Ten students from Burnside High School had the pleasure of a five day voyage on board the Spirit of New Zealand from 11th to 16th June.

Annabelle Baken, Emma Caldwell, Paige Cleminson, Anna-Lucy Findlay, Thomas James, Liam Morrison, James-Paul Mountstevens, Gemma Rowe, Toby Tinker, Hamish Trenchard were the lucky students selected at the end of 2016 for this year's Spirit of Adventure Year Ten Trophy voyage, accompanied by Mr Risbridger, the Burnside High School Spirit of Adventure Trust coordinator.

The Savage Cabbage, as they chose to call themselves, departed Christchurch on Sunday June 10th, flying up to Auckland before spending the night on-board ship at Princes Wharf. After safety briefings the following morning, we cast off and proceeded to spend the next five days slowly working our way around Waiheke Island, with occasional forays further out into the Hauraki Gulf and Firth of Thames.

Whilst these voyages are set up as a competition between teams of ten students from four different schools this exists second to the main goal of students pushing themselves to try new things and make the most of the opportunities presented to them on board. Each day was packed with things to do, ranging from deck games, name games, knot tying, a walk on an island, beach games, swinging from the yardarm, going sailing, raft paddling and a couple of bouts of dolphin spotting.

On the whole the weather wasn't too bad for Auckland in winter, with a few drops of rain from time to time and some fairly decent wind for a couple of days, which certainly led to some fun sailing. The 6:30am morning swims weren't quite to everyone's taste but on the whole were not as bad as expected.

The students enjoyed the opportunities presented to them and it was fantastic to see them challenge themselves to do things they ordinarily wouldn't have the change to do, like jumping from the bowsprit of the ship and climbing up into the rigging on the second to last day.

Students interested in Spirit of Adventure voyages, particularly the ten day voyages for 16 to 19 year olds, are encouraged to talk to Mr Risbridger in J8 and check out www.spiritofadventure.org.nz for more information.