School Holiday Voyage January 2026
By Betty Yao
I achieved my goal that I set myself for the Gold Residential Project. This trip put me out of my comfort zone in many ways, but despite that, I still tried my best to do everything and get involved. Also, the crew were always very informative about where we were going and teaching us about the environment. The weather most of the week wasn’t what we were hoping for, with constant rain and wind, nothing like the sunny, summer sailing most of us on the boat were anticipating.
Wednesday in particular was especially miserable. The rain was pouring down with no stopping but we still went for a couple hours of sailing. It put me out of my comfort zone because I wasn’t comfortable with such rough sea and weather but still, I had no choice. I had to do it. I spent the sail surrounded by my newfound friends, all trying to make the most of the weather that we had. We had to learn to adapt too. Rather than going to the beach or going on a walk around an island in the Hauraki Gulf, we spent the entire day on the boat, playing games and laughing together, having a good time in the boat instead of outside on a beach. I think the first time I was fully put out of my comfort zone was on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, in the rainy weather, we all got off the boat to go on a little walk on Rotoroa to see a museum, play a game and possibly go to a beach, which we later decided against because the weather was too bad. From the second we got off the dinghy onto the island, it was raining non-stop, and none of us had particularly good raincoats on, so we were on this island, all getting wetter and wetter by the second. This put me out of my comfort zone because of the poor weather, and having to do a walk in this weather without any good wet weather gear. But, we did see a weka that Jeremy spotted, which was pretty cool.
On Thursday, the weather was slightly better with less rain but still very windy. Craig, one of the crew, asked us if we wanted to go on ‘an adventure’ with no further details. This ‘adventure’ turned out to be securing yourself to the boat to make sure you don’t fall off and walking up to the bow of the boat. I decided to go do it the second round, as I’d said I would make the most of the experience. It was super scary as the bow was way more unsteady than the cockpit where we usually sat, and it was difficult to even walk up there. Looking back though, it was definitely a highlight of the trip as it was such a different feeling than the usual sitting there and it was amazing to stand at the front of the boat, getting hit by waves, and having a laugh with friends.
On the trip, we also saw so much wildlife. On the first day we saw a little blue penguin, all by itself, bobbing up and down the middle of the ocean. The following two days, we didn’t have much hope for wildlife because of the constant downpour of rain. On Thursday though, we saw so many dolphins for a couple minutes. There were probably 20-30 dolphins swimming beside, then behind, our boat. Everyone had been talking about how they wanted to see dolphins, so to see some got everyone really excited and we couldn’t stop talking about it the rest of the day. Seeing this amazing wildlife without my phone really made the moment more special, as I wasn’t able to record it so I had to cherish the moment in the moment, and I realised afterwards that I was more ‘in the moment’ than I had probably ever been as I hadn’t even worried about getting my phone to take photos.
The hardest part of the trip was probably the morning swims. Waking up at 7am and jumping straight into the water isn’t something most people are used to, and because the water was so cold, all of us were dreading this every morning. I still did it most mornings though, except for one, because I wanted to not miss out on anything that this trip had to offer and this was a central part of the trip. At the time it wasn’t a very nice thing to do, splashing in the cold water every morning and swimming with the current going against you so you’re swimming on the spot basically, but looking back now, it’s a pretty fun memory, all of us on the boat encouraging each other to jump off the boat so early in the morning and starting the day off strong.
Jeremy, our skipper, and the rest of the crew were all very informative about the different islands around the Hauraki Gulf and where we were sailing to. Jeremy always gave us a little history of each island we went to and was always willing to answer any questions we had. He taught us the history of Rotoroa, the meaning of Rangitoto and Motuihe, he was able to tell us what we had seen that day and tell us the incredible story of the Lion New Zealand. This kept all of us onboard very informed and made sure we all learnt new things to take away with us. Because of this, I achieved the second half of my goal which was to learn more about the history of the Lion New Zealand and the environment around the Hauraki Gulf.
Overall, this was a really fun trip and I loved every minute of it. From getting on the boat and making new friends, to the adventures we all had together, I did achieve each aspect of my goal. I put myself out of my comfort zone many times on this trip and also learnt so many new things thanks to the crew on this trip. Everything about this trip was amazing, even if some parts might not have felt like it at the time.