We are so excited to get back into events again – kicking off with three Ecozip days out! Our Mentoring Manager Mark Sanders has filed this lovely report of some of the highlights of the most recent trip to share with the rest of our Big Buddy community.
Our day started with a few anxious checks of the weather forecast as it was looking a bit wet and wild in the morning and was supposed to get worse! But a little bit of wind and rain was not really going to stop a bunch of adventurous and brave Little Buddies! I think it was a new experience for everyone on the trip, so nobody knew what to expect.
After meeting at the ferry terminal and handing out tickets we queued up alongside the Waiheke Residents to take over their island for a day. Everyone got busy getting to know each other and taking photos of their ‘return tickets’ just in case… Roman asked everybody how long they had been matched and there was a wide range of answers from almost one year through to 7 years!
The ferry ride was fun and very fast. We had some really big waves and swells which made it pretty hard to stand up but didn’t stop some excited buddies from sitting outside at the back of the ferry. We even had a couple of Little Buddies who had not been to Waiheke before. The rain had stopped by the time we got to Waiheke, and we boarded mini vans for the ride to Eco Zip Tours at the top of the hill. The wind was still strong though when we got there, and everybody had to put extra layers on to keep warm!
Before you knew it we were all harnessed up and ready to Zip away on the first of three lines heading down the valley. Everybody went off without any issues except for one Little Buddy who took a bit of re-assuring and persuading but as long as his Big Buddy went first, he was okay to follow him down. Each of the three lines got a bit higher, longer and faster but they were all conquered by everyone.
The bus ride back to the ferry terminal was a lot quieter after the 30 min walk back up the hill through the beautiful native bush. I heard one excited Little Buddy talking to his Big Buddy about their upcoming 4-year anniversary. The Big Buddy has a new baby and doesn’t go out much in the evenings anymore, so the Little Buddy offered to babysit for them at the princely sum of $2 per hour – the little buddy then promptly changed his mind and said that he would do it for nothing as he would be getting something out of it for himself!
When I heard that comment, I thought wow – instilling those morals is what this is all about.
After a quiet ferry ride back to Auckland, it was a quick thank you and goodbye to everyone so that they could head home and get warm!
A big thank you to Ecozip for generously bringing our Big and Little Buddies over for an incredible few days out.
Whether you’re looking for a family day of fun, a school holiday activity or a team-building day out, Ecozip has you covered! Find out more and book your next zipline adventure here.
