The first day for a young adventurer

DAY ONE: August 8

Journey Details taken by Anna Clark at 1730
Latitude: 35o52S
Longitude: 175o22E
Direction: 290WNW
Heading: 035o off due North
Sea State: 3 (small waves, irregular white caps)
Cloud Cover: Cumulonimbus, 2/8 (Partly Cloudy)

Barometer: 1002.8Hps

Already, my experience has been Amazing! Amazing with a CAPITAL “A”!

Catching up with our fellow voyagers yesterday was great. Most of whom I hadn’t seen since the Sir Peter Blake Trust Youth EnviroLeaders Forum in April.

We were all buzzing with excitement, so coming together almost took us through the roof.

Last night in our cabins was really good - better than I had expected!

Though, I was surprised to wake up to Issie’s alarm whilst actually dreaming of waking up to it.

This morning, we said our last goodbyes to family and friends.

We also felt privileged to watch a 100 man guard and 21 gun salute to welcome His Excellency, the Governor-General of New Zealand Sir Jerry Mateparae.

The cannon fired several times catching many of us off guard and causing us to leap out of our skins.

The smoke rings released were also cool.

At 10.30, after farewell speeches, we were officially welcomed aboard the ship and an hour later we were finally starting to move.

As the rocking of the ship increased, seasickness pills (and ginger for me) kicked in and made many of us feel drowsy.

After a good lunch, Group 5 (KR5) got to experience some time at the vessel’s bridge.

This included witnessing the helicopter transportation of the Governor General from the vessel’s deck.

At 2pm, we congregated in the dining room for a really interesting talk from Rochelle Constantine about her experience working with dolphins and whales.

It was really interesting to learn that whales tend to migrate southeast but it is yet to be known why.

This pattern has been seen over a small collection of data - therefore there needs to be more data for this to be a more accurate and precise statement.

The afternoon lead to some practise drills including the ‘Man Over Board’ and ‘Toxic Gas’ drill.

The ‘Man Over Board drill’ had us moving swiftly back to our cabins, then marked off our cabin roll.

The last hours of daylight had us all gazing at the sight of the last land we would look upon in a couple of days.

So… Goodbye solid land and hello open seas!

ABOUT ANNA CLARK
Anna Clark is in Year 11 at Hurunui College in Canterbury and is an active member of The Nina Valley Restoration Group – a Kids Restore New Zealand/Air New Zealand Environment Trust project. As a member of this group, Anna has been involved in trapping stoats and other predators and the release of 8 Great Spotted Kiwi into the valley. Anna was selected to represent the group when it won first prize at the Environment Canterbury Youth Leadership for Sustainability Awards in 2011, and is currently undertaking a NZ Agribusiness Training plant propagation course. Anna lives on an organic farmlet and is a keen adventurer, enjoying both tramping and sailing.Click here to find out more about the Sir Peter Blake Trust's expedition to the Kermadec Islands.