Year 12 student Zac Matthewson-Booth recently completed a three week Outward Bound course and has provided this writeup of his experience:
"On the 23rd of September I jumped on a ferry with 120 strangers. My three week adventure was beginning and I wasn’t sure whether it was nerves or excitement I was feeling. We were welcomed into Anakiwa with a Powhiri from the instructors. Then it was time to split into groups which we called watches (A sailing term). I was put into a watch called Batten which was named after Jean Batten NZ first Female pilot who set records at the time. Batten Watch was made up of 14 people from the Manawatu region. Of those 14, 10 were girls and 4 were boys. This was not an issue as all the girls were competent and capable in their own right.
When our watch was on sight at Anakiwa our mourning would start at 5:45am to get ready for PT as you didn’t want to be late to PT. PT started at 6:20am which usually consisted of a warm up then a 3.2km run. Once you completed the run it was time for a quick dip in the ocean which was more awesome than it sounds, especially when your hot and sweaty. Following the dip was a cold shower then off to get changed for the day. The Days at Anakiwa were long and action packed usually finishing at 9pm. On Outward Bound I was blessed by having two amazing chefs Marcel And Ollie as well as awesome cooking Staff who made each meal a delight. Some how they made each meal better than the last. The Two instructors assigned to Batten watch were Nick and Ange. Nick and Ange are two of the most Wholesome people you could ever meet and were just the best. They taught me so much about becoming mental tougher and being more sympathetic to the physical shortcomings of other members in the group. One of the constants at Outward Bound was getting wet I.e going for dips in the ocean, Rain or even cleaning up after ourselves could leave us drenched.
Our Days at Outward Bound were filled with Whitewater Kayaking and (Playing with an electric fence).
Rock climbing on an actual cliff face and then doing it blind folded which was exhilarating.
Sailing on a 30 foot cutter in 30 Knot winds which was my personal favourite.
A two day Tramp Bushbashing on the Queen Charlotte track with a lesson on creating friction fires.
A solo where you set up a camp and stay by yourself for two nights and your not allowed to walk more then 20 steps in any direction. ( We had a competition on who could fill their poo bucket up the most. P.S I didn’t win)
High ropes which was amazing as the course had so many things to do and I even got to hug two trees. You know just spreading the love.
Last but not least was the three day tramp which was driven by our watch as we planned it and executed it ourselves. We followed the Pelorus River track for two days then on the third day we bushbashed home. This was a 14 hour day and was the most mentally and physically challenged I was throughout the whole course. So as anybody who has navigated in a bush before knows that navigating down a ridge is a lot harder navigating up one. We spent lots of time checking maps, compasess, each others opinion and asking the Instructors who said the same thing everytime, “oh ok interesting.” After hours of navigating and stress we made to the last part of the Pelorus Track we had to travel at 7pm and then two and a half hours later we stumbled to where the truck was waiting for us and there was Ange holding Hot chocolate, marshmallows and some biscuits. Hot Chocolate had never tasted so sweet ever. Unfortunately, this was the tramp which I injured my Knee on.
So unfortunately, I was unable to complete the half Marathon on Saturday the 12th.
I have never felt so miserable missing out on a run before in my life. Outward Bound has that effect on you it causes you to commit fully to the course so missing the run hurt more than my knee.
People don’t know until they do an Outward Bound course how mentally challenging it is, more so than physically. Outward Bound has changed me as a person or should I say opened my eyes to life so I could find my True North. I would recommend this course to everyone as it will show you parts of yourself you didn’t know you had. One of Outward Bounds’ sayings is ‘You are more than you know’. I Just want to finish on a quote that is my personal favourite. It goes ‘You can be cold, sore and miserable or just cold and sore’."
