Journeys is an outdoor adventure programme offered to girls aged 12 - 18 to use the challenge of various activities in accessible local ‘wild’ areas to enhance wellbeing, resilience, self-worth and belief.

It delivers a weekly two hour adventure in groups of up to 10 (with two to three instructors) taking girls / young women on supervised walks and mountain bike trips into the local ‘wild’ areas surrounding Alexandra. The programme runs for 12 weeks culminating with a longer more challenging adventure.

CLT staff had the joy of adventuring with a group of kõhine from Journeys Central Otago to see first- hand what a great initiative the Trust supports.

On the group’s last outing for the season, we set out from the top of Little Valley Road walking (sometimes scrambling) down through the Matangi Station Mountain Bike Park’s trails of ‘Hazard County’ and ‘5th Amendment’ finishing up at the Shaky Bridge. Matangi Station kindly provided all the girls and instructors annual passes to access the land. You’ll see Journeys’ markers along the trails for their orienteering adventures.

They celebrated their last trip reflecting on their favourite adventure from the 12 weeks over pizza, each one of them having different highlights.

From the initial pilot in 2018 with seven participants, the programme has grown to cater to 60 girls a week exploring the trails around Alexandra, and was a joy to experience.