We thought we were prepared, surely we knew what we just got ourselves into, surely it was just going to be like Outdoor Education. Little did we know it was harder than we thought. Here we were taking a six hour bus ride to Picton, to shortly get on a boat to arrive where we were going to call home for the next three weeks, based at Anakiwa in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds.

Alofa and I were lucky enough to be offered a scholarship to attend the Takere course with Outward Bound. This is a 21 day course that two young people from different schools around Christchurch get offered. I decided to take up this amazing opportunity because I love the outdoors, I wanted to challenge myself, boost my confidence, become a better version of myself, and gain some leadership skills. Outward Bound is a physically, mentally, and emotionally, challenging course. Everyday is a challenge but every day you learn something new about yourself and how you can apply the things you learn there to real life at home.

The first day I couldn’t believe it. I had to trust a bunch of 14 strangers to save my life in a kayak. Capsizing under the ocean waiting for someone to save me was insane. My heart was beating faster than ever and there was just no way I was going under that water to try to hold my breath, but I was there in that moment and there was no way of backing out now. Absolutely no way. None of us had done this before which made it even worse but all I remember from one of my instructors is “if you don’t make mistakes, you’ll never learn”. That pretty much stuck with me the whole time of my 21 day course and still applies to my everyday life.

Every morning at Outward Bound we would wake up at 5:45am, start an intense workout for about 20 minutes in silence then we’d run down to the start line to start our 3.2k run. To finish it off we’d have to do a push up in the freezing ocean and then to make it even better we’d all go have a cold shower together outside to wash off the salt. We would then continue on with our day having no clue what to expect.

Over those 21 days we did a lot of activities such as white water kayaking, team bonding games, reflection time on Outward Bound and our lives back at home, tramping on and off-track until the sun set, sailing through a storm for three days and three nights around Queen Charlotte Sound, rock climbing, the standard high ropes, and a solo (spending two nights and three days out in the bush all alone). Out there you can’t see anyone else, can’t leave your site or talk to anyone. It’s a time to reflect on the highs and lows in your life and really learn how to survive and appreciate the little things back home.

Outward Bound really changed our lives for the better and we highly recommend this opportunity to anyone out there. It’s a time to get out of your comfort zone, switch off from all your technology and just to learn more about yourself. My advice would be to take every opportunity when it arises. Take off that mask and be yourself, don’t hold back just go for it. Why not ? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Lyrical, Year 12