us to go because they were doing shooting. But we would have one of cause!

The first full day was nearly up we went back to our rooms now to have some free time before going to bed and so we all chatted in our room before it was bed time and we went to sleep at around 11 o’clock.

To kill some time we also went to the shop and I sew a modal of the Sea King which was really good as I had never seen one close up before!

Monday- Finally it’s the day of my holidays! I’m at the train station in Morley waiting to get a train to Leeds. I am quite nervous though as I haven’t been on a train before so I don’t really want to get the wrong on or it to be late as I would start panicking. It came on time so I felt a bit better about it even though I still had to get one to Manchester airport. I had all my luggage with me and I didn’t really know where to put it so I just sat on a seat near the back and my bag behind me near the chair so that I could still see it.  It took around 10 minutes to get to the Leeds train station which meant I still had around 45 minutes till my train was due to arrive. So I went to one of the small cafes and had a drink to try and pass the time.

After half an hour of waiting I decided to find my station number and stand there until the train came. While I was waiting I met one of the staff and one of the cadets which were called Fran she was a flight sergeant. I felt happy and excited now as I wasn’t by myself now I was with a member of staff. When we got on the train I met another member of staff so we travelled with him. It took around one hour and a half to get to the airport.

At the airport we had to go up a lift and I met all the other cadets there were 5 girls and 5 boys and then 2 girl staff and 2 boy staff. Before we went through the customs we talked for a bit together for a bit so I found out a bit more about them but not much really. It was good to talk to them as it meant we recognised them once we were checked in and in the waiting area. We had to wait in the waiting area for around two hours which was really boring as there was no one really to talk to but there were lots of shops to look in.

On the plane I was sat next to one of the lads called Chris so I talked to him on the way and found out a bit about him. He was one of the only cadets without a rank which I was surprised at as he had been in cadets for three years also I found out that he didn’t like flying so some of the other cadets were taking the mick out of him to shake him up a bit but he soon got over it when we were in the air and he found out he wasn’t about to die. It took 5 hours on the plane but it felt longer. The landing and take of I thought was really good, but Chris said he thought it was the worse flight he’d been on.

Once we had our luggage and were ready to go outside into the fresh air of Cyprus I was feeling really tired as it was around midnight and we still had around an hour and an half bus journey to the accommodation! On the bus we played the story game where everyone says one word to make a story out of it. This passed the time really well.

The accommodation was actually really nice it was a flat at the top of the building it had one bedroom where the staff sleep a living room where we slept, a kitchen that we didn’t really use and off cause a bathroom. The beds were only camp beds and we got a pillow each then we brought are own sleeping bags. this is a picture of the room:

Cyprus tommorow, can't wait! Not really looking forward to the train or the flight but I am looking forward to meeting everyone when we get to the airport. Hoping that this experiance will be really good and when I get back from it I hope I have learnt lots of new things about what goes on in the RAF and what it would be like if I joined. So excited!

On Monday I am of to Cyprus with the Air Cadets as the RAF Accosiation offers10 places for Air Cadets each year to have a chance to go to Cyprus for free. The reason I got choosen was because throughout this year I have gone to lots of places including church parades and fund rasers. So it was a reward for my effort this year. Can't wait! Looking forwards to the sun, the dog section on Wednesday and seeing the red arrows practicing for there desplay. Already packed up all my stuff even though we set of on Monday. Can't wait to meet with all the others going because there all from different squadrons and haven't met any of them before. Im also looking forward to the bowling as haven't been bowling before. Are not really looking forward to the flight as haven't been on one before by myself but everyone will probably be like that anyway so should be intresting.