26 Aug 2008

Day Nine - Taupo to Motutere

Taupo has really turned on the weather for us, with another cracker of a morning today. Waikato MP Mark Burton came out again to keep me company for my morning walk. It has been great having Mark along each day to keep me informed of all the latest happenings in the Beehive!

I would have to vote the walk through Taupo as the most beautiful scenic route I have encountered on the walk so far….the backdrop of the lake and snow capped mountains made for pleasant scenery….however that unfortunately was not to be of any assistance when two hours into the walk I encountered my first bout of serious pain. My right achilles was sending sharp shooting pains up through my calf muscle and I had to make the radio call to my trusted masseur (and longtime friend) Selwyn Bain who managed to sort me out with a few of his tricks.

The final 4km of the day was the most dangerous stretch of road we have faced, with long narrow and windy passages all the way in to Motutere. I would like to extend my gratitude to my crew today who really helped me get over the finish line….they were magnificent.

Once back at the Motel I was straight to Selwyn’s room for the daily treatment routine…however due to the incident today it was a little more intense than usual….with my old mate sticking fourteen acupuncture needles into my injured leg….he tells me this will sort me out…we shall see!!

While I was being treated by Selwyn, a few of the team felt they needed an adrenalin hit and decided to pay a visit to the Taupo Bungy company. With Simon and Brodie (our ONTRACK team member) braving it on their own and Sophie clinging to David as they made the leap. Well done guys and thank you to the Taupo Bungy crew for having us!

Once treatment was over we all headed down to the Taupo Cosmopoliton club, where President Greg McIntosh invited us along and provided our hungry group with a great meal and a few quiet ales. I would like to thank them once again for their hospitality. Our special guests for the evening were two of the foundations trustees, David Jackson and Terry Jarvis who made the trip down to support the group.

CC

 

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