Our Year 10 Great Barrier Island group has made themselves at home on Great Barrier Island for five weeks and are having the time of their life! We hear from Sasha and Oran about how they are getting on in week 4 of their trip.
Leading up to the end of Great Barrier Island, we had to take on a task of four different themes each week to train and prepare ourselves for our four day expedition to wrap up our Five week stay on this awesome island.
For the first week we arrived, our focus was Self Management. At the beginning of the week all three teams Tui, Kereru and Taiko listed their self management goals for their group to help guide them to achieve their final ambition. One of Tui’s focus was making sure everyone was on time to their duties. Kereru’s was being prompt for anything and Taiko was to keep their immune system up and running for their expeditions and activity days.
For the second week 10RO had to focus on our team work and by doing this, once again each group listed their goals for the week, Tui’s goal was working together to complete challenges, Kereru’s was to include everyone's ideas because all ideas count and Taiko’s was to communicate more.
In the third week we talked a bit about Mana, which is when your peers or teachers/instructors respect you, every time you do something good you gain mana. So our goal for the week was Manaakitanga. ( generosity, respect, hospitality etc) Tui showed Manaakitanga when everyone worked together to launch someone into the air during the high rope activity, and motivated the group to try all the high rope courses. Kereru showed Manaakitanga when it came to setting up for activities and leaving camp- they all chipped in without being asked and got to camp 3 hours before they needed to, then left on time the next morning. Taiko decided Manaakitanga to them was owning up to mistakes and looking after the team.
Our Fourth and final week was all about Independence, for this week, the teachers and instructors stepped back and all the students had to do everything without being asked, we also took morning meetings, found out the weather and planned our expeditions all on our own. Tui Showed independence when the worked out everything they needed for expedition and where to go on the map. Kereru Showed independence when their instructor left them completely alone to find there way to camp on the other side of the island. We followed the path most of the way, but when camp came into view we took a short-cut and bush-bashed through thick trees and eventually found camp. Taiko decided independence was cooking meals during expedition without help or being asked.