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Walking Te Araroa Trail for research

23 October 2013

Asha Dowgray has time to kill before returning to study next year. So he has decided to walk the length of the South Island.

“I love hiking and getting amongst the outdoors, I’ve had a lot of good experiences hiking in New Zealand as well as overseas," says Asha. "However, this is certainly bigger than any hike or expedition I’ve attempted in the past.”

To prepare he trained by hiking over hills with weighted packs full of rocks or bottles of water. Whilst walking the trail Asha is raising awareness and money for the Malaghan Institute along with two other charities.

The Malaghan Institute was chosen because of his grandparents. When he was seven his grandfather died after battling motor neurone disease and earlier this year his grandmother died of cancer. Part of his journey is to pay homage to the pair.

You can follow Asha’s hike and add support by visiting www.hikeforhealth.co.nz

This article features in the November 2013 issue of our Scope newsletter (Issue 52).  Download the full newsletter here - 611 KB (PDF)