Tawa Rotary and guests enjoyed Dame Kerry Prendergast's story on her amazing experience and challenges on walking the Te Araroa Trail. This trail is 3000 km from Cape Reinga in the North to Bluff in the South Island, NZ. It was certainly a story of many challenges and highlights along the way - through crossing the rivers and trying not to get swept away, to noticing the differences in the landscape and climate between the two islands. It was a really tough journey - that she shared through walking with her friends and the support of her husband meeting the small group at various points on the journey with supplies. Dame Kerry Prendergast DNZM, CNZM is the former Mayor of Wellington and former Vice-President of Local Government New Zealand. In 2019, she became a Dame Companion for services to governance and the community, after being awarded a CNZM in 2011 for her services to local government. Dame Kerry was also awarded a Lifetime Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution to Local Government. She is a distinguished Alumni of Victoria University of Wellington, and continues to serve the community through her many roles ranging from Wellington Free Ambulance to the New Zealand Community Trust. Dame Kerry really enjoys walking - she’s walked in the footsteps of pilgrims and Romans, hiked New Zealand’s great walks, trekked to Machu Picchu and climbed Mt Kilimanjaro. In 2014, she walked Spain’s El Camino de Santiago, and in 2017 Hadrian’s Wall as well as the English Coast to Coast. [ source]: Walking the English coast to coast which took Dame Kerry 13 days. |