Sir Edmund Hillary was quoted with saying: "I think it all comes down to motivation. If you really want to do something, you will work hard for it."
This statement best applies to some incredible Canterbury residents who this morning walked the Godley Head Track in the chilly Christchurch morning.
The inter-village walk saw residents from Charles Upham and Ngaio Marsh Retirement village walk together up, down and along the peninsula track.
The Anthony Wilding residents’ van took a slight detour along Summit Road, so this group of walkers arranged to meet at a point along the track.
Today’s walk seemed to take inspiration from this year’s Walking for Wellness event named the Everest Challenge.
It takes in New Zealanders’ connection to Nepal and the Himalayas, and is inspired by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s conquest of Mount Everest in 1953.
Residents had the choice to walk to the equivalent of the Mount Everest base camp trip – about 64 kms or the Mount Everest base camp return – about 128 kms.
The courageous tale of a Kiwi icon made for some great inspiration for today’s walkers as they near the end of their Walking for Wellness challenge, which has run through the month of September.
They had the advantage of views of both the distant Southern Alps but also the Te Onepoto/Taylors Mistake, Harris Bay and Boulder Bay.
The morning started out a bit chilly but soon enough the heat was on in terms of some very keen residents wanting to stride it out. A few took the lower energy option.