Burnside students join the Spirit of New Zealand discovery voyage for a five day cruise around the Hauraki Gulf.
Each year Burnside High School is fortunate to offer a Spirit of Adventure Cruise to a small number of students.
This year, four schools participated in the voyage, and our team sailed alongside students from Ōrewa, Warkworth and Pukekohe. Each school consisted of a mixed team of five males and five females, plus a teacher.
The ship has a permanent crew of six, plus up to six volunteers.
During the voyage, students learnt how to climb safely in the rigging and then commenced a voyage packed full of opportunities to challenge ourselves, and interact with the other people on board. Night watch was a highlight for all, so much so that the team volunteered to do it on the last night for a second time!
The students had sails to set, the ship to steer, swimming, beach games, deck games while sailing and some fun evening activities in the aft cabin as well as adventures ashore.
We had dolphins come alongside at one point while many of the team were climbing the foremast. The weather was largely fine, with enough patches of wind to give us a bit of a roll when underway, but not so much as to make life unpleasant. The balmy water temperatures of around 17-18 degrees celsius made the famous 6:30am swim bearable for most and enjoyable for some.
Unfortunately, one of our students fell unwell during the voyage and had to be airlifted to hospital. I would like to thank the crew, and the Spirit of Adventure Trust for their professionalism in a very stressful situation, and for the care they showed to our student.
Spirit of New Zealand was purpose built by the Spirit of Adventure Trust and commenced voyages in 1986. The ship operates continuously throughout the year, aside from a refit period around September. Spirit of Adventure was their original vessel, which ceased operations in 1997.
The Trust offer two main types of voyages for school students:
5 day Discovery Voyages for 14 to 16 year olds, allocated on a ballot system by the school. The information for this will be sent out usually in early November.
10 day Youth Development Voyages for 16 to 19 year olds, for individuals. The Trust has scholarships available for students who are unable to raise the full costs of a voyage. There are also sometimes short notice berths available.
If you would like to be notified of these when they arise, please contact Mr Risbridger ric@burnside.school.nz
