Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Hawke's Bay man Hamilton Logan is striding his way to his goal of walking 100 kilometres in his 100th year for charity.
He said he was inspired by the feat of British centenarian Tom Moore during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
"I feel if I can do 3.5km to 4km a week my goal is going to be very easy to achieve, providing I remain sound of wind and limb, and the weather's not too bad," Logan said.
He is often out at the Havelock North Village Green but sometimes strolls along Muritai Crescent, tackling its gentle slope with ease.
"It's amazing how many people I talk to on my way around. They're all very curious now that they know what I'm doing as to how to find the website," he said.
That website is the Hawke's Bay Foundation, where people can donate to Logan's Second Chance At Life fund for the Hawke's Bay Rescue Helicopter, St John and the Rural Support Trust.
He was not sure how much had been raised yet, and did not want to set a goal, he said, especially when people were doing it tough and may not have much cash to give.
"I was inspired by what Captain Tom Moore did in the UK, and I mulled it over for a year or two and I thought if I can do something when I'm in my 100th year that can help people, I will."
Captain Tom decided to walk 100 laps of his garden before he turned 100, aiming to raise £1000 (approx NZ$2100) for the British health system. He raised almost £33m.
Logan started on 1 January walking towards his goal - 100km before he brings up his century on 21 November - and said the more kilometres he ticked off the better he felt.
"I've so far walked 62km, so I'm well ahead of schedule, but I want to be ahead of schedule because life is always uncertain and you never know what's in front of you, so I try not to get too far ahead of myself in that respect."
Hamilton Logan joined the military during World War II. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Logan was born on the family farm nestled into the Ruahine Range, west of Hastings, and had a highly successful farming career himself.
He had been long involved in A&P shows, and was part of a farming delegation to China.
On the sports field, Logan is Hawke's Bay's oldest living rugby representative, having played two games in 1944 as a centre.
He vividly recalls a clash with Wairarapa in the mud at Solway, Masterton.
Logan said rugby was in his DNA - his grandfather Francis Hamilton helped set up the game in Hawke's Bay and across New Zealand.
And Logan still keenly follows matches in a sport where he has links back to the 1905 Originals - playing schoolboy rugby with All Black Jimmy Hunter's son.
But his Hawke's Bay career came to an end when work called.
"I was probably fortunate to be able to get into the Hawke's Bay team when I was still pretty young.
"I didn't last for very long because the year after I played I went into the army, and that disrupted that.
"Then, in 1945, I was back playing again, but I had to make a choice between playing rugby or being injury free to do my job on the farm."
Logan did not go overseas with the military during World War II.
Looking further back, in 1931, he was just six when the Hawke's Bay earthquake devastated the region.
"I was on the family farm at Pukekino and I happened to be in the storeroom sneaking a biscuit when the earthquake struck.
"Storerooms in those days were full of preserved jams and fruit. I can remember before I knew what was happening the whole room was shaking and jars were just cascading off the shelves.
"It was just like a fruit salad on the floor."
He, his five siblings and parents, Frank and Dorothy, were fine, but there was destruction throughout the farm.
The whole period was tough - Hawke's Bay was experiencing a drought and the Great Depression was in full swing - but it shaped Logan's life.
"Having grown up during the 1930s, when I saw real poverty and real hardship, I always remember how good my parents were to people, whether they be swaggers or whether they be people in a difficult situation.
''That has been something that I have carried through life."
