I caught up with Kieran, broken wrist and all and gave him a tour of Wellington, hugging the coastline as best we could. Crikey, Kieran is super-fit and superbly skilled on the bike!
Keiran wrote this about his adventure:
"My name is Kieran Powell and this summer (2022/23) I will be circumnavigating Aotearoa to raise money for Hospice NZ. This journey has been inspired by my amazing Nana who at 97 years old, has been diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer and is currently being looked after with love, care and dignity by Hospice Waikato. Over The Long Way Home, I’ll be cycling over 12,000km which I expect to take between four to five and a half months and I hope to raise over $10k for Hospice. To donate, please follow the link below and select ‘The Long Way Home’ under the ‘type of donation’ drop down. https://www.hospicewaikato.org.nz/donate-online Dying is part of life and impacts us all, which is why Hospices and the palliative care they provide are so important to both those in their care, as well as their families and loved ones. As an essential service, Hospices rely on the generosity of the public to make up a shortfall of nearly $82 million dollars a year that the Government does not provide. Thank you in advance for your donations, support and help to get me “The Long Way Home”
The day after we departed ways, he sent me this message:
"Day after I left you I did 330km on 13 hours 2000 vertical m climbing 💪🏼"
Wow, wow, wow! That is some serious mileage on a bike laden down with camping gear.
Here is the link for live tracking of Kieran's progress: not far to go now!
I have not had an update, but it looks like he is holed up in New Plymouth, sheltering from the cyclone ravaging much of the country.
Follow him on Facebook:
To donate to Hospice: