Kynan, now Head of Julius House, and seven other College students made the three-week trip of a lifetime to Borneo in December 2019, arriving home two days before Christmas, all of them several kilograms lighter. If they were shell-shocked on their arrival at Miri, a city on the northwest coast of Borneo, they were equally amazed on their return to Christchurch, freshly appreciating everything a first world country offers. “The conditions we were living and working in were unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. It opened my eyes to another culture, to different food, and to a challenging climate,” says Kynan. Trekking through the jungle in Malaysia, scraping leeches from his legs, Year 12 student Kynan Salt never doubted his decision to take part in the World Challenge Borneo Expedition.
The expedition, led by teacher Graeme Christey and a World Challenge leader, saw the College boys operate way outside their comfort zone as they undertook activities to complete different levels of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award. For Kynan it was a chance to complete his Gold award – but it offered so much more, including volunteering on a building project for a local village, budgeting for the three weeks, booking all transport and accommodation, and buying and cooking their own food. “We were given an itinerary and knew where we needed to be at certain times, but how we got there and where we stayed was up to us. We had to agree as a group about how we were going to do things, and at times we were actually under budget on dinners and food.” The first four days of the expedition were spent on an acclimatisation tramp to the Niah Caves and Lambir Hills. This was jungle trekking in a national
park, in thick foliage, very humid temperatures, and in the company of wildlife such as leeches. “We’d been told about them before we left home but most of us didn’t really pay much attention. But when you look and see something sucking your blood, but you can’t actually feel it, it’s quite weird. You have to scrape them off. We were wearing shorts and t-shirts and boots, carrying our packs.” The group then embarked on a five-day volunteer project in a village, building a concrete wharf “ The conditions we were living in and working in were unlike anything I’ve ever experienced
before. ” Kynan Salt
College Issue 38 2020
35
Made with FlippingBook Annual report