Year 10 student Arian Asghari reports on his once-in-a-lifetime experience.

We left school at 11:30am to depart for Auckland for the Spirit Of Adventure voyage. When we arrived in Auckland we started packing food and equipment we would need for the journey. We boarded the boat in the evening ready to start our five day adventure aboard the boat. On the boat we met new people from around New Zealand who were also going to join us on the voyage. 

The following morning we got ready for our morning swim. The swim was really fun and cold. Afterwards we learnt how to make knots which could be useful in the future. This day was enjoyable as I learnt about new people and skills I could use in the future. While we were on the voyage we spotted fish and dolphins. 

On the third day of the voyage we set up rafts and paddled over to Waiheke Island. On Waiheke Island we went for a one-hour-long hike which was really enjoyable. When we returned back from Waiheke Island we rested and completed our daily cleaning chores. The following day we went for our daily morning swim first and then paddled over to an island on our rafts. On the beach of the island we played a game where the winner is whoever can throw an egg the furthest to someone else without the egg cracking. 

On the next day we went back to the same island on rafts and had a race back to the ship, with the winner of the race earning many points which could lead up to a trophy. On the final night we got each others' contact details so we could keep in touch when we return to our home cities.

On the final day we packed our gear for when we returned back to Hamilton. We departed back for Auckland at 9:30 in the morning and arrived at around 10:30. Our goodbyes were said and we left to make our way back to Hamilton. Overall it was a highly enjoyable experience.