I was fortunate to be selected to attend Outward Bound as a 19-year-old (“Inward bound”, November 19), but on several occasions I wondered how fortunate I really was.
All I knew about Outward Bound was it was at the top of the South Island, you had activities much like Cubs and Scouts, and I would be there for 23 days. On arrival, we were put into groups of 13 students, or “watches”, and from that point you did everything as a watch — a group of young people from vastly different backgrounds who would likely never otherwise have met.
I hadn’t had any exposure to tramping, sailing or kayaking – let alone three days solo. The other stuff, like rock climbing, the confidence course and so on, were less taxing. After the initial shock, the early morning starts, a morning run and a dip into the sea became part
