Flooding makes SI charity trek more challenging

A man attempting to walk from Picton to Bluff was forced to accept a ride via a detour after he arrived in South Canterbury to find his planned route was flooded.

Tim Adams, of Christchurch, (pictured at the Opihi River bridge yesterday) who started his journey on November 30 and hoped to finish on December 22, said he wanted to raise both funds and awareness for cancer sufferers.

‘‘I lost my grandad to cancer when I was 12, and since then, I have lost too many friends and family to the disease,’’ Adams said.

‘‘But it was after a friend shared her family story that really lit the fire in me to get something done.’’

Adams, who is walking about 40 kilometres a day, said the floods meant he had to take a detour.

‘‘I’ve been pretty lucky with the weather actually.

‘‘The flooding meant I walked to the Rangitata Bridge (from Ashburton), and then had someone pick me up and take me to Temuka.’’

The bridge was closed by the NZ Transport Agency late Saturday morning when floodwaters from the Rangitata River spilled across the highway.

‘‘I’m going to be making up some of the time and distance I’ve lost by walking through from Makikihi to Waimate [yesterday],’’ Adams said.

He expected by the time he reached Bluff, he would have made up most, if not all, of the lost distance.

Adams said he was blown away by the generosity of people since he began his walk. He had planned accommodation throughout the journey.

‘‘To be honest, it’s been much harder than I anticipated. I had done some walking before, but usually only two kilometres or so.

‘‘The first few days were the hardest, as I got used to being away from my wife and kid.’’

So far, he has raised more than $6000 for the Cancer Society.