SOUTHERN CROSS
A three-week award-winning programme developed in partnership with the Human Rights Commission.
Southern Cross brings together 18-26 year olds from all kinds of backgrounds, including different cultures, faiths, identities and upbringings.
For three-weeks, you'll be doing a range of activities in New Zealand's outdoors, and having some pretty honest conversations about where you come from and what you stand for.
No outdoor experience is needed. Just turn up ready to give it a go. All activities are facilitated by world-class instructors who support you your entire time here.
What Southern Cross is About
This is a chance for New Zealand’s young people to explore their own social identity and how it impacts everyday life, gain a greater appreciation of our country’s diversity, and develop skills to work alongside other young people from wide-ranging areas of society.
Southern Cross aims to build a network of emerging young leaders from diverse backgrounds who, together, aspire to enhance the progression and success of New Zealand’s minorities.
Is this for me?
Southern Cross is for you if you're 18-26 and:
you come from a background or community that doesn't always get heard or represented, whether that's in the dimension of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, religious beliefs, and other ideologies
or you're already the person making room for others, like at uni, at work, in your friend group or your community
you're curious about how where you come from or your social / cultural identity shapes how you see things
You don't have to have it all figured out. That's what the three weeks are for. But if you feel like you can resonate with at least one of these statements, we encourage you to apply!
What the Three Weeks Look Like
Southern Cross is the ultimate Outward Bound experience with a difference! Over three-weeks, students of diverse backgrounds will be immersed in the outdoors, working both as a team and individually, to push their boundaries and discover who they are and what they stand for.
Outdoor activities may include sailing, rock climbing, high ropes, tramping, waka ama and activities like running and swimming. Our kaiako (instructors) have taught plenty of first-timers, so they'll meet you where you're at.
Students will also be guided through personal goal setting, resilience exercises, team building, and communication and diversity sessions.
You'll leave knowing a group of people you'd never have met otherwise, and they'll know you pretty well too.
Apply for Southern Cross
Southern Cross is fully funded by Outward Bound's generous donors and supports - people who want New Zealanders from every background to have this experience.
There are two things you'll need to cover yourself: getting to Anakiwa and back, and a doctor's appointment as part of the medical screening process.
2027 DATES ARE OPEN
We run Southern Cross a limited number of times a year and the next one is coming up.
2 Feb - 22 Feb 2027 · Places Available
Note: This course overlaps with Ramadan. See our FAQs for what this means on course.
What You'll Need
Our gear list tells you exactly what to bring for your course. You've probably already got most of it, and you can borrow the rest from a mate. Borrow what you can and buy second-hand where you can't. We've also got some gear you can borrow from us too (highlighted on the list).
Our prep page has the full gear list, plus fitness information, what to sort out and when in the lead-up, and how to get here.
Frequently Asked Questions
This upcoming course falls across a big chunk of Ramadan, so we want to be upfront about what we can and can't do.
Outward Bound days are long and physical. You'll be tramping, sailing, climbing, running and swimming, often in changeable weather. To do that safely, everyone needs to maintain adequate nutrition and hydration to support their safety, wellbeing and participation.
For this reason, we are unable to support fasting for the length of the course. While we strive to support every student's religious or cultural needs on course, full fasting combined with the physical demands of the programme would pose a safety risk, and we must prioritise the health and safety participants.
Here's what we can do:
Prayer: We can make time and space for daily prayer. Sometimes that's a quiet spot outdoors. Plenty of our students pray on course, and we plan around it.
One Ramadan day: We can set aside one lower-intensity day when you can fast. We'll provide meals before dawn and after sunset.
We know that won't work for everyone, and that's completely okay. It's worth talking it over with your whānau, faith community or someone you trust before you apply.
If you'd like to talk it through with us, call us on 0800 688 927 or email info@outwardbound.co.nz. We're always happy to have that conversation.
If you’re championing diversity in your community, put in an application following the link above. For any questions about the Southern Cross course, reach out by emailing us at info@outwardbound.co.nz or by calling us on 0800 688 927.
As well as receiving applications from the general public, each year Outward Bound calls for applications from community organisations that have been appointed by the Human Rights Commission. These community organisations include: New Zealand Chinese Youth Trust, Baha'i Office of External Affairs, Rainbow Youth, Ngati Whatua, Refugee Youth Action Network, Multicultural New Zealand, Refugees as Survivors and Hindu Council.
The Southern Cross course fee is fully funded by Outward Bound’s generous donors. Cost of travel and the cost of a doctor’s appointment for the enrolment process are not included.
The fitter you are, the more you will enjoy all the physical aspects of your course (particularly for the three-week teen and young adult course). With that in mind, our minimum fitness requirement is really quite achievable. You simply need to be able to run/walk 3km in under 25 minutes and complete a full day of activities.
Check out our guide on how to prepare for Outward Bound.
Nope. Most people turn up on day one not knowing a single person, so you'll be in good company.
You'll be put into a watch, the small group you'll live, eat and do everything with for the whole course. Within a few days, you'll know these people better than some of your mates at home. That happens when you've shared a tent in the rain and helped each other up a climb.
The Kaiako also know how strange those first few hours can feel. Day one is set up to get everyone talking quickly, so you're not left standing around wondering who to talk to.
And if you're a bit shy, that's completely normal. Plenty of people who arrive quiet leave with a group chat that's still going years later.
Absolutely. Plenty of people arrive having never tramped, sailed or slept in a tent, and nobody expects you to know what you're doing on day one.
Kaiako teach you everything from scratch, from tying knots to steering a cutter. You're never thrown into something you haven't been shown how to do. You're also doing it with your watch, so there's always someone figuring it out alongside you.
Being new to it all can even be an advantage at times. You've got no bad habits to unlearn and no reputation to live up to.