2015 ASTO International Exchange

UK – New Zealand

Spirit of New Zealand

Peta Koczy

Coming straight from refitting in a freezing yard on the West Coast of Scotland I could hardly believe I was going to spend Nine weeks in a country in which I

didn’t need to wear thermals, let alone somewhere I always wanted to travel - New Zealand! I even wore a large woolly scarf on the plane. Needless to say it didn’t emerge from my bag until I returned.

After a 28 hour plane journey I stepped foot in New Zealand and my first stop was Auckland. When I finally made my way to the Youth Hostel I was soon trying to sleep off my jet lag. The next day I set off to explore Auckland. Walking down Queens Street, where coincidently the Annul Santa Parade was being held, I still couldn’t believe Christmas was on the way and I was in a T-shirt.

My first stop was the Maritime Museum I had heard of that ran harbour sails on their two traditional boats. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the desk, I was told I had missed that morning’s sail and the boats were just leaving. As I stood to wave off Ted Ashby, a Ketch Rigged deck scow, one of the volunteers asked if I was coming for a sail? I explained that I had missed it but I was a sailor from Scotland; I was told I should just come on and lend a hand anyway!

It was fantastic to be out on the water this early in my New Zealand trip and my jet lag was feeling better already! As Ted Ashby is Gaff Rigged it gave me a head start in my slightly rusty traditional sailing skills. I was asked if would like

to stay and help for the rest of the afternoon and, of course, I was delighted to.

It was great that I had such an amazing reception from the volunteers at the Maritime Museum - I felt it was a fantastic start to my trip.

I started my journey south to Wellington where my first trip on Spirit of New Zealand would begin.

I first set eyes on Spirit while in the Botanical Gardens above Wellington - I remember seeing the ship and thinking I’ll be there tomorrow! It’s hard to explain how excited I was.

Being showed around the ship for the first time was daunting; I felt like I would never know what any of the ropes did, let alone be able to instruct a watch to

use them! Spirit of New Zealand is a three-masted Barquentine run by the Spirit of Adventure Trust, she was commissioned in 1986.

The next morning the crew began to arrive - all 40 of them! Once they had all been inducted and given safety briefings, we set off across Cook Straight to anchor for the evening. On the first night the crew and staff had a Round Robin. Everyone said their name, where they’re from and were asked a few questions; such as what their hobbies are. It was early to bed as the next nine days would be flat out.

At half-past six every morning we were woken up! First we would warm up by mainly running on the spot, then it’s into the sea! I’ve got to be honest - with all the sunshine I expected it to be warmer! (I can prove it’s warmer than Scotland though - I tried a dip in the sea when I returned in February and my toes nearly fell off!)

After a quick shower it was breakfast and colours, where we hoisted the flag and talked about the plan for the day. Most days we would have half a day’s sailing and either a morning or afternoon ashore. It was a huge challenge for me to climb to the top of the highest mast so that we could stow the royal. I went to the top with one of the trainees; her legs were shaking so much it made the foot ropes wobble! After successfully stowing the sail we headed down - I felt that, if I could do that, the rest would be easy and by the end of

my week I couldn’t believe how nervous I was the first time.

I loved getting to grips with a new Ship - I wanted to know how everything worked and found myself inspired by all the new things around me; from different sails, to different ways of structuring the voyage, to different young people. All of the young people wanted to get the most out of their ten days - it was something they were really looking forward to! They were totally driven to learn and to take the lead and that’s what Spirit of New Zealand works to develop.

Throughout the voyage they elect a morning and afternoon leader to organise the sail hoists and drops, clean up and any other tasks the watches have to complete. The Trainees set goals for the week and have debriefs in their watches to see how the leaders faired that day and what the watch had achieved.

Around midweek the crew go on an all-day Tramp (or Hike). When we were all ashore, we began to walk around the peninsular where the ship was anchored - it was about five kilometres all together, but with an awful lot of up and down! What I saw was the New Zealand I was expecting from the guide books -full of lush green plant life and golden sandy beaches. We stopped half way to eat our packed lunch

then continued through the trees getting glimpses of the sea as we went. At the end of a sweaty Tramp we were able to have a well-deserved, and cool, dip in the sea!

In the next few days the Trainees also got to try out sailing the Luggers - it was a great opportunity to really test out there sailing skills. It’s also pretty good fun. To make sure they had really got to grips with it the staff would drop a sealed box of muffins in the water so they would have to tack up to them.

