The Adventurers of Navy, America, Junior, Luv, Granpapa, Sunny and Kezza

I did my speech (Wasn’t very long) but I gave a speech and after all my efforts………..I didn’t get the position. I wasn’t too disappointed and as my Principal said in the interview “You have already won, you stood up out of your comfort zone and gave it a go, and so whether you win or lose….it doesn’t matter”. This did give me a boost of confidence and I’m glad I took on the challenge. But as I would soon find out my efforts weren’t left just there.

My Principal was really impressed by my efforts and asked me if I would be interested in going in the Rotary Youth-Audi Victoria week program. He told me that I would be going in one of Australia’s largest Sailing races. When he first told about the event I pictured myself on a Pirate Ship…..so later I began bragging to all my friends that I would get to go on a Pirate Sailing ship. I was lucky to be picked for this event for I later found out that only 6 students in Victoria get picked to be part of the program.

So on the 20th of January I found myself travelling to Essendon to begin the amazing adventure of a lifetime. On the First day we would be attending an Australia Day Luncheon, but first I was told that we were to meet at Fredrick’s Restaurant where I would meet all of the other 5 students and the man who ran this program.

I meet Kerry Warner (Kezza) for the first time and automatically knew that he was a good bloke. I met all the other students Matt (Granpapa), Kirrily (America), Phoebe (Junior), Emily (Luv) and Connor (Sunny). Anne Peace (from my local Echuca-Moama Rotary Club) also joined us for the Luncheon.  It was a bit awkward at our first meeting, but Matt soon came up with a game to make it less awkward. We all stood in a circle and someone would ask a question and each person would have to answer it; then the next person would ask a question etc. This did help make it more comfortable and by the time it was ready to go to the luncheon, we had all bonded together.

We would be taking a taxi to this luncheon and it would be my first ever taxi ride!!! Matt found it very weird, but didn’t judge me and everyone was very happy for me. We arrived at the Luncheon looking pretty swish and everyone was looking around to see any Celebrities.

Matt, Emily and I later went searching around on a Celeb hunt and did circles around the dining area. We first met Paul Jennings but unfortunately he didn’t make it clear which one he was, because apparently there a several. We also met Adam Gilchrist the famous cricketer. We also met four Australian Legends Germaine Greer, Eva Cox, Anne Summers and Elizabeth Evatt.
For the entree of the luncheon, we got really fancy food and some was really weird. Phoebe I don’t care what you say, that cheese was DISGUSTING and everyone can back me up on that. I also tried Caviar, which are fish eggs.
For Lunch I was given Fish, I didn’t really want fish but luckily Connor was kind enough to swap for his Lamb. (Thanks again Connor). We all enjoyed the Lunch and the Ceremony.
After the Luncheon we waited outside for the Taxi and Matt spotted something, it was a walking sign and someone was kind enough to name it after me. 
 
We went back to Fredericks Restaurant and relaxed a bit for the afternoon. I also began the funny fight with Kirrily and Phoebe for a space on the sofa. We all talked more and got to know each other and talked with Kerry about his amazing friend ‘Ben the Bachelor’.

We were later taken to a BBQ which were provided by Kerry’s Rotary Club and we met some really nice people there. We played on the playground like little kids. Unfortunately we didn’t get to meet Kerry’s friend ‘Ben the Bachelor’ but we got to meet ‘Max the Ex-Bachelor’ and he also was my Host parent.

So Max took me to his house and I met his wife and granddaughter. They were very nice people and its people like these who make you proud to be Australian, for they took me in, fed me, provided me a bed and showed me their warmth and kindness.
They also had an awesome pool.

The second Day we went to the Docklands and met some famous sailing Olympians Mark Turnbull and Neville Whitty. We were also supposed to meet Kathy Freeman but unfortunately she didn’t show. We were all planning on racing her. Later we were given some free time and Emily got really excited when she saw that they were having a Ben 10 show for little kids. But apparently not just for little kids, Emily must really like Ben 10.

interviewed by a Journalist who asked a bunch of questions about us and then Matt later started to interview the Journalist and I think she was taken back a bit. But it was great fun and we had a terrific time.
 
We then met up with Max and he wished us a safe trip. We then met with Phil and his wife Lyn and they took us all to their house in Brighton where Connor and I would be staying the night. They have an awesome house complete with a pool and spa. We were then taken to a Sailing shop where we learnt all there is to know about sailing. Upstairs we also had a talk with a Sail maker who told us about his trade.
 
We all later went to the beach and for some reason Connor doesn’t like the sand. We buried Phoebe in the sand and I made her octopus legs out of sand.
After the Beach we all went back to Phil and Lyn’s house and the gang tried out the spa and pool. We had a great time and we all seemed like old friends hanging out. Phil was kind enough to bring out cold drinks and Biscuits and it felt like I was staying at a 5 star hotel. We must have stayed in there for like 2 hours and Connor’s hands were like a shrivelled prune. While Connor and I stayed with Phil and Lyn, the others were taken to their own host families but we would all later meet for dinner.

I later discovered that Phil liked to play Guitar and I myself played as well and Connor also played the piano; so we spent most of the afternoon talking Music. So Phil insisted we bring the guitar along to dinner.
Went to dinner at a Rotary member’s house and enjoyed the company of the gang and their host families. After dinner Matt entertained us with his ‘Stand up comedy’ and he was amazing and made everyone laugh. He also had us all question the poem ‘Humpty Dumpty’, when you think about it; it never mentions that Humpty was an egg. It was a great show and after Matts act, Phil and I played a few songs on the Guitar.

The Next day was race day and we all had to wake up early and make our way to Brighton Yacht Club. Phoebe and I would be on the same Yacht for the journey and we would be on board the Sympatico with the Captain Bryan Dorman. Bryan was a really good bloke and taught me all there is to know about Sailing. The Boat itself was a Luxury cruising yacht and had 3 Bedrooms, Kitchen, toilet, sofa and TV. Kirrily also had a nice Luxury yacht and apparently didn’t have to do much work. Haha
We set out in high hopes and we had an amazing experience and I learnt about tacking, steering, measuring speed (knots) and sailing by wind power. The whole trip took about 8- 10 hours but it was something I would never forget. It was an amazing sight to see about 400 different Yachts sailing around us and it was a very once in a lifetime moment. Had a great day hanging with Phoebe and was very funny when she tried to tell a joke and she laughs before she told it.

I had a great day sailing, but after the 3 days I spent with everyone I think I have learnt a bit more than sailing. Matt, Connor, Emily, Kirrily, Phoebe and I, we had never met and we were all complete strangers. We all bonded so quickly and developed great friendships. We all have great memories to look back on. All the people we met and stayed with were so kind and so selfless; it makes me proud to be an Australian.

I would like to thank Echuca Moama Rotary Club for sponsoring me for this event and big thanks for Anne Peace for organising it for me. Now a huge thanks to Kerry Warner for organising this event for the gang and myself. It wouldn’t have been the same without you Kezza. I would like to thank the Host families we stayed with and thank you for your hospitality. A big thanks to Matt, Connor, Kirrily, Emily and Phoebe, I had a great time meeting you all and making it really fun.
You should never miss out on any opportunities because you never know where it might lead you. (I was only going for school Captain and now look).

And, now there is the tale of ‘The Adventurers of Navy, America, Junior, Luv, Granpapa, Sunny and Kezza’.