In May 2024, nine girls (aged 15-16) and  Megan and Kim went on a leadership weekend. We met in Alexandra on a Saturday morning, then drove in a ‘Bike It Now Van’ to Lake Hawea. We got to ‘The Camp’ and decided to go orienteering first. (It was raining now, and the weather was going to deteriorate over the day, with snow in the afternoon.) 

So we went orienteering in Albert Town. We split into 2 groups, and went over our map reading skills, took turns leading our group, and did some ‘what if’ scenarios. We also got the bothy bag out when we got really cold, and warmed up in there with a hot drink. 

After orienteering, we had lunch and got settled into our cabins. 

In the afternoon, we all gathered and talked about leadership strengths, and our own strengths that we could bring to Journeys.

We went over safety, and learnt more connection games, which we will teach our groups, as a kind of ‘ice breaker’ games. 

The next day, we each chose another aspect of Journeys to help out with, such as; keeping track of gear, social media, topping up snacks etc.

We drove back to Alexandra, and out to Galloway to do an orienteering event. We did it on our own, which we found quite different to doing with a group. It was lots of fun, and a little challenging. 

We finished with lunch at a cafe, wrapping up our leadership weekend, everyone feeling more ready to be a Journeys leader!

Kate Williams – Journeys Leader