Easy choice to enter Outward Bound’s adapted Upbeat course again

Lanie and Boyd in 2010 on the Outward Bound course where they met. They were assigned to McKenzie watch. Pictures supplied

Outward Bound is often referred to as a place where people’s lives are shaped and transformed, and it certainly rings true for Gisborne couple Lanie and Boyd Wilton. They met when they were both on a “Discovery" professional course in Anakiwa back in 2010 — and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

At the time, Lanie was a 27-year-old volunteer firefighter living in Palmerston North; Boyd a 46-year-old operations manager living in Gisborne. Both attended Outward Bound for personal development, seeking a space where each could undertake a “life review”. They ended up in the same McKenzie watch, but it was “all business”, Boyd says.

“There was a spark but it wasn’t a romantic spark. It was a mutual admiration and a deep respect between us which developed throughout our time away.”

At the end of the course, Lanie and Boyd picked each other as mentors and stayed in touch, along with others from the watch, catching up regularly to run marathons and adventure races.

“I got to know Boyd really well at Outward Bound,” says Lanie. “Six months after the course finished, our friendship developed into a relationship and a year later, I moved to Gisborne to be with him.”

The couple married in 2013 and have a seven-year-old daughter, sweetly named Mckenzie, after their watch.

Boyd says Outward Bound is an important part of his and Lanie’s journey.

“We are super-fans, so much so I’ve sent my two older sons on courses and Mckenzie will go when the time is right. I  believe that Outward Bound is so powerful when you take with you a personal issue to work on, whether it’s career, personal life, or aspirations, and use the tools there to work it out.

“We know how much impact Outward Bound can have on your life — it’s a springboard for your mindset for the rest of your life. You just need an open mind.”

When Lanie was pregnant with Mckenzie, Boyd was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. It was at a Parkinson’s Society conference that Boyd learned about Outward Bound’s adapted Upbeat course designed for people living with the disease. Having already had such a life-changing experience at Outward Bound, he didn’t hesitate to enrol and in 2018, went to Anakiwa once again, with Lanie by his side as his support person. The Upbeat course presented some new territory for the couple, which they say was sometimes confronting.

“With a mix of abilities and people at different stages of Parkinson’s on the course, it really gave an insight into the journey ahead for us, which was quite challenging. But we also discovered how we can work through things together and how I can support him both physically and mentally,” Lanie says.

The second time in Anakiwa was just as impactful as the first, said Boyd — “just in different ways”.

“The mantra ‘there is more in you’ comes to mind still in difficult times. Some days I have to dig deeper than other days and that saying is there beside me.

“Parkinson’s is in my backpack — it’s part of my life, but it’s not going to define me and take over my life. Outward Bound has had such a profound effect on my life, why wouldn’t it be a valuable tool to reflect on my Parkinson’s?

“Even if I didn’t have Parkinson’s we both would have gone back. I’ve shared my story with a number of people living with the disease and have had success in motivating them to look at life in a different, more positive way. I’ve got Outward Bound to thank for that.”