A long and painful limp home likely
When the big earthquake strikes Wellington, Hutt Valley residents can expect to get some serious blisters walking home – and they’ll need to be fit.
Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (Wremo) and Rotary are organising a 30km Long Walk Home from Wellington to Upper Hutt on Sunday.
Wremo hopes it will encourage people to think about how they will get home after a big shake. There will also be walks to Mana and Raumati.
However, a personal trainer and a tramper believe that most people are not capable of walking 30km over broken ground.
Hutt Valley-based personal trainer and ultra marathon runner Julie Robbers said generally, people did not have the fitness required to walk that sort of distance.
‘‘It is a great idea but I am not sure that it is practically very feasible.’’
To walk 30km required a high level of base fitness, the right shoes and socks, as well as a supply of snacks and water.
If the ground was uneven or wet, walkers would have serious problems with their feet. ‘‘You should expect to get a lot of blisters if you do not have the right shoes.’’
A report prepared by Wremo in 2013 predicted that State Highway 2 between Petone and Wellington would be cut off for up to 10 weeks.
Veteran Hutt Valley tramper John Tristram believed the Long Walk Home was not well thought out. ‘‘I don’t know how you would rescue all those people who would be scattered all the way to Upper Hutt.’’
The only ‘‘merit’’ he could see in it was raising awareness of the need to be prepared and how difficult it would be for people to get home.
To register for this weekend’s Long Walk Home, visit: getprepared.nz/ keep-up-to-date/long-walk-home Primary school pupils are taking the fight to fizz by learning to say ‘‘no’’ to sugary drinks.
Levin’s Fairfield School is encouraging its children to ditch sugary drinks for November. Such drinks are already banned from the school but pupils are being challenged to give them up outside the school gate too.
Acting deputy principal Yvonne Nicholson said the school’s reaction had been positive, with pupils embracing the challenge.
‘‘Quite a few of the younger children in particular, they like to have a little bit of competition happening.’’
The school is one of 76 taking part in the New Zealand Dental Association’s Switch To Water campaign, which has 13,000 pupils registered nationwide.
Fairfield pupils were not allowed sugary drinks at school, so the real challenge was switching to water outside school time, Nicholson said.
‘‘We’ve talked to students about if they are at a party and they’re offered fizzy drink, how they might request water, because they’re aware of the fact that fizzy drinks can cause cavities.’’
Colgate oral health promotion manager Deepa Hughes said the campaign aimed to teach people that sugary drinks should only be enjoyed in moderation, and that water was the best choice for their health.
‘‘Sugary drinks should be a treat. Instead, they have become the drink of choice, especially for young people.’’