Healing from trauma on the Te Araroa Trail - Updates

We made it to Bluff!!!

27 April 2022

Greetings friends and whānau,

It's been a couple of weeks since we walked into Bluff and came off the Trail, and as you can imagine, it's been bittersweet.

We've both celebrated our birthdays - I spent mine on a mountain while Emilie spent hers getting spoiled by Mummy.

She's delighted to reunite with her toys while I'm slowly adjusting to civil society while planning more adventures into the hills - and maybe a book!

We want to thank you all for being part of our journey and for all your love and support.

I won't lie - at times it was a long and lonely journey as we were damp, smelly, sore and tired, but you believed we could do it and we did!

We walked 2200kms over six months, from our start on Ninety Mile Beach, our restart in Taumaranui (skipping the best part of Northland, Auckland and Waikato due to lockdown), our journey though to Wellington, across to Picton and walking the entire length of the South Island.

We met many wonderful people along the way who touched our hearts, as have all of you.

From our hearts to yours, thank you so much for coming on this journey with us and for your generous support towards our fundraising efforts.

Much love,

Victoria & Emilie

PS. Here's the link to my recent interview with Radio New Zealand's Jim Mora where we talk about PTSD and the power of spending time in wild places:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018838484/victoria-bruce-walking-the-length-of-aotearoa

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We're so close to reaching our goal!

5 April 2022

Hello everyone!

We're so excited to tell you that we only have 250kms of the South Island to go before we reach Bluff!

As I write this update, we've been on the Trail for 128 days and we've survived slips, tumbles, wasp stings and a nasty e-bike accident that left poor Mum nursing a minor concussion and bruised rotator cuff.

I won't lie, it's been a tough few weeks with a few tears shed between us, but our goal is so close and we're very excited to get to Bluff and to have walked the entire length of the South Island.

Your love and support has been invaluable during these tough times and we thank you all for being with us on this journey.

Together we've walked over 1800 kms and we've raised over $19,500 for the Mental Health Foundation and Federated Mountain Clubs.

We're so close to reaching our goal!

Thank you all so much for your generous donations and your support - it means the world to us.

Fingers and toes crossed that we'll reach our fundraising goal before we reach Bluff.

Sending lots of love,

Victoria and Emilie

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Celebrating 100 days on Te Araroa!

22 February 2022

Kia ora to all our beautiful friends and supporters ❤️

Emilie and I have reached the 100-day milestone of our Te Araroa adventure, walking into Takapō/Tekapo on the weekend!

We're also less than $5,000 off reaching our $20,000 fundraising goal, thanks to your generous support!!

These funds are going to the Mental Health Foundation and Federated Mountain Clubs, connecting advocacy for mental health and wellbeing with the protection of Aotearoa's wild places.

As you can imagine, some days have been tough as we get tired and hungry (and smelly!), but stopping to admire the scenery and reflect on how lucky we are to be out here together helps get us through.

We're very grateful to have received lots of lovely support along the way, from people giving us a lift, sharing their stories, some kai, hospitality and their time.

You can read our latest update on our Wilderlife blog, hosted by Federated Mountain Clubs, or check out this lovely story by Keiller MacDuff from the Timaru Herald:

https://i.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/127836512/100-days-under-their-belt-duo-embarks-on-second-half-of-nationwide-trek

Or watch this short video to see what the past few days have been like for us:

https://youtu.be/zK8m_OgkAmI

Kia kaha and thank you for being part of our journey!

Xxx Victoria and Emilie

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Thank you for your generosity and support

27 January 2022

Kia ora friends and supporters,

Thank you so much for your generosity and support on our big journey.

Together we've raised over $11,000 for the Mental Health Foundation and Federated Mountain Clubs and we're over halfway to meeting our fundraising goal.

Since our last update Emilie and I have walked over 1,100kms across New Zealand. We started this amazing adventure at Cape Reinga and walked the length of Ninety Mile Beach before resuming our journey at Taumaranui and continuing Te Araroa all the way to Wellington.

We plan to go back north to complete the sections we missed in Northland, Auckland and Waikato, but for now we'll continue with the beautiful South Island.

