I was lucky enough to be selected as a NZ Blue Light Ambassador (along with a number of other people) and was tasked with the challenge of raising $10k in donations for NZ Blue Light. After a successful sponsorship trail, I was selected to head away on a life-changing ‘mystery’ adventure while being filmed for a New Zealand TV series called “Adventure All Stars”
The inaugural New Zealand series “Adventure All Stars” consists of 6 x one-hour episodes and is available to watch on TVNZ on-demand. Watch my episode here: Adventure all Stars, Episode 03.
NZ Blue Light is a charity close to my heart as they deliver a range of youth programmes and activities in partnership with the NZ Police in order to meet the needs of the communities that they work in. Most people remember them for running discos in the 80’s & 90’s, Blue Light has evolved over the past 35 years and now do so much more to support young New Zealanders.
Day 1
Today is the first day that myself and a number of other people embark on a life changing ‘mystery trip’ with Charity TV Global and NZ Blue Light. At this stage we have collectively raised around $85,000.
We soon discovered that day one involved us sailing on Sir Peters boat to Waiheke Island with the awesome crew from NZ Sailing Trust. Once we were boarded and settled, it was time for our group to take control of the wheel and having a go getting from A to B! Lucky for us we nailed it and ended up anchoring on a secluded beach on Waiheke Island where it was time to get into groups and to build some rafts that had to stay afloat… nothing like some good friendly competition to keep everyone entertained!
Day 2
After sleeping overnight on Sir Peters boat, it was a VERY early start for day two! I’m pretty sure it was 3am when I felt the boat moving – we were back in Auckland city at 5am to make our way to Rotorua….. to discover that we were going white water rafting with the awesome team from Kaitiaki Adventures Aotearoa. All I can say is SIMPLY WOW! What an amazing experience white water rafting is! I would absolutely recommend doing it! We had fast rapids, stunning views and a powerful 7 metre waterfall to conquer – all of which got the heart racing!
As if that wasn’t actioned packed, our next adventure for the day, was some fun in the mud and spinning wheels in some 4×4 buggies at Adventure Playground. After these 2 action packed activities it was time to enjoy the cultural beauty of New Zealand at the Tamaki Maori Village. After sleeping the previous night on the boat, I was just happy for a proper bed and a pillow for the night!
Day 3
Today started with an epic mountain bike ride thanks to FourB Biking– starting in the forest we then made our way to the mighty Huka Falls (one of the most beautiful spots to soak up the scenery), and on the way back visited the stunning geothermal stream at Wairakei! Once the lactic acid in the legs wore off it was time to satisfy the taste buds at Huka Prawn Park– not only did the group have a delicious lunch but they even got to catch it! We figured because the group loved fishing for their lunch so much why not do it for a second time with dinner at Chris Jolly Outdoors? Buuutt this time it was trout fishing! A day full of delicious food and scenery. Hump day today, what will day 4 bring?!
Day 5
Our final activity was at Rotorua Canopy Tours where we were high in the treetops of an ancient forest walking on swing bridges and having fun with 600m of ziplines!!
Wow what an amazing 5 days with an awesome group of Ambassadors for NZ Blue Light! The experiences and new lifelong friendships made over this last week has been simply priceless and I’m forever grateful!
Keep an eye out for “Adventure All Stars” screening on TVNZ 2 starring ME!!! And hosted by Erin Simpson.