17/04/2025
Outward Bound returnee Miyah Henley shares her recent experience.
What was your group like?
I did end up in the same group as Toby van de Zwan from Waihi, but because we did not know each other, that was okay. There were young people from all over the country, Christchurch, Dunedin, Auckland. Your group becomes incredibly close – you sleep in the same room, share bathrooms etc. I loved tucking into my sleeping bag and everyone saying ‘goodnight’ to each other. That was cool.
What was your favourite activity?
Probably any of the water-based activities. We did like coasteering where we walked along the coast and then some cliff jumping into the ocean! I'm scared of heights, so I was actually terrified - I thought I was going to puke when I got up there. We also did some white-water rafting, sea kayaking and surf cracking. Honestly, we were just doing so much everyday, you lose track of what you did!
In terms of self-development, what's your biggest take away?
This is going to sound cheesy because it's Outward Bounds message, but I realised I am actually capable of much more than I thought. At the end we had to run a 1/2 marathon and if you had told me at the start, I would have thought that is not going to happen. BUT, I did it! We hiked up this huge mountain like 1400 metres high and I thought I was going to die. BUT, I did it! I even did a little bit of public speaking which is probably one of the hardest things I did there.
In terms of going forward what do you think you might change?
It's definitely inspired me to reconnect with nature much more. I think I lost sight of that recently - like just working, coming home, going to bed scrolling on my phone. It's inspired me to get out a lot more. You form such deep connections at Outward Bound without any screens, so it's inspired me to try and get to know people better face to face.
“I didn’t want to come home and asked if I could stay another 21 days! I loved it so much and am truly grateful for the incredible opportunity I was given.”
