Walking for a real purpose and for pleasure
A 78-year-old cancer survivor walks the 1,700 km of the Te Araroa Trail on North Island, New Zealand, to raise money for Child Cancer.
Bay of Plenty
I'm a 78-year-old, diagnosed with bowel cancer 5 years ago, and after a successful operation, and all clear, I was back out there again.
Seeing photographs of really young children struck down by cancer, and undergoing horrible treatment made my heart go out to them and their families. I wanted to help in some small way, so I opened up a “Give a Little” page and began a journey along New Zealand’s longest, 3,000 km trail, the Te Araroa, from Cape Reinga to Bluff.
It's a VERY long walk, but the thought of doing this for such a wonderful cause has kept me focused and not worrying too much about my blisters!
I hope people will continue to help me along this arduous journey by donating to this worthy cause, via the Child Cancer Foundation. They support these children and their families during a very dark period of their lives.
Latest update. I’ve had a prolonged break to try and fix a very sore foot, which, sadly, hasn’t worked. Anyway, I'm going to ignore it in the hope it goes away and get back on my walk when the weather cools down. It's too hot now for me, and I'll melt. I have covered 1,000 km north from Wellington to Puhoi, just north of Auckland, with another 6-700 km to get to Cape Reinga.
I sincerely thank those who have very generously donated, and we’ve raised nearly $5,000 so far. Thank you for coming on board with me on my journey. I’d really like to finish this section in one hit, provided my poor old foot holds up :).
Donate to my new page here: https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/78-year-old-cancer-survivor-walking-1700-km
Duncan Smith's involvement (page creator)
I'm a 78-year-old bowel cancer survivor walking the 1,700 km North Island section of the Te Araroa Trail, to raise money for the Child Cancer Foundation who help families whose children have been struck with cancer.
Other page links
Latest update
On the trail again!! 12 April 2023
Hi everyone, I've been a bit quiet over the past few months, as I rested up due to a bit of a foot problem which I had hoped would heal up. One of my feet feels like I'm walking on a large pebble, which is quite uncomfortable. Sadly, it hasn't improved, but I thought, to hell with it. I'll ignore it and it might go away! So, I plan to continue on my journey again north. I began in Wellington, and got to Hamilton. It took 35 days, and I covered just under 1,000 km. So I am pleased with my progress. The next section I want to do is from Auckland to Cape Reinga, which is 400 km, and looks very inspiring! It goes along the east coast to the Bay of Islands and beyond for many days before crossing over to the west coast and up to the cape. Not sure how long it will take, as it will depend on the weather and the terrain, I guess. I'm looking forward to it, as I'm getting older by the day!! Looking at the recent weather it looks a bit miserable atm, but hopefully, it will cheer up a bit and make my trip enjoyable. I hope to meet others on the trail, it's always nice to meet folk and walk along with them for a while.
Thank you all for your wonderful support. I have been recently donated a further $135 by some lovely folks I worked with as a Census Collector here in Whakatane - A team Whakatane!!. So that will take my donations over $4,100 now!! Awesome. I'll try to give you all a further update as and when I can. Kia Ora
Latest donations
Linsey, thank you so much for your very kind donation for the Child Cancer Foundation. I've been resting up for a few weeks and will get back on the trail again in the New Year. I have 500 km to walk from Cape Reinga back down to Puhoi to complete the whole of North Island. Then try and do some of South Island before winter. Thanks again 😃
Hello Jamie, thank you so.much for your very kind donation for my journey. I'm resting up at the moment to repair a damaged foot, but plan to get out there again as soon as I can. Thanks again, cheers, Duncan
Hi, thank you so much for your very generous donation towards my walk for the Child Cancer Foundation. It was very kind indeed of you. I hope to get on it in spring, when thexwrather might be more settled up morth, where I begin walking back down to Hamilton, where I finished up. That will complete the North Iskand section of the Te Araroa, leaving the South Island to do. Phew!
Hi Russell, WOW thank you so much for your incredible donation again. That is superb 😍. Cheers, Duncan
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