The second to last day of the voyage was Trainee day. The night before, the young people would elect a Captain, First Mate, Second Mate, Watch leaders, Cooks and Engineers. The staff gave them starting and stopping points and off they went to take over the ship for a day. It was brilliant to see the trainees being empowered to lead their fellow crew - not only do they get to realise what they have learnt during the days previous, but they had a sense of achievement by the end.

My first voyage was incredible - I learnt a huge amount and gained confidence in a whole different world of sailing. I was over the moon to be returning for a second voyage after Christmas.

Christmas was spent on a beach on the edge of the Abel Tasman national park - and what a way to spend it, in blazing sunshine and blue sea.

My next voyage on Spirit came along quickly and before I knew it I was back on board again. This time I started to feel comfortable on board; the full time sea staff were so welcoming and I couldn’t have wished for better. Having a second trip meant I could really consolidate what I had learnt on my first. I was also fortunate

enough to not be attached to a watch which meant I could do a bit of everything on board. My favourite sail station was putting up the square sails!

There is a moment that you have almost forgotten where you are, you are concentrating on the sails so much. Then you look up and you realise you’re so high! The view from up there was incredible!

Before we knew, it was time to bring in the New Year! Our theme was dress to impress - and impress we did! The Staff took the lead with shirts, ties and even dresses - the Trainees wore everything from Christmas hats to full-on pirate attire. We brought the New Year in in style by playing Sing Star, where watches take it in turns to sing songs with certain words in, and then lay on deck looking at the stars as we counted the year in! The Kiwis sung their national anthem and after that the few Brits on board replied with a rendition of Old Lang Syne! I’m not sure the Kiwis knew what we were on about!

As the voyage was sailing from Nelson, we spent our time exploring areas of the Abel Tasman National Park. The thing that struck me the most about sailing

on Spirit was their sense of adventure. It was all about finding somewhere we could explore. Unfortunately, there was a fire ban in that part of the country so a bonfire on the beach was out, but we managed to make a realistic attempt with a bright orange jacket, a large torch and a pile of sticks on top. As the light started to fade that

evening, we explored the caves at the edge of the beach. Looking up, we saw hundreds of glow worms - like stars at the roof to the cave - but when the torch was turned on, the cave was swarming with huge insects with long feelers called Wetta!

One of my other highlights ashore includes discovering a tiny cove, Shag Harbour, where

I met a friendly seal (named Elvis). But my favourite trip ashore has got to be to Cleopatra’s Pool. The rain had been pouring all morning, but that didn’t dampen our spirits as we tramped along towards our destination. After an hour’s walk, and a wee bit of rock hopping, we made it to the pool - the only way to describe it is like a man made water slide. I was chosen to safety test it - something that I enjoyed immensely! Then all forty trainees (and a few staff) took turns to try it out - everyone had a few goes and we had a particularly soggy walk back!

Near the end of the week, the watches were given the chance to try out their sailing manoeuvres before putting them into practice on trainee day. Watches rotated between the different sail stations, changing leaders with every change, tacking and gybing the ship gave them a good feel for who they would elect as the

Captain the next day.

Before I knew it, trainee day was upon us, and so was my last full day on board the ship. It was one of the hottest, sunniest days and as there was no wind - our newly elected Captain ordered that we stopped the ship for a mid-morning swim! This meant we could get the yard swing out - a long rope attached to the bottom of the yard arm. We would jump off the rail at the bow and swing out above the sea, let go and plunge into the water! Some people managed to do spins and backflips off it! I was never brave enough to try off the yard swing, but did just about mange to flip off the side of the ship. When everyone was

dry, we set off back to Nelson where my incredible journey on Spirit was over.

I learnt so much in my time away - not only how to sail a vessel, which I’d had no

experience on, but a different way of running a sail training voyage - I certainly learnt things I could use when sail training in the UK.

Most of all, I was completely blown away by the staff and volunteers; their passion about what Spirit of Adventure Trust does was infectious. They were keen to pass on their knowledge - not just to the trainees, but to me and the other staff on board. I felt like part of the team and I loved every minute of my time on Spirit. While I was traveling around New Zealand, I was also invited into the homes of the sea staff; this meant so much to me and I was so

fortunate to share my adventure with them.

I would like to say a massive thank you to ASTO for giving me this truly life changing opportunity and to Marcia and Lucy for organising it; to the James Myatt Trust for funding my adventure and to Colonel Billy King-Harman and Lady Pippa Blake for their continued support

throughout my time away; to Ocean Youth Trust Scotland for giving me the time off to go on the exchange and for encouraging me right through my time away. Lastly, to all of the wonderful people who I spent time with in New Zealand - without you my adventure wouldn’t have been so incredible. Thank you!

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