Jack is met on the shared use path beside the Eastern Link Motorway by his friend Jess Hambrook. Photo: Supplied/LDR
Sheer determination was all that carried Jack Karetai-Barrett into Papamoa at around 8pm on Tuesday night.
After walking 40 kilometres over 12 hours on raw, blistered feet, carrying a 17-kilogram pack on the second day of his walk to Tauranga, he still had to be persuaded to stop short of his intended destination of Arataki Community Centre where a group of supporters had been gathered to greet him.
The 15-year-old had walked from Whakatāne over two days to promote voting yes to Māori wards.
The Local Government (Māori Wards) Amendment Act 2024 requires 42 councils wanting to keep or form Māori wards to hold a binding poll at this year's local body elections.
Jack's mum, Mawera Karetai, was feeling extremely proud on Wednesday morning.
"What he's done over the last two days, there's plenty of adults that wouldn't have done it."
She said Jack had been reluctant to stop walking despite the fatigue and pain he was experiencing.
"He got down to a shuffle, but he said, 'I have to do this'. I said 'you've done enough my boy'. He said, 'no, I haven't done enough until I finish'."
Karetai said Jack was worried that he had let people down by not getting to Arakaki in time.
"But that's him. He's just got such a strong sense of honour and duty. He doesn't like letting people down.
"I look at this boy and I see the man that he's going to become. He's such a really wonderful person. He's got a good, strong heart for things that really matter."
Jack enjoying a foot bath after walking 40 kilometres over 12 hours with blisters. Photo: Supplied/LDR
Jack told Local Democracy Reporting there was plenty of support along the way, with hundreds of people honking their horns in support, stopping to chat and bringing him food.
Higgins contractors volunteered to open the gates to go through a closed area of the shared use path along the Tauranga Eastern Link motorway between Paengaroa and the Kaituna River where construction was taking place.
"They contacted me and said they'd heard that Jack was coming so they were going to organise for the gates to be opened," Karetai said.
"So they opened the gates and walked him through so that he didn't have to take a massive detour."
She was grateful for all the support he received.
Blistered feet didn’t stop Jack Karetai-Barrett from walking for 12 hours on Tuesday. Photo: Supplied/LDR
"Whether it was from people stopping to check on him, bringing him kai, and just loving him really."
His friend, Jess Hambrook, who lives in Tauranga, walked up to meet him and he stayed with her family that night.
Jack is determined to continue with his return walk over the next couple of weeks.
However, he needs to give his feet time to heal first and due to heavy rain forecast over the next few days he has been advised that poor visibility would make it unsafe to walk on the road.
He was sounding cheerful on Wednesday morning when Local Democracy Reporting checked in with him.
He admitted that walking on the roadside was "10 times harder than walking in the bush," which is where he normally tramps and his boots had been unsuitable, forcing him to switch to sneakers after the first day. Despite this, he enjoyed the walk.
"It was really good, I loved it," he said.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
