After months of planning, training, documentation, preparation and audits, we have successfully completed the required outdoor adventure activity certification process through Qualworx and WorkSafe.

That means we can now officially open the climbing wall and start taking bookings from schools and community groups across Hawke’s Bay.

This is a huge milestone for our team and another exciting step forward for the Outdoor Adventure Hub at Mitre 10 Park.

From an Idea to a Growing Outdoor Adventure Hub

At the beginning of 2026, the Outdoor Adventure Hub was still very much a project in development.

Over the past several months, we’ve been steadily building the programme, training our team, developing our safety systems, investing in equipment and welcoming our first schools and community groups.

We now offer:

🧗 Rock Climbing
🛶 Kayaking and Raft Building
🏹 Archery
🧭 Orienteering
🤝 Team Building and Group Challenges

Schools and groups can combine activities to create half-day or full-day experiences, and we can tailor programmes around the age, size and goals of each group.

Getting the climbing wall officially open has been one of the biggest pieces of the project, and we’re incredibly excited to finally add climbing to the experiences we can offer.

Term 4 is Filling Up Fast

It has been fantastic to see the response from schools across Hawke’s Bay.

Our Term 4 calendar has filled much faster than we expected, with November now almost completely booked with school groups.

We still have a limited number of spaces available during Term 4, so if your school or community group has been thinking about visiting the Hub before the end of the year, now is the time to get in touch.

Whether you’re bringing a class, year group, sports team, student leadership group or community organisation, we can work with you to create a programme that suits your group.

Summer Shutdown ☀️

With several large site-wide events taking place at Mitre 10 Park over the summer period, the Outdoor Adventure Hub will close for bookings from Friday 11 December and reopen from Monday 18 January.

The break will also give our team an opportunity to reset, complete maintenance, continue staff development and get everything ready for another big year of outdoor adventures in 2027.

Term 1: Building Stronger Teams 🤝

We are already taking bookings for Term 1, 2027, with a particular focus on leadership, confidence and team building.

The beginning of a new school year is the perfect time to bring new groups together.

Your school might have newly appointed student leaders, house leaders, peer support students, sports teams or classes that would benefit from developing stronger relationships and learning how to work together.

We can build a programme around the outcomes your school wants to achieve, using outdoor adventure as the vehicle for learning.

A day could combine activities such as team challenges, climbing, archery, kayaking, rafting and orienteering, encouraging young people to communicate, solve problems, support one another, step outside their comfort zones and develop confidence.

And most importantly – they’ll have heaps of fun while doing it.

Adventure Right Here in Hawke’s Bay

One of the main reasons we started developing the Outdoor Adventure Hub was to create more opportunities for local tamariki and rangatahi to experience outdoor adventure right here in Hawke’s Bay.

We want the Hub to be accessible and affordable for local schools and community organisations while providing experiences that challenge young people, build confidence and create great memories.

Seeing the Hub grow from an idea into a busy outdoor education facility has been incredibly rewarding, and there is still plenty more to come.

A huge thank you to the organisations, funders, schools, community groups and individuals who have helped us get to this point.

We can’t wait to see where the next stage of the adventure takes us.

Want to Bring Your School or Group to the Hub?

Term 4 spaces are limited and Term 1, 2027 bookings are now open.

Get in touch with the Y Outdoor Adventure Hub team to discuss your group and what we can put together for you.

📧 outdoors@ymcahb.org.nz

We’ll see you at the Outdoor Adventure Hub!