The Year 13 Outdoor Education class have just returned from a three day sea kayaking camp that covered over 50 km of the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. They were kept company by seals, penguins and dolphins along the way.

The trip, that was entirely planned by the class themselves, started with a  journey from Duncan Bay, paddling through Tennyson Inlet, onto Pelorus sound and finishing in Ohingaroa Bay.

A member of class, Liam Hunter, explained that the trip was extremely hands on, with students responsible for every decision related to the trip, including what to do and where to go.

“We had to decide what we wanted to do. We had so many options. We could’ve done tramping, caving – anything really. So we choose sea kayaking and went from there. We chose a route, everyone agreed on it and we planned it from there," Liam said.

“(Sea Kayaking) is something that isn’t in the curriculum for us this year, so it's something we don’t do throughout the rest of Year 13 Outdoor Ed. The last time we did it was in Level 1.  It is something that everyone loves doing."

Not only were the students in charge of planning, they were responsible for the day to day running of the camp.

“We were in charge of time management – when we were leaving in the morning, when we were getting to camp sites, all those types of things," Liam said.

Although the trip went off without a hitch, Liam did admit to a certain amount of luck in regards to the weather. 

"We had quite a long journey in terms of distance over the amount of time we had. We were lucky that the weather was almost perfect for us. If that wasn’t the case, we wouldn’t have been able to complete what we wanted to do. It was very reliant on the weather.”

Understandably, Liam lists having a close encounter with a pod of dolphins as one of many highlights for him and the class.

"The first day we got a pod of dolphins and some seals around the kayaks. They were all jumping around us and swimming around us for half an hour so that was a really amazing highlight. Other than that, just being away for three days in the Marlborough Sounds, was an amazing time.” Catching Blue Cod and Gurnard for dinner and preparing cinnamon rolls and apple crumble baked on the fire were also reported as being highlights.

Being at the forefront of every organisational decision was a challenge for the students but also provided lots of valuable learning.

“Group management would be a main one," Liam said. "Throughout our previous years in Outdoor Ed, all the planning has been done by the Outdoor Ed instructors. It has been a real learning curve, getting into the background – we did all the RAMs (Risk Analysis Management) forms, all the risk management stuff as well.”