The Journey Begins

The journey began for the eight cyclists on the morning of February 11, as they embarked on the 2229km “Circle of courage” New Zealand cycle tour from Bluff.

A small group of well-wishers from the Invercargill Seventh-day Adventist Church and tourists waved goodbye to the cyclists and their four support crew. They will be visiting 23 towns across New Zealand during the four week tour, speaking about strategies to address issues of “at-risk” behaviour among young people in small, rural communities.

The "Circle of courage" New Zealand cycle tour has been organised by Adventist Health in the New Zealand Pacific Union Conference (NZPUC).

“This tour has been created for the young people because we recognise just how valuable they are,” says Paul Rankin, tour coordinator and director of Adventist health for the NZPUC. “With the Circle of courage, anybody can make a difference in the lives of young people. It takes very little effort to adopt the model.”

What will take effort however will be the cycling itself. The cyclists will be covering about 100 kilometres a day during the tour that will finish at Cape Reinga on March 8. They are scheduled to arrive at the town centres at about 3.30pm almost everyday, with a talk organised at 7.30pm at various venues.

The eight cyclists, Jonathan, Paul, Doug McLeod, Neone Okesene, Jake Ormsby, Rebekah Rankin, Norah West and Steve Kennelly are being supported by Allen and Juleen Foote as well as Rex and Elaine Jackson.

They are expected to arrive in Gore today at 3.30pm.