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Paul Pou |
Sport Bay of Plenty facilitates a Youth Engagement Programme called Pathway 16/20 and recently took a group of 17 youths in the programme on a Leadership Camp on Mayor Island.
Pathway 16/20 team leader Paul Pou writes of his introduction to the island experience.
At 6am Saturday, March 22, the alarm goes – and it's time to load the last remaining equipment for the Mayor Island Leadership Camp.
It's all go – the last of the kayaks go on the trailer, we arrive at Pier H, Sulphur Point, and there is an ‘army of ants' already there loading their luggage for their long-anticipated Mayor Island journey.
With the equipment loaded, checking the marine forecast prior to departing shows we may be in for a bumpy ride. The captain gives his last safety briefing, and as the engines start there are screams of joy and excitement all around us. We're moving along at a steady pace and the harbour is beautiful and calm. I look around me and there are smiles everywhere.
As we head to open water there is a sudden surge of swell that crashes over the bow. I look around – the smiles have disappeared and everyone is reaching for the spew buckets.
I look to the horizon for comfort and the screams are deafening as the boat dips into a trough. The excitement has all but gone apart from one person thoroughly enjoying the ride over the two-three metre swells. I laugh, as I too am enjoying the ride and the reaction from the team on the boat.
Two bumpy hours later we arrive at our destination and there is joy on the faces again. As the captain discusses the best way to steady the ship in the huge swells, the others look to get on to dry land as quick as they can.
The captain leaves the engines idling as the team work kicks in to overdrive. The boat is rocking in the swells as we load the inflatable dingy, which we expect to sink at any time under the sheer weight of the ocean crashing over its bow. It's back to basics, three bags at a time and there are literally more than one hundred to off-load. The entire team gets involved, which makes for a great introduction to the camp.
The job was done in just under three hours of hard yakka and the experience was amazing.
To see how everyone came together the, the way they put everything into the task at hand –the slapping sounds of the crashing waves upon their faces as they attempted to keep their luggage and food dry from the rugged ocean.
Later that night, we all sat and discussed the great effort that went into the first challenge of the camp, and how it set the scene for the remaining three days.
Read more on the Mayor Island Camp and the Pathway 16/20 programme at www.sportbop.co.nz/pathway1620