QUEST SPRING PROGRAM 

3 month program from September to the end of November, for young men and women.

6 September - 24 November 2023

The Spring Program runs concurrently with the period of “specialization” for Quest Core Plus participants but it is a separate, stand-alone course for students who would like to enjoy the Quest experience, but are not able to participate in the Core Course. The course follows a similar format to the first term of the Core Course, where students are given a basic grounding in the five acumen - Natural, Technical, Physical, Social and Business. There is a strong emphasis on developing physical fitness and personal character. A central theme of Quest is the development of strong character traits - courage, perseverance, patience, tolerance, integrity, sense of humour etc. This is achieved through coaching but also through facing and overcoming a variety of challenges, both individually and as part of a team. Throughout the range of activities we use every opportunity to develop leadership and teamwork abilities involving practical experience in true to life situations.

Throughout the course there is a focus on fitness and character development through a challenging and exciting physical program. Leadership and teamwork is developed though coaching and continual practice in all spheres of Quest life. The life skills training will follow a weekly schedule looking similar to the outline below:

Please note that the course schedule outlined below gives a good indication of the content of the course, but some of the course details can vary from year to year. In particular, some of the optional extra courses, which are facilitated by outside instructors or businesses are sometimes not available in the time windows that fit our schedule. This will not alter the essential fabric, design or effectiveness of the Quest experience. All the essential Quest skills and training are facilitated by our full-time team of instructors and guides.

WARNING - QUEST IS TOUGH - PHYSICALLY DEMANDING AND HIGHLY DISCIPLINED, BUT ULTIMATELY VERY ENJOYABLE AND REWARDING

Week 1 – Orientation to Quest routines, physical fitness, and skills training. Familiarization with the Quest ethos and what we hope to achieve during the program, and some idea of how we combine ‘‘coaching’’ with ‘‘lived experience’’ and frequent ‘‘de-briefs’’ to optimize personal growth in the time available.

Week 2 – 6 – Life skills and fitness training in the following modules – Kayaks (K1 and K2 competence) and fishing, weapons handling and bush craft, survival training, ‘‘Life course 1’’ and a variety of technical skills - plumbing and electrics, welding & workshop tools, vehicle mechanics, woodwork and sewing. During this time the participants are also exposed to practical livestock management and vegetable production as well as cooking, catering and healthy nutrition.

Weeks 7 - We take the Springers inland to a farm in the Adelaide area where they will complete the Bush survival challenge. Although tough and very challenging, participants usually consider ‘survival’ to be one of the most valuable experiences of their time at Quest. This trip is sometimes combined with a hiking/navigation challenge and rock-climbing experience in the Fort Fordyce area.

Weeks 8 – 10 – Western Cape trip – the main objective of this trip is the rock climbing and hiking experience in the Cederberg Mountains. There is also an option of doing a Competent Crew sailing course through Atlantic Sailing and Yachting, based in the Langebaan lagoon. This option is, however, dependent on the availability of yachts to cater for our groups in the specific window we have available. We usually include 1 or 2 days in the Stellenbosch area, incorporating a farm visit, or possibly a wine tasting and usually a hike in the Jonkershoek mountains or Table Mountain, before heading back to the Eastern Cape.

Week 11 – 12 Personal financial management and entrepreneurship, along with personal and inter-personal mastery following the principles of Steven Covey. They will also participate in the Life course 2, focusing on finding your Worldview and how that impacts everything, but with particular reference to your relationships. The last week includes some final physical challenges, some public speaking and final debriefs and feedback sessions with each training group.

Depending on time available and interest of individuals, we usually offer some horse handling and riding. There is a lot of activity squeezed into this short course, and we are aware of the risk of trying to do too much, and then compromising the quality as a result.

The Spring program participants will live with and do some activities with the Core Plus students, but their skills training is carried out as a separate program.

For more of a sense of the Spring program, please have a look at the video with some highlights from the Spring 2015 program and follow us on social media.