Outward Bound — Fraser Braid by Supplied

My Outward Bound experience was just like it was advertised, life changing.

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It began on January 6th, there was a greeting ceremony, and then came the selection process, which was probably the longest amount of time I have been nervous for. So after a lengthy wait I was selected for Shackleton Watch.

The first scheme I did was navigation in the bush for 3 days, which involved a little arguing, a 3:00am start and some bushbashing when we messed up. Then came kayaking which was a huge accomplishment for me, because I managed to overcome my fear of being underwater. Then we went on a short sailing adventure, which was totally my element, especially captaining during the rough weather. The next scheme we did was solo, and at this point I was extremely tired, so most of my solo time was spent snoozing, also I failed to hear that we would be out for only 1 day, not 2, so after a day of snoozing I didn’t have much to show for and didn’t really feel enlightened by the experience. Advice to anyone else, sleeping makes you more tired, do the tasks! 

Then came the real big challenge for us, Journey scheme, we planned to walk the entirety of the Queen Charlotte track (72km) in 3 days, and then sail back, but 140km winds held us up. This meant that we had to cover the same distance in 2 days, so after a very windy night we began walking at 9:00am, and finished at 10:30pm, in the rain. The next day was very much the same, so after our tiring, blisterful and hard walk we were rewarded with a nice easy tow down to a bay where we could stay in a house. Once we were back at OB and rested, the news of the half marathon came, 22.5km of up and down through the beautiful scenery of Queen Charlotte sound. Luckily it was cold and misty on the morning of our run, so overheating was not a problem for me and I was able to (just) achieve my goal time of less than 2 hours.

My time at OB had to end though, farewells were sad, but we all felt hugely changed and happy about it. My highlights on the course however were sailing, particularly in stormy conditions, because I love sailing, and I loved watching people be inspired by my confidence and losing their fear. And my other highlight was overcoming my fear of being underwater during the kayaking scheme. The second last day and the last night were awesome too.

To sum up I found my experience extremely rewarding, and it has lead me to make positive changes in my life and attitude already, I will never forget the experience.