Kia ora koutou, my name is Kyra and I've always loved the ocean and wanted to scuba dive since I was seven. So, when I saw a school holiday program for a snorkel trip to Goat Island, I immediately signed up. It was a fantastic experience; the volunteers were nice, and the ocean was incredible, as always. I enjoyed it so much my mum and I signed up together for the next available volunteering slot at Campbells Bay.
I started as a trainee, like all new volunteers, and progressed to the role of assistant guide. Goat Island is probably one of my favourite places to take tours, there's always something new to discover. At the beginning of a snorkel, we do a safety briefing. If there are lots of people, we split into groups first, and a guide handles the briefing. A while ago, my mum, a few other volunteers, and I had a training day at Lake Pupuke. We introduced ourselves, split into groups, and practised kayak rescues, hand signals, duck diving (in seaweed), swan dodging, and safety speeches. Then we went back inside for some delicious food (thank you Becky your food is great). For one of the Goat Island snorkels I did my first safety speech, which I am still proud of.
Volunteering is always busy, but in the best way possible. There are always lots of people, and it's amazing to see those who haven't snorkelled before getting comfortable in the water. Volunteering with EMR is always super fun, even when you have to pull some kids on a boogie board all the way back. I love being in the water and showing other people my happy place and the amazing creatures we share it with. I could talk for hours about the ocean, but taking tours saves people from having to listen by showing them instead. For one of the Goat Island snorkels, I decided to learn all the fish, so I printed out a list of the fish you might find there and memorised them. It worked, and now I can identify most of the common fish around the North Shore.
So far, I've volunteered at Goat Island about four times (hey, Goat Island is awesome), Takapuna, and Campbells Bay. They are all beautiful places, even Takapuna, which I thought wouldn't be a good snorkel site but definitely was. Taking kids and adults out into the ocean and showing them even just a part of the marine world is so worth it.
Some highlights so far include seeing a porcupine fish for the first time, giving my first safety speech, finding a clown nudibranch at Goat Island, my first night dive, volunteering at the Poor Knights, and the Mathesons Bay volunteer monitoring day. One day, I want to get into marine biology, and getting hands-on experience in the ocean will help me along that path, along with meeting and talking to people who also love the ocean. I hope to continue volunteering and having a fun time.
Thank you for sharing your story Kyra. If this sounds like something you would like to do, Register as a volunteer! No prior experience needed, you never know where it might lead you!
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