Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Please help me support Cancer Research in memory of my Dad.

The challenge is to walk, canoe, and cycle the whole length of New Zealand, a journey of over 3,000km  enjoying (or is that enduring?) some of the most unspoilt, beautiful (wet and hilly!!) scenery in the world. (http://www.teararoa.org.nz/).  

 I'm starting on New Years Day 2014 and have until the end of April to complete it. It starts with 1,600 km of the North Island sections, including a 90km canoe of the Whanganui river. It's then 26km across the Cook Strait (no I'm not swimming it!) to the top of the South Island and on a bike to finish at the very bottom, a mere 1,400km more.

I'm writing a blog too which you can find here www.burningdaylightnz.wordpress.com

 My Dad had a saying, "you're burning daylight". I think he pinched it out of a John Wayne movie but he certainly made it his own. He used  it whenever I was lazing around or acting bored and meant do something more productive and rewarding with your life.  It resonates more than ever now  he has passed away. As people suffering with cancer (and their families and friends) know only too well we can't take our health for granted. So, whilst mine is still (relatively) intact I want to do something special and help others too.

 I'm certainly not prepared for this challenge physically, I've developed plantar fasciitis and a ganglion in my feet which has led to a lot of rest! I had also hoped to be a couple of stones lighter to compensate for the 25kg of stuff I'll be carrying on my back.  But as John Wayne also  reputedly said "Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”

The location and timing has special significance as New Zealand was the country Dad took us to when I was 11 and on the back of this led to my own association with the country having lived there and visited many times. It will also coincide with my 50th birthday which is the age my father  took a sabbatical from teaching in order to pursue his own dreams.

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