Gary Brown introduced Andy, his daughter, She has spent the last 20 years in Rome as an Insight Travel Manager. COVID 19 has interrupted this and forced her to come home.
Her address was about doing The Te Araroa Bike Trail Challenge from North Cape to Bluff (approx 3000K) with her husband Alan.The challenge had to be done within 10-30 days, going through 30 different checkpoints along the way and raising money for a charity. (They chose The Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust). They carried an electronic tracker to ensure they could be monitored for the entire journey.
It involved several months planning to ensure that they carried as little as possible on the bikes. They got down to 18kg total weight using kitchen scales on a dining room table to carefully weigh everything. Great NZ made equipment available. Went on several training runs 3-4 nights at a time to get used to the rigours of what was ahead of them.
They set off with a core group of 6 and finished within 30 days all about the same time.
Accommodation (generally AirBnB, farmstays) and meals were preplanned at certain destinations along the way so that hosts new when they were coming to have meals ready etc.
No time to keep a diary of the trip, eating to have enough energy was very important. Andy showed a power point presentation of wonderful photos, highlighting the magnificent scenery along the way, often over very hilly countryside.
The trail is generally off road on a route that was planned back in 2008 when the Key government was encouraging establishing cycle trails through NZ.
She said that there were many highs on the trip: scenery, wildlife/birdlife, eating, the challenge of both doing it as a couple.
They were fortunate to do it in a non COVID lockdown period.
Her husband maintained the mechanical road worthiness of their bikes. They had few problems (2 punctures) and an ability to contact Cycle Shops ahead to get back on the road again.
They raised money through a give a little page $2000.
The majority of people doing the challenge are retiree's.
Stephen Bovett thanked Andy for her inspiring talk, congratulating her on the completion of a great challenge..