During the last school holidays Year 13 students Briar, Grace and Madi went on an Outward Bound course. Read their stories below.

Over the April holidays, I attended a 21-day Mind Body Soul Outward Bound course. It was the best, most intense 3 weeks of my life. We arrived at the Picton terminal and had to do a COVID test before we could put our luggage into the van to be taken to Anakiwa. We had a 30-minute boat ride to Anakiwa where the suspense was building. On arrival, we were welcomed by the staff. I was in Batten Watch with 13 strangers who I was going to be spending 3 weeks with, amazingly there were 5 of us from Dunedin. We settled into our new lifestyle for three weeks, waking up at 6 am to be outside by 6:20 am for PT (personal training) which usually consisted of a 3km run or longer, and maybe a circuit. After PT we would go for a cold swim and have a cold shower before starting off our day. We had no idea what we were doing each day so we lived in the moment and didn't worry about anything else going on. We got to do so many cool activities including tramping, sailing, coasteering, surf kayaking, rock climbing, high ropes, and many more things. One of my many highlights was when we went on our kayaking/coasteering scheme, the swells were really big and our instructors were unsure if we were going to be allowed to do it. We swam through caves and jumped off big rocks, we all encouraged each other as we were jumping from very high up. This activity really bonded us as a team as it pushed some of us out of our comfort zones to jump from such heights. In fact, we were often pushed beyond our comfort zone, causing me to realise I can push myself way harder than I ever thought and it made me understand I can do things that I didn't think I could. I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to go on Outward Bound and I encourage everyone to do it. It is an amazing experience and one that I will remember forever. Madi

In April I attended Outward Bound which would soon become the experience of a lifetime. My Watch was Cook and the 13 of us strangers soon became best friends. The days became very busy as we were waking up at 6 am ready for PT at 6:20 am followed by a cold swim, breakfast, and then the day's activities. We are encouraged to live in the moment so we have no idea what we will be doing until we do it. Some of my highlights were white water kayaking down the Pelorus River, a three-night tramp, and doing my solo in torrential rain.​​ The most challenging part for me was our sea scheme. We were told we were off on a 3-night sailing trip. However, after leaving at 7 am there was no wind to be found which meant the only way we were getting from one side of the Queen Charlotte sound to the other was rowing. We rowed from about 7:30 am to 10 pm taking a 10-minute rolling break every 50 minutes. As the day and blisters progressed we all started to get on each other's nerves with many people close to being thrown out of the boat. This day was the most challenging mentally and physically because we were all tired and sore but had to push through the day and find a little extra something in us we never knew we had. Grace

Last month I went on Outward Bound. I was in Hillary Watch, there were 14 of us in the watch and I made friends for life. Each day started with personal training which was some sort of workout, a 3km run or a longer run up to 25 minutes plus a cold swim. We didn’t know what was next much of the time, which encouraged us to live in the moment and that was pretty cool to do in the busy world we live in. We did all sorts of activities such as sailing, coasteering, tramping, a solo, and much more. We spent many nights under tarps in the bush, on the boat, and in tents, and although it was sometimes cold and a bit uncomfortable it made you really grateful for the simple things we have. A highlight for me was the sailing scheme as it was pretty cool being on a boat with people I had known for less than 2 days and learning how to sail in high winds. There were some high-pressure and scary moments on the cutter, but it made us a better team and was a lot of fun and a bit of an adrenaline rush. I also really enjoyed the runs we did as they were in awesome scenery and were good fun. The most challenging part for me was on the last day of a tramping expedition, I was pretty tired and sore and the extra weight of the pack made it a very uncomfortable experience. Also the pressure of navigating made it more challenging. It was very rewarding at the end and it was a good feeling to finish it off. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to go on Outward Bound.  It was one of the most fun and challenging things I’ve ever done, and I’d really encourage anyone who gets the opportunity to go, to go for it. Briar