Tikipunga High School student completes 10-day sail on Spirit of NZ thanks to local business sponsor

Spirit of New Zealand master Gerard Prendeville, Tikipunga High School student Rai Tautari and Mitre10 MEGA Whangarei owner/operators Ondine Waddle and Peter Rogers-Jenkins.

Northland teenager Rai Tautari, a student at Tikipunga High School, has returned from a 10-day voyage aboard the youth training ship Spirit of New Zealand.

The trip was made possible by funding from Mitre10 MEGA Whangarei.

The Spirit of Adventure programme is designed to build independence, confidence and resilience in young adults. During the voyage those on board develop vital life skills and friendships while learning to sail.

"It boosted my confidence levels and made me capable of being a better leader. I learnt a lot about sailing and visited places I never thought even existed," the 17-year-old said.

"The people I met, from all over New Zealand, the memories I made and the experience I had will stay with me forever," she said.

Mitre 10 MEGA Whangarei co-owner Ondine Waddle said the store is excited to get behind the scholarships and allow local teenagers to experience new opportunities outside of Northland.

"We aim to make a meaningful difference in the lives of local teens through this scholarship," Ms Waddle said.

Tikipunga High School principal Alec Solomon said a scholarship like this makes a huge difference to the students.

"We have been lucky enough to have two students experience the Spirit of Adventure programme and for both it has opened their eyes to new possibilities."

The Spirit of New Zealand is in Whangarei harbour with Ship Repair NZ for her annual refit.

The ship's master, Gerard Prendeville, said, "The long standing relationship with the shipyard along with their breadth of trades, carpentry and engineering skills and knowledge of the ship makes this the ideal location to bring her for refit."

Mitre 10 is a New Zealand co-operative with 82 locally owned and operated stores nationwide that employ close to 5000 team members combined.