If anyone is in Wellington and free this Sunday then it would be great to see you at Connolly Hall for my final little talk. Will hopefully be a fun, interactive and a cool opportunity to see you all.
It's been a 6 month process, spanning 3200km of terrain, 4.5 months of walking and 1.5 months of setback, but we've finally hit the end of the South Island. I've throughly enjoyed the physical and mental challenge of getting up and walking day in and day out, and it's only been made more worthwhile for being able to do so for an amazing cause.
What the FMI Sisters are doing in Kokopo is both brave and hugely necessary for those who have to endure domestic abuse, and it's beeny honour to support and to continue to do so until we see the refuge built. This is the end of my walk, but watch this space because we still have a few surprises to put up.
It's been a long journey with a couple of ups and downs but we're almost at the end of the road. The last week or so in Southland has been a bit of a nostalgia trip back to the North Island. Bogs, greenery, lovely people, clay-top hills, birdlife and a smattering of rain; it's been mixed emotions as I've gotten closer to Bluff. Taking my final rest day today before walking to Bluff on Sunday!
A quick little section from Queenstown to Te Anau. Walking solo so thought I'd stretch the legs and see how they went. We're now into the last 2 weeks of Te Araroa Trail, and only need $3000 to fully cover the costs of the women's refuge!
As I say goodbye to new friends and try to catch up with old ones I find myself in Tekapo, which is the halfway point of the South Island. I truly value the support everyone is giving me. It not only helps in supporting an amazing cause but gives me memories and stories that will last a lifetime (or at least until I get better ones haha).
Great News!
A generous donation of $2000 has been made directly to the project in the memory of Tom and Val Barnett, the grandparents of VSA volunteer Laura Barnett. Tom had a strong Catholic faith which helped him through his struggle with his health. He believed in the strength of communities helping their members such as the safe house project in Kokopo. That brings our total to $20,000 across all platforms!
In memory of Tom and Val
The first week and a half back on the trail have been an awesome success. My legs are feeling good, we've raised over $18,000 for the women's refuge, and I received half a toilet roll and a block of cheese for Christmas. We are reaching the bottom line for building the refuge ($25,000, I'm told) and will hopefully have some more information on this soon.
If you are feeling a bit stuck for a meaningful gift this Christmas, how about making a donation on behalf of a loved one? Donate to the page with someone in mind, and we will send a postcard with a thank you message signed by the FMI Sisters, the staff of the Kokopo Women’s Refuge in Papua New Guinea.
Make a donation between now and December 5th, mention ‘Christmas Gift’ in your donation comment and then send an email to laura.barnett10@hotmail.com with the name and address you want your gifted postcard sent to.
Your donation will go towards the construction of the refuge facilities where women and children can find safe and welcoming shelter away from violence.
The Sisters of East New Britain want to thank our donors in the spirit of Christmas, wish them all a happy holiday period and a blessed New Year.
A quick update on the injury. I'm still stuck in Wellington, and it looks like the knee may take longer to heal than previously thought. I'm doing shorter walks in an attempt to build up strength, but am still unable to take the load going downhill for long periods of time. This will hopefully improve over the next week, but will have to wait and see.
Good news and bad news to report today. The good news is that I was able to have some cake with friends on my birthday. However, the bad news is that I'm temporarily injured and have to postpone walking whole my knee heals.
Whole making my way through the Pelorus River Track, near Nelson, I strained a ligament in my left knee which forced me to detour to Nelson hospital. The doctor has said that I could be out for at least two weeks, and my physio has thus far been promising so I will keep you updated on my progress.
Rest assured that I will be right back out on Te Araroa Trail once I'm back to fighting form!
A couple of great things to update you all on today. Firstly, Radio New Zealand has released a video/article combination on the walk. If you're keen to check out the progress, the link is as follows:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/342509/walking-3000km-for-png-women
Secondly, Saint Patrick's College Silverstream ran a mufti-day fundraising event for the women's refuge. In total, they raised $3500 for the cause, which brings out total amount of fundraising to almost $8500!
A huge thank you to these amazing humans who are stepping up and supporting us on our journey to greater support for survivors of violence in Kokopo.
I've reached Wellington and am now more than halfway through my journey along Te Araroa Trail. We've raised nearly $5000 for the women's refuge and had coverage of the cause in various regions of New Zealand. Thank you for your support, I'm off to the South Island in a few days.
An amazing few days spent out of phone reception on my way through to Whanganui. 2 days walking to Whakahoro to find a free drink at the Blue Duck Cafe; 3 days paddling down to Pipiriki with a couple of amazing humans, and another 2 on the Whanganui River Road. Despite a couple of near misses I was lucky to escape a dip in the river (others weren't as lucky). A couple of days to recoup in Whanganui with the grandma before continuing south.
I have a couple of things planned over the coming weeks so watch this space and, as always, thanks for your support.
At 1000 kilometres down, I am about a third of the way through my journey across the country. Since Hamilton, I've been making my way through the King Country, named due to the Maori King Movement's roots in the region. Although it's incredible to see beautiful forests in the region, much of the King Country is now farmland, and what I am seeing no doubt pales in comparison to what once existed here. Thanks, as usual, for your continued support.
I've made it to Hamilton, and have gone to Tauranga for a couple of days. A lot of the Waikato has been underwater due to large amounts of rain which meant a lot of road walking through this section. Across all avenues we've raised just under $3000, and have started to gain media attention.
As always, thanks so much for your support; it means the world.
A group of 5 FMI sisters and Safe House staff, along with VSA volunteer Laura Barnett, travelled from East New Britain to Bougainville to learn about family and sexual violence, gender equality, and effective safe house management. Your support is what is going to help these ladies put their training into practice!
After a muddy four days, I managed to make my way across the Northland Forests (Herekino, Raetea, and Omahuta). The legs were tired, but the heart is strong and we continue to push on with the mission. It was an awesome surprise to see we've now passed the $2000 mark, and I want to continue thanking you all for your support and words of praise.
Apologies, but I'm having issues uploading photos to Give a Little. Will try to sort the issue when I have access to a computer (hopefully at the end of the week in Paihia). Until then, feel free to check out the Facebook page (link on the main description).
Just a quick update to let you all know that, after 3 long days, I have completed the first section of Te Araroa Trail. I had a very long first day (40km) and suffered on the second day from a limited supply of water. However, I managed to push through to Utea Park about two thirds down the beach, and had a long rest before bashing out the last 32km to Ahipara. Thank you so much to everyone who continues to donate (a special shoutout to the Chilean-Kiwi family who gave me some water on day 2). Your support and generosity are what keeps me going!
P.S. Check out the gallery for some new photos :)
Tony Glentworth and the team at SPOT NZ have very graciously donated me the use of one of their Gecko 73 GPS trackers for the during of my 2000 Miles for PNG Women. Not only will this keep me safe on the trail by giving me emergency response if things get dire, but it will also let you guys follow my journey!
They've set up a custom URL (below) where you can go to see my real-time (or close enough) GPS location at any point on the trip!
Thank you to everyone who has donated so far, it's been a week and the $1000 mark has already been surpassed! My leaving date is set for August 19th (next Saturday). Not long to go, I'm super excited for the challenge!
