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.

Day 13 a short day.

We stayed another night at Ronnie's and Jackie's Putaruru Kea Motel. This couple took us in and treated us as family and made us feel right at home

Woke to a brisk sunny day and a lovely cooked breakfast, then found I had left my contacts book and cell phone charger behind in Hamilton. So, back to Cambridge to meet up with Roni (another one) and retrieve my forgotten things. Returned to Putaruru for a start to the day and headed to Tokoroa. It was a fairly quiet day but a lot of traffic still. Thanks to the truckies on the road, they are consistently friendly.

Mate gave me a pair of sandals to wear for my feet that were still feeling bruised. The blisters as you see on the blog a few days ago have improved, but for the one between my feet from the jandals a couple of days ago.

Today was a short day with a late start having to returned to Cambridge, and I wanted an early finish because I was tired. My legs felt tired and I wanted to go for a nanny nap. Not surprising when I was up until after 1am last night. That was because after collecting whea Mate on Friday night she became progressively unwell until at 10 PM I needed to take her to Tokoroa hospital for treatment. What fast service we were given there. No waiting time, we walked straight in and were attended to immediately. Fortunately following a good nights sleep Whea Mate woke bright and chirpy saturday morning rearing to go.

Day 12 Better than yesterday.

My feet were quite sore and felt battered from yesterday. I needed to attend to my feet particularly the blisters. Ronnie encouraging me to wear some decent foot wear rather than jandals while we were in Cambridge. I actually wore the shoes I was given while in Auckland.

This I did but by 11 o'clock I needed to take the shoes off and let my feet free.

My feet were feeling much better all round once I took the shoes off. The blister between my toes is the only issue that continue to need attention.

Many thanks to the number of supporters that provided me with a sun hat, ribbon for my hat, foot cream, nail polish and notice boards.

I spent most of the afternoon repairing my signs for our vehicle. Then handed off towards Tirau in the brilliant afternoon sun. Hey there are a couple of great shops in Tirau e.g. The Clock shop and the antique shop.

Ronnie then headed home to Hamilton and then I was off to Putaruru to meet up with Mate and a cool lady called Liz who had similar thoughts, ideas and experiences as Mate and I so we all shared the same accommodation.

Day 11 Battered and Bruised Feet.

I wore jandals all day today because I was walking through Hamilton city and there was a lot of glass on the foot paths and on the road to Cambridge. My feet are in the worst condition since the start of the Hikoi.

I have blisters to both feet and between my toes. My heels are cracked and hurting and the soles of my feet are feeling battered and bruised. I have the photos to prove it. I hope I can upload the photos.

I had a hot bath, foot massage and applied some calandular to both feet. I will need to check my feet in the morning to decide what I will need to do to enable me to continue, for continue I will.

The bright part of the day was the absolutely beautiful sunny day put on by Waikato and the company of Sue and her 2 girls Leah and Rebekah for the whole day. Lovely to have company for the day. I asked that they all wear shoes due to the amount of broken glass around.

Day 10 Huntly

Set off from Te Kauwhata to Huntly, what a delightful little town. I felt welcomed the moment I reached it. The residents weregenerous, supportive and encouraging and it was a beautiful warm sunny day. I could live in this small Waikato town. I spent a lot more time there than I should have and the bakery shops had some tempting, scrumptious looking foods. No, I did not indulge.

On to Tauiri and Ngaruawahia where I met up with Roni and Tylah for the next leg of the hikoi. Roni needed some coaching on requirements for the driver and off we went. Roni is a fast learner, Tylah joined me on the road and enjoyed waving to all the traffic going by.

At the end of our day avoiding all the roads works into Hamilton we went to visit Aunty Natalie, Pheonix and Adam to catch up on news. Then home to another long hot soak in the bath then butter chicken for tea.

Day 9 South Auckland

Off to a good start in Papatoetoe, lots of traffic, so not safe to walk on the actual roads better for the cars, and for me to walk on the footpaths. I also needed to wear shoes due to the amount of glass and sharp objects on the foot paths. My feet did not like having shoes on.

Once we reached Papakura, with great relief I took the shoes off. Met up with cousin Nomi and children in Papakura. It was great for Faye and I to catch up with Nomi. Papakura has certainly grown since I lived there in my formative years. The children joined me on the hikoi until the skies opened up again and we all got drenched. The children went home to get changed and Faye and I carried on to Drury. From there we made our way to the Pokeno ice cream shop and met some of the staff from Hamilton City Council who appriciated my need to depart and continue with the hikoi.