We started at Ship's Cove in the Queen Charlotte Sounds on 16 December and spent Christmas and New Year's in the mighty Richmond Ranges. We've now completed the Nelson Lakes and Harper Pass sections and will head into Arthur's Pass later this week.

It's been wonderful to meet a few of you along the way! Thanks so much for sharing our journey and for your generosity and support.

You can read all about our journey on our Wilderlife blog, hosted by Federated Mountain Clubs: https://wilderlife.nz/2022/01/nelson-lakes/

This video shows our big day climbing over the mighty Waiau Pass, the highest point on Te Araroa at 1870m. Lots of dreamy mountain scenery!

https://youtu.be/1c3N6tGqu6Y

If you're on social media, do follow along on our Facebook and Instagram for our latest updates.

https://www.instagram.com/adventures_with_emilie/

https://m.facebook.com/AdventureswithEmilie/

Sending lots of love and aroha,

Victoria and Emilie

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We've walked 680kms but we've still got a long way to go!

8 December 2021

Kia ora friends, we wanted to let you know we've now walked 680kms of Te Araroa and we're so grateful for your support!

Just yesterday we staggered out of the mighty Tararuas, covered in mud and soaking wet but feeling very proud of ourselves. This is one of the toughest sections in the North Island - you can read all about it on our Wilderlife blog or jump onto Instagram for photos and videos.

https://wilderlife.nz/category/adventures_with_emilie/

The countdown is on for Christmas and while it's the festive season, for many people this is a really tough time of year. It can be a time of great loneliness as we miss friends and family, compounded with the global Covid situation and extended lockdowns.

The money you've donated is going to the Mental Health Foundation to help those in need in times of crisis.

It's also going to Federated Mountain Clubs who advocate to keep access open to our beautiful back country, so we can all experience the healing power of nature.

We'd love you to share our story with your friends and networks so we can reach our fundraising goal.

With much aroha, Victoria & Emilie

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200kms of Te Araroa and counting

31 October 2021

Kia ora whānau!

We're more than 200kms into our Te Araroa journey and we wanted to send you all some aroha and say thanks for your support!

Together we've raised over $7,000 for the Mental Health Foundation and Federated Mountain Clubs - how cool is that!?

These funds will go towards ensuring everyday New Zealanders are supported to have positive mental health and wellbeing, and, because we know spending time in nature makes us feel good, we want to ensure people can continue to access our country's beautiful wild places.

Our Te Araroa journey got off to a good start - we made it down Ninety Mile Beach in the beautiful Far North before a return to level 3 lockdown meant we had to pick up the Trail elsewhere.

You can read all about our Te Araroa beachland adventures here: https://wilderlife.nz/2021/10/te-araroa-beachlands/

We resumed the Trail in Taumaranui, the heart of the central north island, and walked through to Tongariro. Check out our latest YouTube video for some of the highlights: https://youtu.be/2lR3v83dy14

Then we took six days off to tackle the remote and challenging Round the Mountain track, around Mt Ruapehu, while we waited for the Whanganui River levels to go down so we can continue our journey south - by canoe!

It's been a big adventure for both of us and Emilie has been an utter champion. While there's plenty of fun to be had, we've had our down times too- cold, wet, tired and hungry --but it's good to know you guys are behind us!

Follow along on Instagram, Facebook or our Wilderlife blog for the latest stories.

Sending you lots of aroha,

Xx Victoria and Emilie

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Two more sleeps before Te Araroa!

30 September 2021

Kia ora whanau, we can't believe it's almost time for us to start our big walk across Aotearoa New Zealand!

On Friday, we fly north and everything going well, we'll be setting off down 90 Mile Beach on Saturday morning.

Thank you all so much for your love and support as we embark on this journey of a lifetime. If you haven't already, check out our Instagram account (Adventures with Emilie) where we'll share stories as we wander along the Trail. We'll also share regular updates on our blog, hosted by the good sorts at Federated Mountain Clubs.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adventures_with_emilie/?hl=en

Blog: https://wilderlife.nz/category/adventures_with_emilie/

As this week is Mental Health Awareness week, I wrote a piece on PTSD and the healing power of nature, talking about how spending time in nature has helped my recovery.

