On the 8th of July, I went on this fantastic trip called the Spirit of Adventure. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a voyage that looks like a pirate ship. It's a youth leadership development adventure.

I went around the Bay of Islands which is up North, with 39 people on board plus the crew members. We all started as strangers but became really close during those ten days. We were like a really big family.

I learned so many leadership skills, I became so much more confident than I was before, learned so much from other people and also learnt how to steer the ship (so I was like legit Jack Sparrow in a way with the Black Pearl).

The crew taught us how to put the sails up which was really fun. I got a bit seasick which was not pretty at all, but that's where all the fun started - just kidding it was not fun at all.

I learned to face my fears, one of them was hights and I ended up climbing 33 meters up the misen ( the top of the voyage ) to this white pole and it was a tradition to kiss or touch it to say you did it. I did not even look down a bit! I admit I was terrified and it was raining so much and I was so cold! I confess I only did it because they were taking photos haha. But I’m glad I did it, sometimes you've got to risk some things and just do it. 

My other fear was the sea. I know right, who goes on a 10-day experience in a boat if you're terrified of the sea? Me of course. Every morning we had to wake up at 6:30, get into our togs and jump into the dark deep sea, which was technically our shower ( I know eww gross ). The first day I was so scared and someone ended up pushing me off the boat. I nearly killed that person afterwards but that's another story.

I never swam so fast in my entire life to get to the ladder. It was pretty scary, but did not stink afterwards and was really awake so that's good. But hey, I’m still alive! No shark or sea monster grabbed me!  

We anchored in some bays which were really nice, the water was crystal clear and with a beautiful colour. We did beautiful walks through the forests, we rafted in this river which was really fun, and went on these sailboats which is a funny story because I didn't know they were safe boats so they were made to not tip over, and of course, I was the only one that didn't know that so I was screaming most of the time thinking it was going to sink like the Titanic but it was still fun to learn all of those skills.

We saw dolphins nearly every day, a whale, a tiny bit of a shark and some penguins. It was so cool, the dolphins were jumping right beside us, while we were beside the hole in the rock. If you don't know, it’s a rock with a huge hole in the middle. The first few days, we got hit pretty bad with the weather, it was teaming with rain and the waves were pretty high. It was a bit scary, but we just started singing and I was playing the ukulele like nothing was happening but it was quite an experience!

I also learned a bit of navigation, I say a bit because I slept halfway through the talk which was pretty funny so if you ask me anything about navigation I would only know one thing and that is where we were on the map. 

We also had to clean the boat, which included scrubbing the decks which was funny because we actually looked like pirates. We just needed the patches and the one wooden leg, also to help cook. 

If you like sunsets and sunrises, this is also the trip for you. Every morning you would wake up and you would see the sun rising, starting with a pinkish colour then red and then orange it was so cool, the same thing for sunsets it was so pretty and so magical 10 out of 10.

This was an awesome experience for me and if one day you get an opportunity to sail in the same boat, I highly recommend it. 

I met amazing people. The food was so good, trust me, and if you're not feeling confident enough, feeling lonely and trying to find something to do, this is it. If you want to know more about how they did things go and see for yourselves. Oh, also, if you do end up going and you find a bright Nike pink shoe that would be mine.  

Thank you for listening to my experience, I also wanted to thank the people that gave me the scholarship to go on the trip, and also Mr Dyer for recommending it to me, and for having a great experience. 

Thank you, Amy Parfitt, Year 12.