Over the school holidays two Year 12 students attended the Outward Bound course. Read on to hear about their adventures.

We both attended an Outward Bound course at the start of December along with 150 others from all over New Zealand. This course lasted 21 days with no cellphones and many challenges ahead. The course was designed to push you out of your comfort zone, challenge you and get prepared for what the world throws at you. We both went into it not knowing really what to expect and the first few days were a shock to the system. Most mornings we woke up at 5:50am and did our morning PT sessions which ended with a jump off the jetty into the ocean. After this, we had breakfast and got into our activities for the day. The activities we did were hikes, sailing, kayaking, co-steering, half marathon, solo, rock climbing, high ropes and a 5-day expedition. After each activity, we again ended it by jumping off the jetty. All 150 of us were split into groups of 14, these were called the watches, what this meant was that we were put into these groups and we had to live with the same group for 3 weeks. The groups were a mixture of girls and boys. As a group we not only shared a room together but we also went on all the activities. This was good for us as it made us more confident and we made new friends from all around New Zealand. This course was the best choice we ever made, it pushed our comfort zones and we did things we never thought possible. We also gained so many valuable lessons. The support that you receive from all of your watch mates is incredible and the whole environment is so supportive. One of the quotes my instructor told me was “we lose much by fearing to attempt”, and this stuck with me from day one because some of the activities you may not really want to do are the ones you may enjoy the most. 

Thank you to all those that made this trip possible for us and to senior students if you can don't pass up the great opportunity.