Cairns completes North Island stage of 1001k walk

Monday 8 September 2008

When Chris Cairns walks up the steps of Parliament at 4 this afternoon he will have walked 635 kilometres in 22 days not to mention the six pairs of shoes he has worn out or the multiple boxes of banana's he has got through.

He is walking from Auckland to Rolleston to raise rail safety awareness in memory of his sister Louise who was killed in a rail accident at Rolleston in 1993.

Tomorrow morning he will step off the Interislander ferry The Kaitaki and start the home stretch from Picton down to Christchurch but there will still be 366 kilometres to go. He is averaging 28 kilometres daily.

To keep his energy levels up the team has endless supplies of bananas, which he has with a piece of white bread every hour.

Along the way, Chris and the support crew have really enjoyed travelling through heartland New Zealand and he has met a number of people who also have lost loved ones to rail accidents. They come and walk alongside Chris and their support makes all the walking well worth all the blisters he has collected along the way. Chris is having to change his shoes every 2 hours.

There have been some very different kinds of donations given to the foundation and support crew including dead cow cheques, home baking and sandwiches and Chris thanks everyone for their generosity.

Chris is due to arrive at the steps of Parliament today at 4pm where the Prime Minister, Helen Clark who has been a long time supporter of rail safety will greet him.

Chris Cairns expects to arrive at Rolleston at 1pm on Sunday September 21.

ENDS

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