To honour the memory of Russell Cullen
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Time to close....
16 February 2023It's coming up to 12 months since the last TA and those leaving on this years are looking to make their way. So a good time to close this appeal.
On behalf of Russell's family and Wingspan, I would like to sincerely thank you for your generosity. I know Wingspan have got some great projects to use your generousity to both to help the future of the Karearea and Russell's legacy.
When you are next passing through Rotorua, don't forget to pop into Wingspan and see first hand the fantastic work they do.
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Russell's best friend Syd, to continue Russell's ride...
13 October 2022Please find below a message from Syd. As a result of this, we will adjust the target of Russell's campaign to $15,000.
Kia ora
Russell and I were good friends for 50 years, staying in contact wherever we lived. We shared many interests including a love of the bush and birds – kārearea, the super swift New Zealand falcon, a particular favourite.
After spending time with Rose and Russell’s family when he died the idea of riding from Whanganui to Bluff – completing Russell’s ride – started to form. His family were very supportive, so I am giving it a go - hoping to add another chapter to Russell’s story.
Over the last two summers I walked the Te Araroa Trail, the length of New Zealand. When nearing his home in Warkworth Russell used to pick me up and drop me off at the trailheads at the beginning and end of a day. He got very interested in the trail and, while walking the trail wasn’t his cup of tea, cycling a similar route was. He got the bug and started training for Tour Aotearoa.
Much of the Te Araroa Trail is in the bush, hills and mountains whereas Tour Aotearoa is mostly on roads and cycle paths. The Trail and the Tour overlap in some places such as Ninety Mile Beach and the Pureora Timber Trail. I used to follow Russell’s progress on his bike (just as he had mine a couple of years earlier) using the Tour Aotearoa map that tracks riders’ progress.
I have a Spot tracker registered with Tour Aotearoa and can be followed here (Kārearea II): https://touraotearoa2023.maprogress.com/?bib=SJK#
I leave from Whanganui Monday 17 October (weather permitting) and hope to be in Wellington 7 or 8 (or so) days later. I plan to reconvene for the South Island leg probably in early 2023 (maybe earlier). We are keeping this Givealittle page open so that anyone who would like to can still contribute.
Russell was very keen to support his interest in threatened species. Wingspan do terrific work helping kārearea re-establish and thrive in the wild (other raptors too). Thank you for your support.
If you have never seen a falcon in the bush, especially around nesting time, here goes a link to one I met in Lake Sumner Forest Park https://www.instagram.com/p/CJnlnl0hmrf/
There have been a couple of great articles about Russell on Stuff in the past few days:
In loving memory of Russell Cullen, a true friend
We appreciate you have all been so generous, so this time would appreciate it if you could forward to some friends who might like to support Syd's ride.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you
11 October 2022On behalf of Russell's family and Wingspan, I would like to sincerely thank you. Thanks to your generosity and the work of Ryan at Stuff, we have hit our target.
This will go along way to building a lasting legacy for Russell and help the great conservation work Wingspan are doing for the Karearea.
I know that Wingspan have some great plans for the legacy and I'll share the details with you all, once finalised.
Soar High Russell!
Ngā mihi nui
Robert
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