Cycling Tour Aotearoa Raising $5K for Piha Surf Lifesaving Club

It’s been a dream of mine to complete the challenge of cycling the Tour Aotearoa - from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Finally, on February 7, my dream is coming true as my 72 year old stepdad, stepbrother and I kick off our cycle of New Zealand. Because my love of the outdoors started when I was a young fulla and I joined the Piha Surf Life Saving Club (Piha SLSC) almost 30 years ago, I thought it would be a great idea to raise some money for this fantastic organisation as I sweat my way around the country.

Tour Aotearoa is one of the world’s great bike packing trips: stretching 3,000 km from the top to bottom of our beautiful country. It follows a combination of cycle trails, tracks, paths and lanes connected by country roads. The route is designed to highlight the best New Zealand Cycle Trail Great Rides, Heartland Rides, and quiet back country roads.

I wanted to use this cycle challenge as a fundraiser for Piha SLSC because this organisation has meant so much to me since I joined as a teenager. It was the first real community I found in Auckland after moving to the city and patrolling the beach every year keeps me connected to the land, sea and sky. Although Piha is a dangerous swimming beach, it continues to be very popular with beachgoers. Its dangerous waters means rescues are not uncommon and without the support of volunteers, many lives would be lost each year to drownings.

Last year, volunteers totaled up a huge 4,618 hours, 21 rescues, 6 searches, 52 first aids, 1308 preventative actions and 7,815 safety interventions. Piha SLSC in a not-for-profit organisation and relies heavily upon sponsorship, grants, funding and donations to be able to provide the level of service required at Piha Beach, one of the busiest and most dangerous beaches in Auckland. The very high number of visitors is increasing over time and this requires more services, more volunteers and longer opening hours than most other clubs.

Reaching my target fundraising amount ($5,000) would have a huge impact on the club and its volunteers. It would enable Piha SLSC to provide more training and purchase additional equipment to help make volunteers’ jobs easier. It would also help to maintain the great lifesaving patrols the club provides that are so necessary during the summer.