Leading from the front issuu

JO MAGILL INSPIRES TAOH
Jo embraced Pat’s notion of using Aotearoa’s long trail
for more than just achieving personal physical fitness
goals. She too saw broader benefits of the trail as an affordable
Outward Bound.
To celebrate his 89th birthday in September 2015,
Pat hit the trail again, taking the Te Araroa Offers Hope
(TAOH) hikoi through Auckland. This is the most urban
sector of the trail, covering 60kms and Jo was right there
alongside him.
Following the inaugural TAOH adventure the year before,
Jo took the challenge of walking the entire Te Araroa
trail seriously. She’d slowly worked her way down the
North Island in sections when time and circumstances
allowed, and by September 2015 she’d walked the entire
stretch from Cape Reinga to Auckland, mostly on her own.
Over time she reached as far as Wellington and hopes to
complete the entire length of Te Araroa in the near future.
She has great memories of TAOH adventures with
Pat. “Often we were ‘winging it’ which is unusual for me
because I’m quite organised. I always researched where
we were going, what to expect etc, but no amount of
research can prepare you for what you’ll actually find
out there. Encountering surprises, dilemmas and occurrences
that you’d never expect but you have to deal and
cope with — that’s the excitement and the challenge.”
As the pair covered the kilometres together Jo was always
astounded at Pat’s stamina. She couldn’t figure out
where it came from. “He had stamina with his vision too,
nothing could deter him from his vision. Any setbacks
along the way, he would just rise above them and carry
on. We shared a lot of comradeship along the way and
these were special times.”
Images above: Pat and Jo have fun on the trail. It was hearing about his daughter-in-law Jo Magill’s trip to Spain in 2013 to walk the
El Camino Trail that first inspired Pat to tap into the potential of the Te Aroroa Trail. New Zealand’s stunning 3000km trek through
Aotearoa’s stunning landscapes would be ideal for the long walks that Pat loves so much, to give youth who wouldn’t normally get
the chance to experience nature, an opportunity to embrace new experiences.
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Napier Pilot City Trust – for a kinder, fairer city