When I was first accepted to go I asked anyone and everyone who had been about what I was going to do, what I should expect, what it meant to them and bar a few snippets of highly vague information I was told nothing. There is a very good reason for that, one that took me a full 21 days for me to grasp.

I left the warmth and comfort of my Wellington hotel bed on a cold and wet Sunday morning, my breakfast from McDonalds seemed a fitting last meal considering the drastic change I was about to undergo. The scene when everyone arrived at Picton was not unlike sheep being rounded up in a muster, with approximately 80-100 overly anxious individuals waiting to be carted off on a boat to Anakiwa, our home for the next 21 days.

The biggest thing that struck me on the first day was how quickly people can bond in a stressful situation, 14 complete strangers can feel like long lost best friends in the right circumstances. Apparently nothing bonds people quicker than having to roll around in wet mud at the start of June. I was expecting at some level for our instructors to guide us in slowly and gently but there was no hand holding throughout this process, the rules were stated and no leniency was given for errors.

Our two instructors were completely different, somewhat an odd pair. Johnny was a 6’5” ginger bearded daddy long legs type character and apparently bat shit crazy and scared of nothing (his long list of broken bones and scars provide strong support for this impression), whilst Pip was this lovely short calming instructor who reminded me fondly of one of my favourite cousins. Their good cop (Pip) and bad cop (Johnny) routine resulted in us looking at each other for support in things. In hindsight it’s obvious to see why there was his balance between the two.

We were asked to not really talk about the activities that occur on Outward Bound, for fear of ruining the experience for future classes, but the activities that occur on around Anakiwa, on sea, and in the bush are simply amazing. I have a new appreciation for nature from what I have experienced in my 21days in the Malborough Sounds; it’s difficult to describe the beauty of that place without seeing it for yourself. I’m happy to admit the only aspect of nature I didn’t appreciate there was the 6am morning PT sessions and morning runs, topped off with a quick swim in the sound and a cold shower to finish off; I hope it’s something I’ll never have to do again. I know have new definitions for what warm, dry, wet, and cold are.

Time at Outward Bound isn’t always spent tramping around in the bush or on the water, our instructors incorporated personal development lessons in both a formal and informal manner, at times our group didn’t have the slightest clue we were learning something until well after the fact, I personally think that this style of teaching through learning and experiencing was one of the most valuable aspects of program.

I didn’t expect my time there to be overly difficult; I had thought that I would sail through the course with relative ease. I would watch people flip out overly incredibly simple task and wonder why; it wasn’t until I was unexpectedly pushed so far out of my comfort zone that I acted in exactly the same way that I realized how wrong my thinking could be. Summing up the lessons from Outward Bound is difficult but I think the main things that I have learnt are around taking ownership of my actions, realizing that everyone has different motivating factors, it’s not worth stressing about the little things in regards to a bigger experience, connecting with people through todays more convenient means (Facebook, email, and text) has its place but it’s not that important as people make it out to be, time management is really important (ironic because I realize how late this report is)  and in the right circumstances it’s amazing what a random group of strangers can do when acting towards a common cause.

For Camp Quality this experience holds amazing value, it takes a certain kind of person who wants to spend 21 days  at the top of the South Island to develop themselves is the kind of person that in 5 or 10 years’ time is the kind of person that can help develop Camp Quality at a regional and national level. It is the leadership and interpersonal skills that the Outward Bound scholarship provides that is so valuable.

I would hope one day to be in a position to give someone else the opportunity that Camp Quality has provided to me.