Those who’ve completed an Outward Bound course know what a unique and special place its base at Anakiwi is.
Hundreds of Kiwis attend Outward Bound courses every year, taking on the challenge of personal and professional development in the great outdoors. The person in charge of feeding them all is Outward Bound catering manager Marcel Rood.
At Anakiwa, Marcel leads a kitchen team of seven, always including at least one apprentice chef undertaking their New Zealand Cookery Apprenticeship with ServiceIQ.
“This is such a fantastic place to do an apprenticeship,” Marcel says. “It is so unique and you get such a variety of experience. You have to be adaptable, but you can make whatever you want, and the students will eat it. You go from feeding 150 students one week, to 20 the next; be serving canapés to visiting board members, preparing community meals, or packing dried foods for the nights guests spend in the bush.”
He and his team received great support from ServiceIQ via Hospitality Sector Advisor Joseph Clarke, Marcel says, who is always at the end of the phone if there are questions, and makes sure apprentices are clear on when their assessments are, what is required and ensures they have any necessary pastoral support.
“It’s a good fit for us. If I could do my apprenticeship again, I would love to do it here.”
Marcel recognises a good apprenticeship when he sees it, having trained close to 30 apprentices in his career, including five at Outward Bound. One of those five has gone on to complete the New Zealand Certificate in Business Level 4 with ServiceIQ, and is now working as a chef administrator.
Food for life
Another former apprentice has recently helped Marcel and his team put together the Outward Bound Cookbook, which features 68 recipes of Outward Bound students’ most-loved meals. The $20 cost of the book goes back to Outward Bound’s non-profit programmes.
The book came about because of the continual requests from Outward Bound students for recipes for the meals they eat at Anakiwa. It’s just one sign of the importance of food in the whole Outward Bound experience, Marcel says.
“We get enormous high scores for our food but, personally, I think a big part of it comes down to the experience of sharing a meal with each other.
“There’s no cellphones here and every night one watch (a group of 14 students) will lead a karakia in the dining hall, or someone will read some words of wisdom, another watch will be in charge of clean-up each night.
“There’s security and comfort in coming together around the table; like a long Italian lunch. Food plays such an important part in what people experience here.”
Marcel says he completed an Outward Bound course himself about three years ago, and found it life changing. “I thought I knew it all in life, but it really opened my mind.”