Room 8’s Sailing Journey

March 12, 2024

A once in a lifetime experience for me at the Akarana Yacht Club which is in Okahu Bay! Excitement fills me as I take one step onto the pavement. I looked around and saw tons and tons of boats. It seemed impossible to count since I didn’t have a clear view of them all. 

We waited in the sidelines until Kim, from New Navigators, approached us and took us to our classroom for the day. We went through briefings on safety and clothing until it was time for the fun part. 

Down at the water’s edge we grabbed small trailers that carried the Quest boats with our coaches Nico and Lola. We had 4 coaches to be exact, their names were Nico, Hattie, Jake and Lola. Continuing where we were; we pulled our boats down the ramps, placing them close to the water and sliding them into the water. We hopped onto the Quests which felt slippery at first but it was slowly easier to manoeuvre around in.

Our coach Nico sailed us away from the dock slowly moving us away from the shore, until showing us a Xshot water gun underneath a small black tarp. I filled it up while Nico sailed us closer to another Quest boat which had I think handheld water cannons which were small like a tube but had great fire power not as strong as a real one tho. We clashed for four or five rounds until we went towards the Optimist dinghies, there were three of them but they barely had anything to fight us so we went for tons and tons of runs until our time was up and we had to switch with their boats. It was difficult to control it at first but it was getting easier by the second with the help of teamwork, a few minutes or maybe fifteen or ten we were told to hook onto the speedboat which had Hattie manning it. We gathered the other two dinghies and hooked onto each other using ropes until we sped around the quests which had the other group in each of them, we passed around and around making many rounds. After that we stopped and straightened up but suddenly the optimist tilted from the weight being shifted, which caused the boat to take on a bunch of water. It was really cold to be honest, I was freezing as soon as I made contact with the water. After all that fun we went back to shore and relaxed.

What does Lent mean to me? The image I have presented down below shows a night sky with hands holding a rosary with the text “Can’t Sleep?”  “Talk To Me” and was quoted by God in the bottom left corner. Lent to me is about bringing ourselves closer to God’s loving arms with his beloved son Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to save us from original sin.

Yet another once in a lifetime experience, this time it’s a “Stations Of The Cross” reenactment with us seniors as the actors of the performance to assist the younger audience understand what Jesus has done for us. I was really nervous, since I was thinking about me making a blunder and messing the whole thing up with a single mistake.

It was nerve wracking going through each and every station. It was saddening to see what Jesus went through. Everytime He fell I felt bits of his sorrow and pain as he carried the cross towards the skull-shaped hill also known as Golgotha. It felt like I was carrying the cross instead of the actor or Jesus.

But as soon as I started to hammer the cross my hand abruptly cramped. I managed to keep my calm. As we finished I heard a beautiful voice singing ‘Were you There’ (When they crucified my Lord). This was an emotional end leaving a silence amongst the audience. 

                                                                                                          Zoo

                                                                                            By Anthony Browne

                                                                                      A story we studied for English.

    What is the role of a zoo? And what is the relationship between man and animals? Below is a recreation of an                              orangutan enclosure and a diary entry from the POV of an Orangutan entering it for the first time.

A large steel gate creaks open. I peer up ahead seeing a blinding light with a wonderful view coming into vision. I carefully step foot out of the container, my long hair dragging along the metallic floor onto the grassy plain. The sounds of chirping surround me. I haven’t listened to this noise for a while. A gust of wind brings a satisfying aroma into my nostrils, giving me a sense of joy. I lay under a tree, I feel like I’m in heaven.

Choie Sew Hoy was a Chinese Merchant who was born in Guangdong province in China during 1838. Choie Sew Hoy accomplished to open a store in Dunedin which gave him great success. 

Choie Sew Hoy was buried then dug back up before being placed into the Ventor to be sailed back to China. He left us a story of determination which inspired many songs, poems, documentaries and even an opera in memory of him.