On Monday August 18th, Chris Cairns will start the longest walk of his life when he walks from Pukekohe to Rolleston near Christchurch, all by foot. The main purpose of the walk is to raise funds and awareness for rail safety.

It is also in memory of all those who have died on the rail network. Chris lost his sister Louise who was killed along with two other young women whilst they were passengers onboard a train hit by a cement truck which had failed to stop at a level crossing.

The former New Zealand international cricketer is already in serious training for the 1001 kilometre walk, which has meant getting out and pounding the pavement at 5am and 10pm to avoid the severe heat in Dubai where he has recently been staying.

Chris will start his walk from Pukekohe to avoid the main Auckland motorway where pedestrians are banned. He is keen to have as many people as possible come down and see him off at Bledisloe Park on his first morning. From there he walks to Pokeno and will then follow State Highway One. This will take him through Hamilton and Taupo all the way down as far as Sanson where he will then branch out and head into Palmerston North, rejoining State highway One at Foxton and onto Wellington.

The Interislander will then transport Chris and his team of 12 across the Strait into Picton where he will continue along the east coast of the South Island into Christchurch. He will be averaging 28km a day with an average of 5 hours on foot.

He hoping many local identities will join him along the way and is especially keen for people who may have lost friends or relatives through tragedy on the rail network to join him for parts of this challenging walk.

Chris is thrilled at the backing from Toll Rail, Ontrack, Shell NZ, The NZ Police, Land Transport New Zealand and Transit. This walk would not be possible without their support.

He finishes the walk in Rolleston on Sunday September 21st, the site of where his sister along with two other young women lost their lives in 1993. By then he will have walked for 36 days.

Chris arrives back in New Zealand next month to give his support to the Australasian Rail Safety Awareness Week being held on the 21^st of July through to the 27^th of July.