Stuff Digital Edition

Take a leap and get outside

The best thing about getting outdoors and into nature is being away completely from the demands, distractions and constant noise of day-to-day life, and Outward Bound in Anakiwa is a perfect place to do

that, writes Judge Arthur Tompkins during Get Outdoors Week (November 20-28).

Opinion: You might say I can’t seem to shake Outward Bound – over four and a half decades

I’ve done three courses at Anakiwa and who knows, there may be another in me yet! My first three-week course was in 1978 at the age of 18; I returned in 2009 for a 21-day Masters course; and earlier this year, at the age of 61, I attended an eight-day Leaps and Bounds course with my 16-year-old daughter.

Why have I kept going back? My answer is, for the many and varied rewards of pushing myself mentally and physically in an always challenging outdoor environment. The astounding and unique thing about Anakiwa is that when you’re there, and this has held true on all three of my courses, when you’re at Outward Bound you’re truly, and wonderfully, living in the moment.

What has stayed constant for me over the decades of returning to Outward Bound is the impelling into experiences, the challenges of living and working quickly and closely with strangers, the staying in the moment, the sense of being removed from the outside world while experiencing the natural world more acutely, the thrill of getting to the metaphorical or actual mountaintop not quite sure how your watch all made it, together and in one piece, and the sheer physicality of getting through each day. Each time, it’s been as intense and just as rewarding. Being in a remote, beautiful part of Aotearoa for an extended period, without any technology connecting to the outside world enables you literally and mindfully to live in the moment.

You’re not distracted with what’s happening elsewhere in New Zealand or the world, or indeed what might happen tomorrow or next week, but rather focusing exclusively on whatever it is you are doing at that moment, in the rain or sunshine or the wind, during the night or the day. That is an almost unique experience in our overconnected and digitally-deluged world, and one to be treasured and relished.

The outdoor classroom offers valuable lessons on a personal level. For me, I learned I can always do more, and that I can always carry on. I might fail but I can try again. No matter how tired and stiff and sore and exhausted I might be, the best way to find out if you can do something that you thought might be beyond you is to do it and see what happens.

Everyone has moments of weakness, vulnerability or fear, no matter how competent and strong and fit they might appear to be. To identify that, to share it and bring it to the fore, and then to overcome it, is a significant triumph and a valuable moment of self-realisation. I’ve also learned that sometimes I should pause and step back, let others take the lead, listen to their views, follow their guidance, do things their way!

The best place to experience those things is in the outdoors. Rivers and cliffs, the bush and the high ropes, and the alwayschanging sea all provide valuable feedback, non-judgmentally, neutrally, impassively, but unavoidably, if you are ready to listen (and even if you are not). And sometimes, like halfway up a rockface or in the middle of a rapid, the feedback tends to be instantaneous!

These experiences cannot really be duplicated anywhere else, other than out in the wild. At Outward Bound, it is just you, your watchmates, and your natural classroom. All your senses are engaged, and what you feel and hear and taste and smell and see are immediate, right there, and intense, in that moment. Passing the baton to another New Zealander to have their own sensory experience, to have a chance at unlocking their potential, is something Outward Bound encourages alumni to do.

I encourage everyone to take a leap and get outside. It’s a place that allows us to get upfront and personal with life, to learn without distraction, and to be fully present.

Judge Arthur Tompkins has been a District Court Judge for 24 years. He is currently based in Wellington, having earlier worked as a Judge in both Whangarei and Hamilton. Arthur and his wife Mary (also a multiple Outward Bound alumnus) have three children and, in addition to their Outward Bound courses, have each competed in numerous Coast to Coast multisport events.

Motoring

en-nz

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281651078377268

Stuff Limited