Now in Westport

The walkers have arrived in Westport, having negotiated some pretty bad weather and they are finding it much colder now too. They have a real roof over their heads for a day or two (courtesy of a kind supporter) to ride out the rest of the storm in comfort. This is the first proper shelter they have had for some weeks now. Westport is still two more days walking away from their final destination which is of course Happy Valley. They plan to reach Waimangaroa on Wednesday and Happy Valley Thursday.

From the Buller Gorge...

The South Island leg presented different challenges and adventures. There is is a much greater awareness of the "Save Happy Valley" campaign in the South Island. Unlike the North Island where most people had never heard about it and were shocked and dismayed that it is being allowed to happen, South Islanders are aware of the issue and have already formed opinions for or against. The challenge is to inspire the ones who already oppose the mine into taking action to prevent it and taking action to make their own lives and communities more sustainable and self sufficient.

The main reason some people support the mine is because coal mining is one of the main industries providing jobs to the West Coast towns like Westport. It's very difficult to convince these people the detriment to their community of environmental degradation and climate change. I say, “ We dont have any ill feelings towards coal miners or workers in other environmentally damaging industries like commercial fishing or steel production. Its their CEOs and profiteers that we disapprove of. The workers are doing what they feel they have to, to pay the rent and feed their families. “

If a corporation can find a way to save money by laying off a hundred workers they won't bother to think about the well being of families and communities. Even though these people see “greenies” as a threat to their jobs, in reality we care a lot more about their survival than the companies who pay their wages. I am concerned for any community that relies too heavily on one major source of employment. The coal industry has had its day. I would ask these people if for any reason solid energy stopped providing these jobs and wages what will you fall back on? At present all the eggs are in one basket. That basket is lined with poisonous coal dust and its contents will turn to ash in their mouths.

As an environmental activist I devote my life to campaigning to ensure we will have healthy fertile land, clean water, fresh air and means for sustainable food production to pass on to future generations. If we continue to destroy our environment and pump CO2 into the air, our very survival is at stake. Humanity will literally sink or swim in the next hundred years depending on what action we take now.

We believe the best way to ensure a future for our children is to work towards small scale sustainable self sufficient communities. We have the intelligence and technology as well as the imagination and ingenuity to achieve this. All we have to change is the course of our efforts from accumulating wealth and profit to simple survival.

The physicality of the journey was different in the South Island too. It was April so the weather was getting colder and that added even more dificulty in getting a good night's sleep. In Havelock the local policeman targeted the walkers doing everything he could to sabotage their efforts. He approached a walker Joshua asking to move the car because it had been in a 60min parking zone far too long. Then as soon as he moved the car he pulled him over to check his license. Although Josh had had a learners license it turns out his learners license had been disqualified in 2003 and he had never renewed it. This allowed the officer to impound the vehicle for 28 days regardless of the fact that it didn't belong to Josh and contained all the walkers possessions and campaign equipment for the trip. We had 5 minutes to get whatever we needed before it was towed.

The officer took great pleasure in asserting his authority and openly denounced the cause, saying “Nobody in my town cares about climate change”. Mick hitched to Blenheim 40km away, to where the car was towed and by explaining the situation and paying the $260 towage fee, retrieved the vehicle. At Pelorous Bridge the walkers were told to “get their walking shoes back on and hit the road” by the management of the camp ground at one of NZ's most beautiful nature reserves. We had approached them thinking they would be supportive nature lovers but discovered they were climate sceptics who believed in every South Isander's right to destroy land for profit and took great offence to Heather's use of Te Reo Maori slipped into conversation. “We don't talk like that around here, we're New Zealanders. We speak English”.

Not feeling any great need to go to any trouble to hang around with small minded racists the walkers continued another 8 km down the road to Rai Valley where the campsite was by koha , a much easier and more beautiful way to say donation.

Nelson was sunny as usual and the walkers came across a great deal of support and very little negativity. While they were there they also showed support for a Free Tibet demonstration taking place on the day the controversial new free trade deal was signed.

Chip-wagon Problems Require Ingenuity of all of us
When we got to Motueka the chip wagon broke down, a problem which ended up keeping us there for a whole week, while Mick exercised all his ingenuity to fix it. It was a good place for it to happen though because there are a lot of supporters there.

