Outward bound is probably one of the most life changing challenges I have ever experienced. Last term's school holidays I went down to Anakiwa in the Marlborough Sounds for the eight day course on Manawa Ora which is based around environmental sustainability and becoming Kaitiakitanga. We learnt how to care for our environment and also teach others how to do so as well. I was in watch house Hillary with our two instructors Bridget and No’e, the watch house is the group who you stay with for the entirety of the course and the watch house is where you slept when staying at base, at the course there were 727 students with ten other students from West Auckland schools completing the Manawa Ora course with me. There's something so indescribably special about each person's individual experience at outward bound, hearing each watch member's story and what brought them down there is something I will never forget. It's truly special and creates such a good bond with your group.
For the eight-day course we completed a four-day adventure which included sailing across the sounds and learning the science and skills for sailing, which is something I had never done before, even learning the sailing terminology was really cool. We also ended up sleeping on the cutter we were sailing on which was definitely a challenge as it was so cold and a very small space to fit all eleven of us, the cutter's name we were sleeping and sailing on was called Torea which is named after an oyster catcher. On our adventure we cooked as a team all the meals which I think was a really valuable life skill we learnt and was a really fun team bonding experience. We shared so many good laughs whilst we cooked dinner reflecting on past funny events that happened during our day. It was so fun.
The following days we slept in tents and headed out on our hike. The hike was the most challenging part for me during our adventure as it was during extreme rainfall while carrying 65-liter packs. No’e and Bridget when preparing us for our adventure, they talked to us about the feelings and the emotions we might come across whist completing the journey, they talked about Te Kore the great nothing-ness and endless possibilities, Te pō the feeling of darkness and the unknown and Te Ao Marama which is the light and enlightenment or the end success of our journey. Definitely during the course of outward bound I found myself within Te pō with what seemed like the never ending hike and sleeping in the bush with possums surrounding the tent. However I truly proved myself wrong with finally reaching te ao marama and seeing the end of the trail, looking at the watch house for the first time in four days and having a hot shower, being at outward bound taught me to have gratitude for anything and everything.
At Outward Bound you experience amazing adventures and learn valuable life lessons and discipline at home base, with waking up at 5:30 - 6 am every morning, cleaning your watch house and then having to participate in P.T (personal training) exercises in silence. P.T was a time to reflect and have time to yourself whilst moving your body and getting mentally prepared for the day ahead. The discipline of waking up and completing these tasks was a shock at first but every day became easier and more like routine. Outward Bound was definitely something I thought I never would have completed but like the quote by Kurt Hahn says that is placed beside the kitchen at Anakiwa “There is more in us than we know if we could only be made to see it; perhaps for the rest of our lives we will be unwilling to settle for less.”
by Kiera White