Did you see us on Seven Sharp last week? That was exciting! Here's the link to watch it online in case you missed it: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/mum-and-daughter-duo-set-walk-new-zealand

We're stoked to have raised almost $6,000 of our $20,000 goal for the Mental Health Foundation and Federated Mountain Clubs, bringing together that important connection between spending time outdoors and our wellbeing.

Thank you all for your love and support and we'll keep you in our hearts as we walk Te Araroa.

xxx Victoria and Emilie

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Two weeks to go until we're on the Trail!

16 September 2021

Kia ora tātoe, there's just two weeks to go until we fly north to start our big journey on Te Araroa and I must say, we've been overwhelmed by all the aroha and support from beautiful people like yourselves from all over New Zealand.

Tēnā koutou and a very big thank you to you all!

Sending lots of love and aroha your way. You guys are amazing and together we've raised almost $5,000 for the Mental Health Foundation and Federated Mountain Clubs, so they can continue their great mahi to keep access to New Zealand's wild places open to all of us, as we know it's so good for our wellbeing to reconnect with nature.

Some exciting updates - we've received a bunch of goodies, presents and care packages to help us on our journey, and Miss Emilie has been busy creating beautiful thank you cards, complete with illustrations.

We've been sharing updates on our Instagram account, Adventures with Emilie, so if you haven't yet, jump on and follow along.

https://www.instagram.com/adventures_with_emilie/

Our partners Federated Mountain Clubs are hosting a blog of our journey on their website - check out the latest story where we reflect back on our very first overnight tramp and how far we've come since then.

https://wilderlife.nz/2021/09/anxious-and-overloaded/

Last weekend Miss Emilie celebrated her 50th overnight tramp and added Wharfedale Hut in Canterbury's Oxford Forest Conservation Area to her growing list - "hut-bagging" is a thing!

And last of all, you might like to tune into TVNZ's Seven Sharp next week to see Miss Emilie talk about why she loves tramping, dish the dirt on some of Mummy's most embarrassing tramping moments, and maybe talk a little about our Te Araroa adventure 💚. It should be airing on Thursday - but we'll send you the link to watch online in case you miss it.

Tēnā koutou and all our thanks for your love and support - sending lots of aroha back to you all, especially our friends in Auckland who have been complete legends during the extended lockdown.

Ngā mihi nui,

Victoria and Emilie

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Thanks so much - you guys are amazing!

6 September 2021

Kia ora everyone,

Emilie and I wanted to check in with you all and say a big thank you for all of your love and support – it’s been amazing!

Together we have raised almost $3,500 towards our $20,000 target for the Mental Health Foundation and Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand to help promote the connection between nature and our wellbeing.

Thank you all so much for your contribution – we couldn’t achieve this without you!

As you can imagine, it was pretty scary for me to open up and share my mental health journey of what it’s like to live with post-traumatic stress disorder, and I’ve been very grateful for the love and support I’ve received from so many of you.

There’s one more thing – we need your help to connect with more people across New Zealand so they can follow our big journey, learn about the healing power of nature and help us reach our fundraising target.

We’d love you to share our page with your networks and on your social media too. If you know anyone who you think might enjoy reading our story and connecting with us, please share this with them.

We’ve got less than four weeks to go before we start our Te Araroa adventure (Alert Levels permitting) so we’re busy preparing like mad and looking forward to sharing this big adventure with you!

The good folks at Federated Mountain Clubs are hosting a blog of our stories – we’ve shared a few so far and you can read them here: https://wilderlife.nz/category/adventures_with_emilie/

You can also follow us on Instagram at @Adventures_with_Emilie to see what else we’re getting up to.

Sending you lots of love,

Victoria and Emilie xx

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Thank you for your support!

30 August 2021

Kia ora! We're excited to share that we've nearly reached $2,000 in donations so far - thank you so much for all your love and support 💝

We'd love it if you could share our mission with others so we can reach our goal of raising $20,000 for mental health and access to New Zealand's wild places, to ensure everyone is able to experience the healing power of nature.