The walkers were made very welcome and supported local activists by setting up our climate camp on the proposed site of the new Macdonald's franchise in town. Walk the walk oppose this because of the unsustainable large scale, cruel factory farming methods of production used by the massive corporation and the difficulty it places on small local businesses to compete. Motueka and the surrounding areas have everything they need to be self supporting, they simply don't need huge fast food franchises that come at such a cost to our health and the environment.

Saved by a re-cycled Pram!
After a week when the car was still being fixed, the walkers went on ahead pushing everything we needed and nothing we didn't in a couple of prams scoured from a reycling/refuse centre down the road. We walked without the support car for 6 days pushing the prams along. Two of those days were on gravel roads. It was empowering to realise we could do it without the car but we were glad when Mick finally showed up because we were missing some things.

Beware The Power of Prayer
In Tapawera we had been complaining about having nothing to read. We were going to bed at 7 oclock because it was too cold to stay up but there was nothing else to do in the evenings in the wilds. The very next day some Jehovah's Witnesses stopped and gave us some literature. Not exactly what we had in mind but we had been asking the universe for something to read !!

LOTR Parallels Continue as More Hunger Looms
We had been without cellphones for days unable to charge them and with very weak reception anyway, we had no way of knowing when and if Mick would show up. When we ran out of Tahini and couldn't buy more we really started to worry how long it would take because the meals were getting very plain and would soon run out completely. On the second to last day with the prams we went through the Sherrywine Valley and were given accomodation in a teepee at a place called ”the Laughing Horse” which was a farm set up as a trust for travelling horse people and others, I guess we were the “others.

We had planned to meet Mick here and when he didn't show up it reminded me very much of the Lord of the Rings when they cross the Brandywine Bridge and stay at an inn called “the Prancing Pony” where they were supposed to meet Gandalf but he doesn't show up. The next day Mick finally arrived and I was very pleased to have my pillow back and plenty of fresh food.

A few days later while packing camp outside the Murchison War Memorial, one very irate local with a white beard and white bird on his shoulder, who thought he owned the place told us we were very dispespectful and to “f-off” several times. But like all abusers never stayed. This shows when you have fixed ideas about people you aren't interested in their point of view or open to learning from them. In fact at every War Memeorial we stayed at we paid respects and Mick who follows a Japanese Buddhism always includes a prayer for the dead in his chanting.

Heather Simpson
Walk the Walk Organiser

Merry Motueka

Walk the Walk is Currently in Merry Motueka.

We will now be here for a few extra days because we now have as yet undefined technical problems with our chip wagon. We will certainly keep ourselves busy while we are here and our arrival seems timely.... Malcolm, (AKA Gandalf) is currently elbow deep in grease trying to figure out the problem and solve it, but it is quite possible we may need to spend some money on the car. After the ferry and the impoundment in Havelock and now having to take walk funds for food because we're all pretty cash strapped ourselves at this point of the journey, funds are looking really lean again.

So, if you were just about to give us a donation before I let you all know you could hold off for a while because I thought we had enough then, now would be a really good time! I am doing my best busking too, but anything you can afford would be greatly appreciated. Please spread the word widely!

This will be our last appeal as we only have another 2 weeks to go once we get back on the road, but at this point we can't leave Mot without a bit more cash.

Arohanui, Keep sending those messages of support too! --

Heather Simpson
Walk the Walk Organiser

Chip Wagon Issues in Havelock

We got this email from Heather today, saying -

Our chip wagon has been impounded, Joshua told us he had a restricted license but it turns out he is a disqualified driver. He was kicked off the walk today anyway. We had put conditions on him staying, all of which he broke in one day and got our car taken off us to boot.... Malc let him move the car closer to the camp and that was it. Cop seemed racist and unhelpful.

They were in Havelock, the car had been taken to Blenheim. A lot of their gear was still in the car, including cell phone chargers and all their food.

Then we heard that Gandalf (Mick) was charging to the rescue. While the hobbit (Heather) was stuck up the burning tree, with wolves and goblins all around her, and her pony had run off and left her, Gandalf was far away concocting spells to send the Eagles to her rescue, which means Mick managed to hitch to Blenheim and retrieve the Chipwagon. Only one day lost and a few sanity points.