Ray White Waiheke Island Business Owner, Matthew Smith is currently tackling a personal journey – walking more than 1,500 kilometres across New Zealand.
Currently walking through Taihape – Matthew began his journey on 10 August when he left Auckland on his journey toward Queenstown. Originally aiming to walk 50km per day he has had to reconsider this target after blisters starting forming on his feet by Manukau.
The 41-year-old principal of Ray White Waiheke has set himself the challenge of losing “10-20kg of bad habits” as he puts it when explaining the reasons behind his walk and personal weight-loss journey. It was “hardly noticeable at first but it reached the stage where my clothes didn’t fit and friends started making comments.”
I am motivated more by positive things than negative” says Matthew – who sees the eye opening journey on foot and positive insights into New Zealand towns and culture as more beneficial that watching himself work out in a mirror at the local gym – which he calls “demotivating”. Although no initial training was undertaken prior to embarking on the journey, Matthew did manage to lose close to 10kg before he started his walk – simply by cutting out milk and sugar and reducing his calorie intake. In addition to this he hopes to lose an additional 12kg on the journey. Matthew, who underwent surgery after shattering a heel bone a few years ago, still suffers pain and is due for further surgery on his heel, but “the pain and discomfort will not stop me” he says… “If I had waited for everything to be perfect, I would never have started this walk!”
Matthew is carrying out the walk alone and only has a rough idea of where he will stay each night. With no support crew alongside him on the road, Smith is documenting his journey on Facebook and says he gets up to five friend requests a day from people keen to watch his progress. “The support has been overwhelming!” says Matthew.
“The whole experience so far has blown me away… I knew it was going to be exciting, but not as exciting as it has been. What I have learned about the good Kiwi culture and all the different areas and how all the people are trying to lead a good life … it’s been an incredible experience meeting so many good Kiwis.”
Smith, who lived in Queenstown before moving to Waiheke Island where he has now been based for over 19 years says “I am enjoying seeing different parts of New Zealand. I want to stay longer everywhere overnight. I have to find the balance between stopping to enjoy it and still keeping moving.”
The Desert Road still stands ahead for Matthew, and appears to be his biggest challenge so far. He plans to tackle the 63km strip of road in one day – with an early morning start. “I will keep going no matter how bad the blisters are, I will keep trucking on. I have bought a locator beacon with me for the Desert Road and will use it if I have to.”
When asked about the effect his time away may have on his team and his business he is proud to say, that with the assistance of technology has never been more accessible to his staff and customers – and talks on the phone daily – managing his business remotely and while on foot. As the principal of a growing business Matthew is proud to empower his staff to step up, earn respect and lead by example.
All going well Matthew is hoping to reach Queenstown by early-to-mid-October – and will no doubt celebrate with a well earned rest.
– Go to tinyurl.com/MatthewSmithFB to follow Matthew’s journey.
– View his story as published recently on Stuff.co.nz – here
– Listen to Matthew’s recent Radio National New Zealand Interview with Simon Mercep – here