Two Year 12 students, William Aleki and Anna Brown, attended a 21 day course at Anakiwa in the Marlborough Sounds over the Term 3 holidays. Outward Bound is a non-profit organisation whose goal is to help people of all backgrounds to contribute to their communities, learn new life skills, and develop their character and leadership skills in a challenging outdoor setting. Some of the outdoor activities included sailing, rock climbing, tramping, on high ropes and coast steering.
Anna said she enjoyed the high ropes and coasteering. Coasteering involved jumping off cliffs and swimming through caves, which was a really big novelty as you can’t really do it without an instructor around because it can get pretty dangerous in some conditions. The moments she found the hardest sailing near Cook Strait, and the half marathon.
William enjoyed the challenges physically and mentally. Running 3.2km every morning and jumping off the jetty into cold water was a challenge but it made him fitter and his mind set towards it changed. He said he learnt so many things but one thing that stood out for him was when his instructors said to “Live in the Moment.” This means focusing on NOW, and not the latter. That helped him enjoy nature more while he were doing the activities and helped me take things slow. He aims to take these words and apply them in my everyday life.
If any year 11 students are interested in this opportunity for 2020 please see Mrs Bennett for details.
