In Gear | Rotary in Southern New Zealand Issue 2 | Page 71

stretched out on the seats airport terminal and fell into
as a first responder. Because the community cherished
a deep sleep.
its natural beauty and respected its native species,
I volunteered to work at the Ohau waterfall, for the
Around midnight, I was jostled awake by an airport
Department of Conservation, protecting the seal pups
employee and informed that I had to leave the airport
from the tourists and vice versa, while Kate and I
due to the fact that it was closing for the evening. Looking
rescued Hutton’s shearwaters that would crash along
at my haggard disposition,
the town streets at
she must have had pity on
night as they flew from
me, which led her to inform
their
mountainside
me that only 300m away
nests to their rafts on
was a 24-hour McDonald’s,
the ocean. I even took
which would let me stay all
up lawn bowling at the
Rotary has set up an appeal in the wake of
night ... if I would purchase
Takahanga
Bowling
the quake. You can make a donation here:
something. So I put on my
Club, woke up early in
www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/earthquake
backpack and tramped into
the morning to go to the
the night, looking for those
As well as consulting on, and exploring, how
Adelphi Pub and cheer
golden arches so that I
funds raised can be best used, Rotary is also
on the All Blacks as they
could purchase a rather dry
looking at other ways to help.
beat the Wallabies, and
Quarter-Pounder, re-inflate
joined the local tramping
my pillow and lay my head
club – all for the purpose
on the table to get some
of becoming a true Kiwi.
much-needed sleep.
It was for that reason, and because it was on my bucket
list, that I made plans to tramp the Milford Track with my
At 6.30am, I woke up, tramped back to the airport,
good friend, Richard Collison, and his wife, Alessandra,
bought a detox juice from the juice bar, and waited
on November 9, the preface to a very fateful day.
for my 11.30am flight out of Queenstown. Kate was a
welcome sight in Christchurch. She met me at baggage
The four-day tramp of Milford was both glorious and,
claim and then drove back to Kaikoura along State Road
well, physically challenging. We tramped up and down
1, through the Hundalees ... less than 12 hours before
rather steep slopes, some portions rather treacherous
a certain geological event would transpire. We got
due to debris fields of trees and boulders; around
home; I peeled off my clothes and took a hot shower
avalanche-prone areas, listening to the sudden
while Kate threw everything in the backpack into the
gunshot-like crack of the avalanche beyond; and

ROTARY QUAKE APPEAL

passed incredible waterfalls and cascading rivers. On
the fourth day, as I came out of the track at Sandfly
Point, it would be safe to say that I was a little legweary. I also was suffering from a common tramper
malady: both of my large toenails were jammed, and
blackened due to being constantly pushed by the toe
of my boot, as I descended down the mountainside.
But, I had come safely through. I clambered into the
boat that took me to a shuttle on the other side from
which I got into a bus that would eventually take me
from Milford to Queenstown. It was my intention to
grab a flight from there and meet up with my wife in
Christchurch where we would drive back to Kaikoura,
just in time for the party her medical clinic was having
on our behalf.
“The best laid plans of mice and men...”
When I finally arrived at Queenstown Airport I found
that all of the flights had left for the day, but that was
not really a problem because I still could get a room
and catch a morning flight. Little did I know that there
was a very popular automobile race in Cromwell, which
meant all the hotels and hostels were fully booked. Not
to be dissuaded, I took all of this as just another slight
inconvenience and convinced myself this would be just
like my flying in and out of airports on the way to the
Dominican Republic, Haiti, or Guyana as I worked on
water projects. I am used to a little inconvenience from
long layovers. So ... I inflated my tramping pillow and