The Lost Pom (NZ)

Why would one decide to walk around New Zealand’s South Island, a solo trek of some 3500 km? In my case it let me “show off” New Zealand to my fellow Poms and would be a great way to raise awareness of Juvenile Parkinsons Disease (JPD). Unfortunately, I have a close association with JPD – my sister Tracey was eventually diagnosed with it at 25 having had symptoms since 15. She essentially lost 10 of her most formative years through a lack of accurate diagnosis and understanding of this rare form of Parkinsons Disease.
When people asked me “why are you walking around NZ?” I hoped they would remember the crazy girl walking solo and remember why I was doing it. I spoke to hundreds of people about JPD and they were always interested to hear more.
So please, join me on my journey around the South Island of this most amazing country and share my experiences as they happened – the text has been taken directly, well almost directly, from my daily blogs and is a true account of how I was feeling on the day.