Day 22, Parliament and where to from here.......

Wellington provided one of those wild wet and windy days that it is so renowned for. However it did not dampen my spirits, I was in Wellington and decided to walk to the Beehive from the Cambridge Hotel where we were staying. It certainly would not be a long walk. Wellington would have provided me with the worst weather of my hikoi. The winds would find wind tunnels through the concrete jungle that would almost lift me off my feet. Yes, I did go bare foot through the streets of Wellington to the Beehive.

The Cambridge Hotel has the most well presented backpackers (flashes) I have ever seen. Lots of room, tiled ablution areas, large kitchen area, not so large lounge but a wide screen TV where we watched the All Blacks ??????? to France. That is another story.

When I arrived at Parliament I was asked to wear shoes due to reasons of health and safety. Ironic is it not? Walk the whole north island bare foot to be told when we arrived at our destination that we had to wear shoes.

With relief once we reached Steve Maharey’s office I was allowed to remove them again. Well the meeting with Steve Maharey went well and I believe successfully, for he was able to answer questions that I put to him sufficiently to satisfy my team and I. We were informed that he and other relevant minister would be meeting with Cindy Kiro to discuss her proposal and to consider raising the profile of ‘Child Abuse’ issues under the umbrella of ‘Stop Family Violence’ campaign. The meeting would also include discussions about ring fencing funding for the different areas of family violence.

I left satisfied that the first phase of the ‘Blue Ribbon Campaign’ had been successful.

Where to from here? Well the hikoi is complete but the campaign to stop child abuse will continue. After a few days rest and enjoying family and being home the next phase will begin:

1. To closely monitor and track progress with discussion regarding Cindy Kiro’s proposal.
2. Continue to campaign against child abuse in NZ.
3. Identify a specific annual BlueRibbonCampaign day in NZ.
4. Develop a directory for national and regional links to services and providers working against child abuse. In addition providing information on how where and what those services and providers can do for the average lay person.
5. Provide links and statistics about child abuse locally and internationally on the web site. 6. Provide evidenced based research on child abuse on the web site.

Watch this site and see what will appear.

Day 21 Almost there

Wow, what a great little town Otaki is, a great shopping precinct. A number of new shops for young and old, many NZ owned, based and NZ produced products, a great satellite town for Wellington. There are trains available for direct commuting to Wellington. The safest and cleanest footpaths I have come across so far in the North Island, I did not have to wear shoes at all. Well done Otaki give yourselves a pat on the back. I will be back to do some shopping in the near future.

To the whanau from Dannivirke who were shopping in Otaki keep it up. You are doing well. To Austin and mum Andrea very photogenic thank you.

Paraparaumu shopping center on the main road is huge and we found lots of generous and friendly people there. We thought we would stop off for a short while. Not, a few hours later we finally left. We met up with some young men from Otaki while we were there who were just visiting for the day for shopping who joined us and supported the campaign.

I left my hand bag in the toilets and gratefully found there are still honest people around who had handed my bag in to customer services. To the person or persons who did that many many thanks.

There was lots of traffic on the roads with the last day of the school holidays. We had to drive the last 20kms due to motorways. Yeaaaaa, I am almost there, only one day to go. We are in Wellington finally, I feel on a high and feel I could now walk the South Island now, but don't tell Mike he will hit the roof (get angry). My feet are great feeling a little battered and bruised but the overall condition of them are remarkably good.

Tomorrow we go the Parliament to meet with Steve Maharey. So wish us luck. We will be lobbying for Cindy Kiro's proposal for mandatory in home well child checks for all children born in NZ from birth to 5 years. Watch this space and I will let you all know what happened.

Day 20, Levin

Arrived in Levin today to a sunny cold windy day, typical Manawatu/Horowhenua weather. However, the warm friendly welcome from the people in Levin was so good that we spent much longer there than expected. There were many people with differing opinions about stopping child abuse that I had some very intelligent and healthy debates.