Mercer was pretty quiet so we continued on through Meremere and on to Te Kauwhata (aka Tekawata) where we spent the night with Karen and Chris in their brand new house. I had a long hot bath and a quiet evening spent with friends and family of these two.

Faye leaves me here and returns home to husband and children, and tomorrow I meet up with Ronnie in Ngaruawahia for the next leg of the hikoi.

Day 8 Aucklanders

Sorry Aucklanders, there were way too many cars, trucks and vehicles of all sorts on the roads today. The roads do not allow for a lot of street parking and I can see why. I tried to go bare foot through central city but to do so would cause me grave multiple injuries, so the faithful versatile jandles came out again. Yes, yes it seems to defeat the purpose of the Hikoi. However I did not train as a nurse and get a degree or two just to send my brain on holiday at critical times. Being of sound and rational mind I need to keep myself safe and be realistic and to WEAR something on my feet when walking on glass.

Faye again kept the pace on and we made it down Great South Road all the way to Papatotoe. It was like a trip through East Asian food markets. The smell of the rich spicy foods was delectable. However we did not stop to partake, why? Some might ask. Rationally we are walking along the road and do not always know where we might stop for the rest rooms.

Met up with Uncle Jacko and a top up of the much needed and appreciated drinks. H2Go kiwi fruit flavour is better warm or even diluted in hot water to drink rather than chilled. Thanks Uncle Jacko, good luck with your plans for retirement.

I was given a pair of shoes to wear for tomorrow to wear on the Hikoi. As stated previously I will accept the hand of help and wear the shoes; however I also stated I will start each day bare foot. I will see how it goes.

We stopped just in time to purchase a couple of items before heading home for a rest when a thunder and hail storm fell on the city drenching everything. This did not help progress on the return home along the motorway during peak hour traffic. I believe it took us approximately an hour and a half to travel 20kms along the motorway. I do not envy Aucklanders.

Day 7 Hello Faye

Once my suite case was found and Aunty Rene ensured we were all packed in the vehicles back to Warkworth we went. This is a quaint looking town with paved footpaths that I thought would be fine to walk on. The brick paving areas were great but once back on the concrete foot paths I found lots of bits of glass everywhere. I was soundly informed by my driver (and big sister) that it would be advisable to wear something on my feet when in towns due to the amount of glass. Adhering to one of the goals of this hikoi: ‘Accept the hand of help.’ I now carry jandles with me for the specific purpose of walking on footpaths in towns.

Once Warkworth was completed I said my good byes to Puna, Bailey and Rene. Thanks Puna for all the advice and suggestions along the way to give to all my subsequent drivers.

Hello to Aunty Faye and whanau at Waiwera. Joining me now are new driver Faye and whanau Koralan and all off to Orewa and Silverdale where the power was out along with Warkworth and nobody knew why.

Faye being keen and energetic after her recent trip to Holland, picked up the pace and we reached North Shore by 4pm. Unlucky for us the rain came down in bucket loads. Walking without shoes was near impossible but I did not have any shoes to put on so tried my jandles. Now we all know jandles are absolutely useless in the rain, particularly rain this heavy, so off home we went to an admonishment from Ant (Faye's husband) to "harden up!". It was the difficulty with traffic being able to see us, not the fact it was wet, that sent us home.

Day 6 Slippery in the rain.....

Started our walk from Kamo north end of Whangarei, a fast treacherous walk through Whangarei. It was very wet with heavy rain making it difficult to walk. My feet were getting injured slipping on the wet road surface so I moved to the foot path and found that just as slippery not easy walking. I now have grazes to the soles of both feet. It is not good or safe practice to walk bare footed on foot paths. I sustained cuts from half and dozen glass shards in one foot and a couple more in the other. The blister that started the other day is now bigger and a little painful now but, no blood yet.

Got to the Ruakaka junctions petrol station and takeaways, was given fried bread and hot chips for lunch. Thanks ladies. We drove over the Brynderwyn’s and started walking at Kaiwaka as the rain stopped. Again a fast walk from Kaiwaka to Wellsford. It was pretty late and getting dark by the time we got the Southern end of Wellsford so we called it a day and decided to head off to Waiwera for a hot bath. This was to be Puna’s and Bailey’s last full day with me.

Had our hot bath, came out exhausted, ate then straight to bed for us all. Found ourselves locked in our rooms and could not get the door open so had to use the back door, which was not a hardship except we had to carry all our bags around the buildings. Mentioning bags, while packing the cars up again I found I did not have my suitcase. We look everywhere but due to the locked door and hot baths I did not realize I did not take it into our room. Talking to the manager I found another resident had found it in the car park while we were unloading and thought someone had forgotten it and once given to the manager she put it in her garage until claimed. Wow that was a bit of a panic time for me. I did not find my bag until this morning.

