Week by week – but new adventure looming?

It’s coming up two years since I set off from Cape Reinga to see whether I could walk to Bluff via Te Araroa – New Zealand’s national walkway.

Back then I had lots to say, so blog posts were frequent.

For the past eleven months, I haven’t felt as though I’ve had anything worth sharing.

I’ve been working a ‘day job’ for Stream Group, who in Christchurch contract to TOWER insurance and manage (loss adjusting and project managing) the earthquake claims – repairs and rebuilds. As a case manager, I have about 130 broken (or “munted”) houses to look after, making sure the claim progresses as swiftly as possible.

Returning to full-time work took some adjusting to. It was a steep learning curve which, when you add the emotion of upset home-owners to the mix, left me some days feeling drained and un-bouncy. Certainly not the right frame of mind for a readable blog post!

I have enjoyed the regular pay packet though. It’s allowed me to rent a small place, consolidate my debt into a manageable payment plan and just this month buy a used car – for cash!

My 5-year term as National Commissioner for SCOUTS NZ came to a close, and I passed the mantle to the very capable and enthusiastic Kelly Bleakley.

I’ve competed in three Ceroc dance championships with the National Champs coming up 1 December.

I’m in the middle of kicking off a joint business venture with a good friend of mine, and this week I deliver the first hour of my 10-session Stride (life skills) programme for at-risk youth in a Child Youth and Family secure care-and-protection unit.

Plus I’ve been writing the book of my Te Araroa adventure. If I had to choose between walking all day and writing about it, walking wins. But I am making progress and I look forward (as I’m sure all those who pre-purchased a copy are too) to finishing it.

And to cap it all off, I’ve now entered the Air New Zealand / Department of Conservation ‘Great Walker’ contest. The wife of my Chief Executive was the driving force behind my entry – she’s convinced I’d make a great candidate to walk all nine of New Zealand’s Great Walks in just nine weeks.

To enter, I had to create a one-minute video clip – you can check it out <here> if you’re curious. I will know in a couple of weeks if I’ve made the short-list. Fingers crossed I’m one of the four winners – that adventure would fill February-April next year nicely, not to mention being an incredible experience!

Some of my colleagues tease me about not having a TV. Whilst there are some evenings I would love nothing more than to collapse in front of the screen and do nothing, I suspect that my life would be nowhere near as fulfilling if that option was available to me.

Perhaps that is why time seems to be whizzing past…?