There has been a theme that has followed me right throughout the North Island and that is that child abuse can not be stopped. I disagree. Mandatory inhome well child checks for all children born in NZ from birth to 5 years can stop child abuse in its track. For those families who miss 3 or more checks notification should be made to Child Youth and Family Services or the police.

For the average family who have their children seen by a well child service there will be little difference for those families that do not have their children seen regularly they will be paid a visit by one or other of the above services. Is this big brother being dictatory? yes. It is suppose to be targeted at those at risk families where there might be potential for child abuse and often they are the families that do not attend well child checks. Lets as New Zealanders take responsibility for our children and keep them safe. Stop child abuse today, my children have said that every day is a stop child abuse day.

It is crucial for the governmen to realistically fund those well child services already out there, services such as Plunket, Whanau Tamariki Ora, and Whanau Ora. Not just throw money out the all in sundry. A clearly set out strategy to back up those well child services when referral are made for families at risk are essential to stopping child abuse.

Benefit bonus related antenatal and parenting courses provides incentives to ensure attendance and a much wider acceptance of classes. CYFS is a child protection services not a child respite service and many New Zealanders are not aware of this. Setting up separate child protection and child support services are essential to the support of families at risk of child abuse rather than CYFS attending to attend to both and failing miserably at both.

Day 19, Fri 05.10.07. The Square

The boys (sons Akarana and Jaeson) and I got off to an early start cleaning, do housework and washing. Akarana informed me quite soundly that it was more fun while I was away because he did a lot more fun things than housework.

We arrived in the Square tied some balloons to the car in the Square car park and met up with a couple of supporters, particularly Marie, then proceeded to walk around the Square talking with different people on the way. We met up with Mayor Heather Tanguay and had some pics taken.

This was one of the highlights of the day. We bumped into Jono Naylor outside the Plaza and also had pics taken with him. My support team are very good at getting pics taken in many different situations.

I believe while talking to a reporter from the Manawatu Standard our cameraperson for the day was taking pictures of the Manawatu Standard cameraperson taking pictures of my feet. We started off early today and then we were leaving Palmerston North late. I had too much fun in the Square.

Once we left Palmerston North we (Mate my previous driver and support team member) headed off to Foxton and met up with Edeena who walked through Foxton with me. I then continued walking on my own but did not quite reach Levin by the end of the day. I will therefore start tomorrow just north of Levin.

We stopped off at New World on Pioneer Highway and had problems paying for our groceries. The staff at New World were very patient and helpful while we scurried around finding sufficient funds. So thank you to those staff members for their friendly helpful manner. Yea, I am nearly there and still standing, only 3 more days to go. I am not slimmer or trimmer as I had expected I am in fact heavier, muscle weight... I have a few blisters clearing up now, creaked heals, slightly swollen aging ankles and now I am getting quite tired at the end of the day. Not to worry near the end and then I can rest, yes…….

Day 18 Aunty Rae and Gordon

The day started off sunshine and warm. The Rangitikei River looks beautiful at this time of the year. There was little to see between Mangaweka and Bulls except the indication that spring is here with the numbers of new lambs bouncing around in the paddocks.

Hunterville looks as though it is moving forward with new homes and a clean up. There are a couple of very interesting shops that I never knew were there that I will make a point of returning to when I have more time.

Mike and I stopped off to see Aunty Rae and Gordon for afternoon tea before we headed towards Sanson. It was a good time to catch up and for Aunty Rae to inspect my feet and give instructions to continue to take of them..I must have hit the rush ½ hour between Bulls and Sanson because there were heaps of cars and trucks going through. I suppose many came from Ohakea Airforce base.

Palmerston North was not originally on the hikoi route because it was off State Highway 1 but the team and I decided we were ahead of time by ½ a day so would spend an extended lunch time in the Palmerston North Square for the many supporters I had that lived in and around Palmerston North. That would also fit in with me returning home for the night. Hey it was great to get home and find the house it a mess, it meant the boys left at home missed me…. That is my excuse and I’s sticking to it. It was nice to be home and find that Akarana was feeling much improved.

