 Our speakers at the last meeting were Patrick Norman and Shawn Taylor. Both had been supported by the Rotary Club to attend youth development courses - Shawn to Outward Bound in December last year and Patrick to a Blue Light Youth Leadership course in Taupo. Shawn shared the amazing journey that began for him on 1 December with a 14 hour bus trip to Picton (Shawn had never been north of Christchurch prior to this) where he stayed in a Back Packers before joining the other young people on the Picton wharf in the morning to catch the ferry to Anakiwa. After introductions and orientation upon arriving at the Outward Bound school, the young people were put into watch groups of fourteen young men and women. This group worked together or the next three weeks. Shawn shared a number of the activities the group were involved in, with special mention of tramping (two days, one night - they did manage to get lost which added an extra three hours to their trip!) and the kayaking, where they were travelling down rapids. He was way out of his comfort zone, however, felt an amazing sense of satisfaction when he achieved it. |
