The First Long Weekend for Gurkha Recruit Intake 23

By Trainee Rifleman Alon Rai, 2 (Kandahar) Platoon

I had not believed a three-day long weekend would happen this week. However, I had a really good time and enjoyed it thoroughly. Being allowed to go out and explore on our own was a pleasant feeling and refreshing as well. After becoming Champion Platoon on the Passing off the Square, it felt very rewarding, and we were all excited to enjoy our well-earned time off.

It was our first long weekend since our training started. The first few months of the CIC were hectic, and it was time for us to relax, recover and reflect. After lessons on Friday, we had a relaxed evening where we rested, revised old lessons, learnt from our mistakes, and thought about how we could improve ourselves for the next step.

On the Saturday, we all went out of the camp in the morning. Firstly, we went to the local Tesco to do our shopping of daily essentials. We had lunch and some of us went to the swimming pool to improve our swimming skills. Some of the platoon went to Darlington to explore and try out different restaurants. After finding and eating delicious food we then returned to camp and had a good rest. The next day we went out to the Nepalese grocery shop (Gurkha Corner) in Colburn to buy some Nepalese snacks. Looking at the products from Nepal my mind was taken back to Nepal. On the way back, we had a nice authentic Nepalese dinner in the local Nepalese restaurant. The food and the hospitality were really pleasing and refreshing. On the 3rd day of our long weekend, only a few of us went out to shop for any missed items and then wehad lunch out in another local restaurant. The last day was mostly spent catching up on administration tasks and preparing for the next training day. We also managed to fit in running sessions in the evenings around the local area to maintain our fitness. This was the first time we were allowed to conduct our own physical training since the start of the CIC to help avoid injuries.

Over the long weekend we recovered, enjoyed ourselves to the fullest and prepared for our upcoming training. We were all recharged and rejuvenated to continue with new energy. We are very much looking forward to the mid-course Leave in August.