At the height of the depression, Ester James decided to walk the length of the country to promote New Zealand made goods. She walked alone (no fancy support crew then), and was greeted by local officials and captains of industry in towns and cities. She left Spirits Bay in December 1931 and reached Bluff 197 days later, having covered 2575km. Ester then crossed the ditch to promote our butter, bacon and other goods in Australia. Over the summer of 1932-33, she walked 2253km from Melbourne to Brisbane. Oddly, to make a buck in Australia, she reportedly did such work as diving for coral, working as a mannequin in Sydney, opal mining and crocodile hunting! Ester died in Auckland aged 90 in 1990.
Whina Cooper decided that a walk or hīkoi might be a good idea to protest the continuing loss of Māori land. On September 14, 1975, Cooper and a group of around 50 people started the hīkoi from Te Hāpua in the Far North. The journey to Wellington was 1000km, a challenge for anyone, let alone the 79-year-old Cooper. The group stayed at marae each night, spread their message and collected signatures for their petition to parliament. Media interest in the protest grew. When Cooper met Prime Minister Bill Rowling to present the 60,000-signature petition the hīkoi was made up of 5000 people walking. It is quite incredible how powerful the simple act of walking can be.
Old school teachers
John Bryham of Warkworth writes: "A maths teacher I had in the mid-60s at Whangārei Boys High School by the name of Mr Gardiner (obviously nicknamed Spade) had a favourite saying if someone was not paying attention: "These pearls of wisdom dropping from my lips, and you not even taking the time to pick them up."
Brent Cottle writes: "In Form 2 we had a speed exam, first one finished would get the points. Our teacher said it was very important to read the exam first. No one did and on page 9 of 11 it said we did not have to sit the exam. No points."
