Cycling for Conservation- An Aotearoa Adventure

My name is Sarah Battson. I grew up in the South Island on the edge of the Mount Aspiring National Park and, for the last 4 years, have called Taupo home. As a physiotherapist I worked for 6 years for Snow Sports NZ, travelling the world with our winter Olympic athletes. I am now based at Fox Physio in Taupo with Jeff and his fabulous team.

My travels brought home to me how lucky we are to live in Aotearoa and how important it is to protect and improve it for future generations. For the last 2 years I has been involved with establishing and maintaining the Batts Trapline, running between Spa Park and Huka Falls. Through this work I has witnessed first hand the positive effects that eliminating predators has on the native bird life. I’m passionate about conservation and sustainability issues, I love my new community, and I also like to set myself challenges! This is why in March 2022, I’m taking a month out of work (thanks Jeff and patients!) to cycle the length of our beautiful country and, at the same time, raise funds for Greening Taupo

Greening Taupo is a fantastic local initiative based around collaboration and involvement, as well as buy-in from the community, to ensure we create a sustainable future for our environment for future generations to enjoy. The objective of Greening Taupo is to improve the Taupo environment for people and native wildlife by doing restoration planting and pest control to create ecological corridors which allow the number of native birds to flourish.

Tour Aotearoa is a 3,000 km bikepacking adventure from Cape Reinga at the top of New Zealand, to Bluff at the bottom. Riders must finish between 10 and 30 days. Riding conditions vary from rough single tracks, to beaches, dirt roads, gravel roads, sealed roads, cycle lanes, trails and paths, and 5 boat trips. It means cycling 100+km per day, often off road, and needing to be self-sufficient for pretty much the whole ride. I’m aiming to complete the 3000km in around 23-30 days.

I’m excited about having the opportunity to see more of our beautiful country and at the same time give something back to my hometown and local environment.

What can you do?

• Follow my preparations on Instagram

• Track how I’m getting on once I start riding, by on the Tour Aotearoa website: https://touraotearoa2022.maprogress.com/?bib=SCB

• Make a small ‘per km’ donation via the Give-a-Little page

A small contribution can make a BIG difference . Knowing I have your backing will also make a big difference to me on the days when the rain is pouring down and my legs are tired!

Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata, haere whakamua. Care for the land, care for the people, go forward.

Nga mihi nui