I have mentioned the previous successful Journey 1, in the year 2000. Tomo, a Japanese friend of my sister, read one of the past participant's books, and she told my sister, who in turn told me. As you can imagine, I was very very excited, soo excited that I spent every spare minute for the following months preparing myself for the Arctic. At that stage, Pole to Pole was to kick off in November 2006, from the South Pole.
I wrote letters, talked to people, wrote more letters and hosted a successful Charity Auction in Sapporo, Japan, where I was living at that time. The money raised during that fun evening was allocated to funding three other applicants from developing communities (Vanuatu, China (Xiang one of our expedition members) and Kenya). Over US$800 was made that evening. I was supported by many generous, local businesses which I have highlighted here. Thanks to all that supported the evening. I was elevated enough without the success of the Sapporo Auction, and had decided that it was time that Aotearoa New Zealand found out about Pole to Pole so I quit my job, and jumped on a plane. Four days after arriving back in Aotearoa after two years away, I, with the help of my wonderful sisters, held an event in Christchurch, called "Mullet-Mania". I had my first, quivering lip and shaky voice, contact with local radio stations and had newspaper stories published. "Mullet-Mania" was a great way to re-enter my past mulleted world, because I was still about "business at the front, and party at the back!" Again, more local business sponsors donated generously to this event, and we had three professional hairdressers cutting mullets for free! A wonderfully fun evening, with much less being raised but at that point it was more about awareness. The applicant Pole to Pole applicant deadline closed.
It was a nail biting time, and we (as applicants) waited, and waited, and yes.... waited. Finally, Pole to Pole announced that there had NOT been enough interest from around the world to justify a full selection-camp, so they postponed the International camp until 2007, and ran with a Canadian-only camp, as the response from Canadian youth had been large. On a positive note, YAY!, I was selected to attend this camp, based on the essay questions we filled out and the energy and public awareness that I had created, as well as my role in finding two other chosen, international selection camp attendees. Who both went on to become Expedition Team Members.
Nb* The Canadians at that point selected Eric Welsher-Bilodeau, the youngest of the selectees at aged 17 years to be the chosen Expedition Team Member. This camp happened in September, 2006.
As you can imagine, my heart sank (as a result of the postponement), which promptly brought me back-down-to-earth, and thankfully there I have stayed. New Zealand truely is a special place for me, and one which I get a lot of grounding from. It was time to go back to the Forest.
The Peel Forest Outdoor Pursuits Centre has played a significant part in shaping me to be who I am, really more importantly, teaching myself about myself. I worked as an outdoor instructor, which was GREAT, and a pleasure to be a part of a special place with special people. During this time, my Pole to Pole involvement was very part time, I had to focus on my own personal finances, as the pot was again dry.
In November and December, I met up with an old friend at a place of importance to me on sooo many different levels. Castle Hill or Kuratawhiti (in Maori) has been a place of family holidays, initiation to the mountains and down-hill skiing and then snowboarding. Stefan Hadfield, is one of the people that inspires me MOST in this world, and he is very at home in this boulderers (climbers) paradise. When he said he was interested in Pole to Pole, I was STOKED! he was STOKED, so we both were very, very ... yes, happy! He had yet to be selected for selection camp, so he went about brainstorming. He came up with Pass-to Pacific (P2P), a one day kayaking challenge from close to the source of the Waimakariri River, NZ - to the sea. It is a 150 kilometre journey, so we made a date. We were: 'the captain', Stefan 'the ideas-man', Ilana 'the mascot' and Smithers 'the boss'.
It was a BIG day, but we got through it with the help of our superb support crew, and after 15 hours on the water, we made it to the Pacific Ocean! The mostly flat, braided river, with some class 2 sections in the Waimak Gorge was a first for me in a sea-kayak. We thirstily drank from the crystal clear headwaters, and avoided even a droplet near our mouths in the final kilometres. A true and evident indication of what we are pumping into our New Zealand waterways.
Stefan, of course was selected at the end of the next deadline, around Christmas time, and in the next year we were invited to attend the International Selection Camp in February, held in Vancouver, British Columbia. ChalkyDigits hooked up 'Team Kiwi'with some shirts so that we could be united to perform a 'haka' an opening camp item, and the kiwi boys all stepped up! Stefan Janson, Dave Henley, Stefan Hadfield and myself, comprised this group. The five day "connection or selection camp" was to really strip away the layers to show each other's true colours. Scavenger hunts through downtown Vancouver, serving food at a food kitchen for the hungry and needy, shopping with a Chinese grocery list in China Town, team activities, dancing, cleaning up after storm damage in Stanley Park, hiking for 5 hours into the night with full packs, were just some of the activities in the first 24 hours. 
Day 2 and 3 went along quite similarly, water exercises in the wintry sea, meditations, leadership activities... phew! By day 3, we all wanted some answers about where the Organisation itself was at, and we felt we didn't know who was behind Pole to Pole. Our answers were met after pre-prepared, global-issue presentations. We then, headed into the gruelling selection process. Through the night we met, questioned, delivered, questioned some more, scratched our heads, delivered and chewed on Optimum bars to maintain the energy required. It wasn't until 5pm on the Friday afternoon that we wrapped up the open voting system, with 8 Expedition Team Members to add to Eric. The entire week there was an amazing energy, a collection of some of the world's most committed youth, willing to go out-on-a-limb, to make positive change, one step at a time.
Ten days lapsed, and the committed Pole to Pole Members went into further training. This included a wilderness cross-country ski and snowshoe journey in British Columbia's Tetrahedron National Park. WOW! Talk about team bonding. There was not much that this group of 20, did not face during this time. Martyn did an amazing job of facilitating us to work together, or not, and come up with ways to make it past hurdles, however high or wide that we came across. Extreme cold, wet, tension and stress, fear, 'peak' experience, relief, anger, joy, laughter, sorrow, pain, acceptance, peace were just a few of the emotions we experienced. We had received news of Stefan, my good New Zealand friend and our International Selection Camp attendee, who was selected for the second leg of the Expedition Team. He had been skiing with another kiwi, Dave and a friend, had fallen seriously at Whilstler Blackcomb whilst skiing. We was at that stage, in critical condition at a hospital in Vancouver. This news truely rocked the boat! Stefan's ever positive attitude, steered us into continuing as planned, with frequent visits to the see him, in between different sections of the training. Back from the hills, we went out to Keates Island, BC, and participated in a workshop with Tim Turner on the environmental impact over the past 50 years on a global level. An amazing morning. Further workshops: public speaking with Martyn, leadership with Greg Gjerdalen, media with Barbara Hornis, writing with Sudah and fundraising with Julienne. And then as a group we went into the structure with Kevin and Amanda, and created working groups, covering each and every facet of what makes Pole to Pole work.
Then and there formed what we now call the Pole to Pole Leadership Institute . An ever-growing community of international youth, each with their own ideas, committments, values, religions, beliefs and dreams, all viewing this leadership program as an opportunity to improve their own skills, leadership styles, knowledge, awareness and learning, that will allow them to "See the World a New Way", through experience, working hands-on with different cultures and in different communities. Us as members, have been challenged immensely, already have a greater undertanding of each other and different cultures, we are more aware of global issues affecting us all, we have a better undestanding of community and it's importance. Pole to Pole has already succeeded! The launch of StayTrue.net celebrated one year of involvement with Pole to Pole. And yet this is just the beginning...