Day 5 A fun day

Started in Kaikohe while doing some business. Sold some shirts and a number of buttons. We drove towards Moerewa to start our day and the rain started, so we donned our see through plastic rain coats.

The children and I had fun running and playing in the puddles and walking on the grass on our way to Moerewa. Walking on the grass verge meant we had mud squishing through our toes, splashing in the puddles and walking in the gutters and it was a nostalgic walk back to my childhood. My feet loved it. Today was certainly starting out as a fun day. The cooler the weather the better my feet like it.

The insect bite a I sustained to my left foot on our second day was still causing problems. I did think I might need to give up this Hikoi because my foot swelled up and was red and sore on Day 2. We did wonder if it was a spider bite but now think there are just mean sand flies or mozzies in the North. The truckies as usual giving friendly waves and tooting.

Puna and I walked in relays to speed up the walk to Kawakawa from Moerewa and to relieve driver boredom. We were met by the staff of Ngati Hine Hauora who joined me on the hikoi through Kawakawa. Thank you all for your support.
Sadly Tash and Lois left us and returned to Kaikohe with the nannies.

Puna, Bailey and I continued on to Whangarei, via Hikurangi. It is an old railway suburb of Whangarei with a number of old railway houses that look well cared for.

Once we arrived at Whangarei we realized that we were all exhausted with long days so went to Pera’s for a much needed nanny nap.

Day 4 One tiny blister.

We were all woken to a spectacular thunder storm. Great a an alarm clock. However the heavy rain meant we needed appropriate heavy duty raincoats, so off to Earls Emporium we went. Out we came with clear plastic rain coats. Not the height of fashion but we could start a new trend.

Had a lie-in this morning because we needed to get to town (Kaitaia) for a few of domestic chores and check out a new cell phone and camera due to the demise of the originals. The retailer at the Telecom shop is an expert with cell phones, check it is on, if not, turn on, if still not working take the battery out then replace and try turning on again. Wallah, hey presto. Electronics, if at first it does not succeed try again. Saves a lot of time and money.

So missed out on a new phone camera. I was so excited about the phone I was able to retrieve all supposedly lost messages I forgot about the camera. I will attempt to obtain one tomorrow and get more pics on the blog page.

We set off to Taipa, to everyone's relief the rain stopped a light ocean breeze, plush area with sea views idilic spot. Nice shopping center especially the new chicken take away cafe.

Very nice beaches along this coast, we had lunch and afternoon tea supplied by the local store owners. Thank you we enjoyed the food at Coopers Beach.

Good roads for vehicles but painful for bare feet. Puna feeling the relief from last nights massage chose this stretch of road to stroll along the water front and relieve me for a period of time. We did notice a lot of surface water around following last nights heavy down pour.

In wet weather the roads are slippery for vehicles they are also slippery for bare foot walkers. I needed to try to walk on the grass verge if there was any.

To all the truck drivers out there thank you all your support in tooting and waving, the children really love it. They think all truck drivers talk to each other about what and who is out on the roads.

On to Kaeo. The roads here were busy with a lot of gravel near the edge of the road making my progress slow. There are footpaths that I can walk on but I have found that they are worst than the road for I have had to take a couple of glass splinters from my feet after walking on the foot paths so I do prefer the roads.

We did not stay long or walk at Kerikeri Junction due to the current road works there. So set off to Kaikohe for a hot bath and meal, luckily just in time as the skies opened up and thunder storm brought heavy rains again.

One little blister so far but hardly worth mentioning I have not had any cuts or bruises. My legs have been the only issue that needed some attention which seems to have resolved now.

Day 3 Cold and stiff

Woke to a cold and wet day very sore and stiff legs. My support driver and big sister Puna is in a worst state than I am. Painful to move around and up and down steps, well we don't want to go there. Thats Puna. I was better but still a little sore on the steps.

Left the Everitt whanau home in Te Kao. What a hospitable little town that was.

Started just north of Houhora and the rain eased off. Houhora is a much bigger town than I realised, it is spread out and runs into Pukenui. I did notice a number of fishing boats moored in the inlet suggesting there is good fishing out there.

A big apology to the owners at Houhora Chalets for not arriving on Monday night or Tuesday nights. Northland has terrible reception for cell phones we were pretty much stranded until we reach Awanui a little further south.

We drove on to Kaitaia because we had changed our schedule after not receiving permission to walk the Mangamuka gorge. Insufficient notice given.

