Welcome to the Scenic Rim to River June 2017 blog.
We are excited to welcome the participants for Scenic Rim to River who are beginning Outward Bound’s two week challenge program. Working together, they will traverse through beautiful sections of the Byron hinterland to realize and achieve their best. Updates will be made to the blog every few days so make sure you check in regularly for updates. Feel free to leave some comments as well.
Day 1
Everyone has arrived safe and sound at our beautiful Outward Bound campus in Nth NSW. A small but energetic team are set for their 14 day challenging journey. We welcome all the team members including four staff from Mainfreight Australia and we wish all of the participants a rewarding, challenging and fulfilling journey. The team has already set off on their first hike after raising Outward Bound Australia’s flag “The Blue Peter” – symbolic of sailing ships leaving the safety of their harbour and setting out on their adventure.
Day 2
After hiking out to their first night’s campsite, the team awoke to an exciting day. Their first big challenge of the day was Big Ben. Big Ben is a huge Hoop pine with branches spiraling up the trunk. The challenge is to climb the tree as a team and support those who would find this a daunting challenge. Team members are harnessed and tied together with short lengths of climbing ropes. The lead climber attaches themselves to branches as they spiral around the tree higher and higher up to around 15m off the ground. Big congratulations to Cat and Ash who rose to the challenge and pushed themselves outside their comfort zone. The view from the top was spectacular even if some members knees were knocking together. And, most importantly the team has to continue to work together as they spiral around the tree all the way back down to the ground.
As the program progresses the participants have opportunities to reflect on and practice a wide range of skills including leadership skills. The team had an introductory session on leadership and throughout the program will have opportunities to lead and learn from others leading.
From Big Ben, a short walk and transport led them to the dam to start their paddling journey – a welcome respite from carrying the packs and climbing trees. Over the next day and a half everyone will have the opportunity to practice their paddling skills.
Day 3 and 4
The team were back on the water on Wednesday to head across to the abseil site. To build trust amongst the team they supported each other in Trust Fall. Team mates demonstrate their ability to be relied upon by catching the person falling backwards. For many, overcoming this mental boundary of trusting others is a key step forward in their own personal development.
After a day of resting the legs Day 4 has seen the team slog it out as they hiked over the spectacular Mt Jerusalem. It was not easy going with the team at times having to push their way through thick scrub as they hiked.
Day 5, 6 and 7
The team will continue their hiking expedition through Nightcap National Park. With fine weather they are doing well.
The Scenic Rim to River crew have been doing plenty of both on track and off track hiking recently. The past two days of expedition have seen them travelling through the Nightcap Range to reach the breathtaking Minyon Falls. Overcoming the physical challenge of the past few days has allowed the participants to realize they are capable of more than they thought. Being in the group setting has enabled significant individual leadership development as well as team cohesion.
The group was introduced to the People Process Product model through a challenging initiative which tested their ability to work together. The understanding and application of this model is useful not only for the their time spent out in the field, but is also transferable to other areas of life.
The summit of Pete’s Mountain provided the perfect setting to hear about the story of how and why Outward Bound started.
They ran a fire lighting session in camp and used a variety of new and traditional techniques. The group has got much closer and bonded through out the week and shared their personal stories and core values last night.
Day 8 and 9
The team entered their mountain biking leg which included their overnight solo. A great chance to revive and refresh. Currently waiting on more detailed updates from the team with photos. Please stay tuned.
Days 10, 11 and 12
The team are paddling the Clarence River. The water level is pretty good, and there has been high expectation for some nice little rapids to negotiate. Because they are so low, it has been a real challenge to get pictures out of the field, but this special one must have had rocket boosters to get up over the mountains to us.
Congratulations to the team from Scenic Rim to River June/July 2017. We wish you the best on the rest of your endeavors
