For young people facing challenges in their home or school lives, Operation Flinders’ adventure therapy program has been both a circuit breaker and life changing.

Bella McInnes can speak to the benefits of having the time and space to reflect on her life.

Two years ago, the then 16-year-old completed an 8-day, 100-kilometre exercise with Operation Flinders that took her out of her everyday existence and into her head.

“In the Flinders Ranges, you’re just walking around bushes and trees, so you’re kind of in your mind the whole time,” Bella said.

Unmotivated to achieve at school, she was encouraged to enter the program by one of her teachers.

“He said ‘this will be really great for you and if you don’t take this up, you’ll probably be wasting a lot of your potential’,” she said. “And he was right.”

The extended time away gave Bella the opportunity to examine the issues she was experiencing and plan a way forward.

“[On the exercise] there’s a lot less societal pressures and other factors that contribute to your everyday life, like bills or family drama – things that you’re constantly thinking about at home,” she said.

“Lots of the reflections are on your own. But, if you feel up to it, you might speak to your team leader about some of the issues and they talk you through it, or they just provide empathy.”

The exercise made a huge impact on Bella and her fellow participants.

“It was like a complete relief, like a whole new perspective for young people,” she said.

“We found clarity within ourselves and – even though this whole journey we were discovering ourselves – we also learnt from each other.

“I like to say it actually changed my life.”

Now in year 12, and having moved to the specialist Australian Science and Mathematics School, she is “very interested in STEM” and has plans for a double degree.

She has also come to realise the positive impact of community connections on her own wellbeing.

“I love to help other people because it makes me feel fulfilled and like I’ve done something right by myself,” she said.

“It’s important to stay connected and think more about other people and not just be in my own mind all the time.”

Like other Next Step graduates, Bella will join a corporate team on Operation Flinders’ upcoming City to Summit event on Friday, September 29 and share her experiences during the 20-kilometre walk.

The walk will commence at Hilton Adelaide in Victoria Square, going through the eastern suburbs and up to the Mount Lofty summit before finishing at Woodhouse Activity Centre with a dinner.

The guest speaker for the event is Paralympic gold medallist and international speaker Katrina Webb OAM.

Each team of 10 will be accompanied by a seasoned Operation Flinders leader and funds raised will support the organisation’s range of programs.

Operation Flinders runs five exercises each year on Yankaninna Station in the northern Flinders Ranges. Each exercise sees around 100 young people attend in teams supported by their school or agency and Operation Flinders field volunteers.

Participants are challenged physically and emotionally. In addition to daily cross-country hikes between campsites, they undertake activities such as abseiling, team building, bush survival skills, bush cooking, navigation and learning about the local Indigenous culture.

Bella said for the teenagers involved, completing the exercise is “a really big achievement”.

“People don’t realise this. It’s like, you’ve expended your energy, you’ve learned about yourself and have been out in nature for eight whole days,” she said.

“It’s a completely different environment. So, of course, you’ve done something great.

“Lots of kids when I’ve asked them about their participation, they’ve said, ‘this is the biggest achievement I’ve done in my life so far’.”

Register your workplace or group of friends for this year’s City to Summit.