The people in Kaitaia are a very touchy, touchy, feely, emotional lot. I shed a few tears with a number of people along the way. We had a couple of woman from the womans refuge join our hikoi/march bare foot and gagged. Courageous and dedicated ladies towards stopping child abuse and preventing domestic violence. Oh the Northland heavy rain started shortly after leaving Kaitaia and we got drenched in Awanui. Heading back towards Taipa. It was late afternoon wet and dark not safe out on the road so we stopped early. Lucky for us because we found Tanzi.

A very special thanks to Tanzi Allen of Muscle Worx, at Beta Body Health and Fitness for the professional and knowledgeable massage and much needed massage to our aching legs at the end of the day. To all the staff fat Beta Body Health and Fitness thank you for your welcoming friendly manner you showed towards the children and I and allowing us to try out your equipment while waiting for a massage.

The children and I were intrigued with an exercise that looked like weight lifting jazzasize. Wow, that looked like the best work out for an hour I had only seen since in the military.

Thanks to Rea for the delicious corn beef stew we had for tea. It has been a long time since I had some and absolutely loved it.

I would like to make a special note about the children walking with me. Bailey is my nephew who is energetic and full of life. He loves to meet people and promote our campaign to stop child abuse. Tash my cousin/sister who is shy and humble but very caring. Lois (also quiet) needs lots of encouragement. The children take turns walking with me and Puna (when I get some relief) to ensure we are not alone on the hikoi and do all the talking for us. This hikoi is to give children a voice not adults. Thank you to everyone who has spoken to them and appreciated the magnitude of the task.

Tomorrow we are starting outside Taipa and Coopers Beach towards Mangonui. From Kaeo we will head towards Kerikeri junction/Bulls Gorge stopping off at Waipapa on the way. We will end the day there and head to Kaikohe for the night.

Day 2 still going

Today was the result of yesterday's walking on gravel roads for 20 odd kms. Sore feet and very stiff legs making the walking difficult. Had problems getting up and down steps and getting out of the car, however not too bad once things loosened up after the first 50 - 100 meters. We got off to a late start to the day due to the difficulty in moving.

Another beautiful day. Northland is a very warm and friendly place.

We definitely need a support team of masseuse, cook and secretary.

Keeping up with everything was hard today due to sore legs. My sister Puna our support driver did some walking yesturday and today and needed massaging and pampering tonight. I had to massage myself. My cell phone has just died and I would like another....... no I need another. I had a number of messages on my cell phone and lost them when my phone died.

It was a bit of a boring day today but we expect it to be quite different tomorrow lots of walking, funny that.

Bailey has been absolutely wonderful on this hikoi although it is early days yet. He is full of energy and fun. He dances, plays games, jokes does the haka, all manner of things to keep us occupied. Time passes quickly when he is out walking. Great to have him on board.

Sadly the girls both have blisters. Lois is much worst than Tash so she did not walk at all today because we could not find anywhere to buy sticking plasters.

Puna and I could not get the gas cooker to go tonight and thought we were in for a cold meal but we had a microwave where we stayed. So we had the left over soup and toast.

Schedule for tomorrow: driving to Kaitaia spend a bit of time there then head towards Mangonui and along state highway 10. We will be staying at relations at Awanui tomorrow night. We will visit selected towns along the coast e.g. Coopers Beach and Kaeo the next day and possible stay at Kaeo over night. This should keep us on track so we end up in the right place at the right time.

Day 1 finally on the way

James Dunn what an awesome man. Met at Cape Reinga brought a tee shirt, made a donation, had karakia with all the whanau then had Te Karere follow us up. He then obtained accommodation for us in Te Kao and had his friends, whanau look after us and feed us. Great man. Is also trying to round up all sorts of support up and down the country.

Hey James say thanks to all the work men at the Cape for the brand new foot path that I could walk on.

As for Dean the camera man from Te Karere he was stalking us. Found us having lunch, did an interview and took some photos shots of us doing different things. Went on to Waitiki Landing found some support and some much needed water. Then he found us again at afternoon tea time brought in some support did another interview and more shots and on his way. Great timing.

This first 20 kms. is unsealed gravel road. Hard on the legs and feet. Made progress really slow, we did not get as far today as hoped lets see if we do better tomorrow without the gravel. The support of travelers in the far north was very warm and friendly. Thanks to all those people who stopped talked made donations and asked questions.

It was a beautiful day to start the hikoi on. Sunny, fine, nice cool breeze. One heck of a sun this evening. Hope the pictures come out.

The night before the hikoi my feet and I.

Starting soon

Due to start the hikoi on Monday 17th September. Karakia at 6.30AM at the cape please anyone can join me, your support will be appreciated. Keep coming back for updates soon.