Day 17, Cold then warm

Woke to cold and chilly Waiouru and after yesturday's icy winds I had to purchase a warm ski hat to prevent my ears freezing again. The sleet had started and we were keen to get away, but before we left the far reaching outskirts of Waiouru the snow started to fall so I was walking as fast as I could to get distance between Waiouru and the snow.

The roads are well maintained in the central plateau. The roads are newly sealed so I followed previous request that I wear some sort of footwear on newly sealed roads to help preserve my feet from the snow and icy roads.

On arrival inTaihape we were greeted with balloons tied to power poles and a group of children with blue balloons to welcome us to Taihape, what a beautiful welcome. We all had photo together and Mike and I had a short interview with Taihape Times newspaper.

We arrived in Mangaweka much earlier than expected because there were many areas along the road that were not safe to walk so we had to drive. In Mangaweka we met and stayed with Hariata and Giuseppe and were treated to real, delicious, home made Italian spagetti.

Day 16, Desert Road

Woke to a beautiful misty view of lake Taupo from the Christian camp. We were all bleary eyed and tired after Akarana kept us all awake for most of the night with a irritating dry cough. Consequently we made a quick stop off in Turangi to the chemist for cough syrup then we hit the road.

The forecast for the Desert Road was for gale force winds on the straights. They forgot to include hail, sleet, snow and sunshine. It was freezing........ nearly froze my ears off without a hat and made the need for toileting facilities along the way more urgent. I was not sure whether the winds or the trucks with their turbulence were going to blow me off the roads. I had to rotate between my ski jacket, rain coat, hikoi jacket, tee shirt, then back to ski jacket. It was crazy I was changing coats, shoes and clothing every kilometer or so. I would get, hot, wet, cold, and back again. It was a very exhilarating experience.

We arrived in Waiouru military camp to find the main gates of old are no longer the main gates and had to go around past the museum to find Monique and our accommodations for the night. Following dinner of fish and chips Whaea Mate and Akarana returned to Palmerston North and I had Mike all to myself for 2 whole days.

Day 15, south from Taupo

Left Linda's house in Taupo for town to send emails and updates to the blog page due to earlier technical problems. We met Cameron Walker at the cyber cafe in Taupo, Cameron was full of information and help and very adapt at computer usage, he set us on the right track.

Following that we were off towards Turangi and on the way we encountered an earthquake that gave us one hell of a fright. The road buckled the garage sign shook, and the buildings swayed. We thought this might be a blow from mount Ruapehu but thankfully we were wrong.

We made it to Turangi before 5 PM and had an interview on Tu Wharetua FM with Anaru, an announcer. Once completed we headed to Turangi Christian Camp and met up with Jenni and Alesha and a lovely meal.

Mike my husband and Akarana our son would join us later tonight and on the march tomorrow. However they found it difficult to find the camp due to the heavy rain and darkness.

Day 14 Kea Motel, Putararu

To Ronnie B. And Jackie in Putararu thank you for putting us up for the
last couple of days and good luck for your future plans. Off to
Atiamuri to start our day, my feet feeling much better today and after
and good nights sleep though I was still feeling a little tired.

Nothing and no one was at Atiamuri today so off to Wairakei we headed.
Busy as usual, traffic going both ways.

Taupo was buzzing with a Gypsy fair in town and a busy Sunday lots of
tourists from around the world.
Great to see many children with their parents in the park.

I wore shoes offered by our driver Faye a few days ago while in town......
That Taitokerau muzzy bite continues to cause problems and my foot did
start to ache. I had a very moving moment while in Taupo with an
elderly couple, during a heavy rain shower we stepped into the rain together and
spread out our arms and raised our faces to the sky. What a wonderful
display of disregard for the norm "to seek cover from the rain". I was
thanked by the elderly gentlemen for encouraging him to join me in my
moment of joy at the world in that instant.

At the conclusion of our day we headed to Linda's for the night to try
her spa pool out, however the wet weather prevented this (the spa pool) from
happening. So thank you Linda and Bruce for your cosy comfortable home
for the night.