1 Sep 2008

Day Fifteen - Mangaweka to Hunterville

The first day of September has brought with it more sunny warm weather which I am extremely grateful for!! We had an earlier start taking off at 8.20am from Mangaweka as we made our way to Hunterville.

It was great to have a couple of visitors join me on the walk today. Mr. James Russell who is a farmer with a property bordered by a railway line. James shared with us the tragic story of his son’s two young mates who lost their lives when leaving his property around five years ago. Both James and his wife Shirley joined us for a section of our walk today and Shirley was wonderful for bringing us out a freshly baked (and still warm!!) chocolate cake…which our group deservedly tucked in to at the finish line.

We again had several motorists pull over to donate today and would like to give a special mention to the Mangaweka Fire Department who donated a generous sum to our cause. These men and women have on several occasions been called to the scene of rail incidents in the area and I would like to recognize all of their efforts and thank them for their support.

We also walked across the scene of the much publicised Ohingaiti level crossing where a young couple lost their lives while their five year old daughter was left unscathed in the backseat. A very sobering reminder about what it is that we are trying to do in our attempt to have all motorists aware of their responsibilities at level crossings.

I took a trip to the doc’s office in Bulls this afternoon to have an infected blister looked at….however was given the all clear (and a few prescribed pain killers!) and sent on my way.

After a fairly moderate group “Fines Session” last night we all sat around Sue and Kelvin’s fire and shared a glass of wine or two before turning in for an early night. We are off to the Cooks Bar tonight for a quick raffle and beer with the local patrons, and then Sue has treated us to a roast this evening…so we will all be racing back for that!!

CC

 

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