It was an adventure of a lifetime, an adventure I’ll never forget. On September 22, I travelled to Auckland for a 10-day youth development voyage on the Spirit of New Zealand.

Travelling to a big city such as Auckland by myself was one of the first challenges I had to overcome. Eventually, myself and 39 other anxious and excited trainees were on our way to Whangarei on a bus. Unsure what to expect, we arrived at Port Whangarei in the pitch black of night. This only heightened my anticipation. Myself and the other trainees got ourselves onto the ship, and settled in for our first night on the water.

The next morning, we set off on our adventure, sailing a long way for a first day, 59 nautical miles. I had to release the ropes on the top sail (second highest mast out of four), which I found utterly terrifying. Over the next 10 days, we travelled to Great Barrier Island, to the Coromandel, and back to Auckland. During this whole time, I was faced with physical challenges such as climbing up the rigs and frantically paddling against strong currents. I also had mental challenges, like having to wake up to jump into the freezing cold water every morning (which the crew nicknamed “The Pool”), or leading in situations where I felt uncomfortable and had to push myself to remain resilient and not give up. Another challenge I was tasked with was being one of two navigators on Trainee Day. My fellow navigator and I had to create a course from the Coromandel back to Auckland Harbour and although there were a few close calls, we made it back to Auckland with the ship in one piece.

We didn’t just sail though, we did a number of fun activities including beach games, exploring islands, went on walks, and even did a beach clean-up. The whole experience is very rewarding, and I made friends for life. Not only that, you also learn a lot about yourself. I learnt to be more resilient, to take every opportunity, and learning to admit when I didn’t feel confident. I also learnt I get sea sick, and once you’ve found your sea legs – they are a total god send. I also grew to love my watch group, who for those 10 days were like my family. We did a lot of stuff together such as setting up our sails, paddling in the rafts, and even singing under the stars. On the last night when we had our final watch group meeting, there were certainly tears.

For anyone considering going on this life changing trip, do it. Don’t hesitate to take on an opportunity such as this one, you’ll regret it if you don’t take up the chance. It hasn’t even been a month since my voyage and I miss it already! If you still aren’t convinced, I leave you with a little passage from my trainee journal at the conclusion of Voyage 722, to show you the impact this amazing adventure has had on me.

“It seems like something is missing, I can’t decide whether it’s the sound of people trying to play to guitar or ukulele, or whether it’s the sound of laughter as we dove into freezing cold water and half of the group did a belly flop. Maybe I’m missing the sound of everyone singing as we fought the North Island current in the rafts. But to put it simply, I miss it all, right down to the wet towels and rope burn. I’d go again in a heartbeat; it was one of the best 10 days of my life.”