Paddling Cape to Cape for a Cause   4 Feb 2016

Paddling Cape to Cape for a Cause

Pete Ralph is a twenty-five year old on a mission.

A mission that will see him spend three week on stand up paddle board, paddling from the South Cape to the top of the East Cape of the North Island.

A mission that he hopes will raise awareness of the massive risk that deep sea oil exploration poses to our environment.

Pete Ralph has long been passionate about our oceans. Growing up in the Bay of Islands, he spent much of his youth sailing, surfing and diving. This love of the sea and desire to protect it, lead him to studying Environmental Management and Economics at the University of Otago, and then a job as an Environmental Consultant.

But after two years as a consultant, he has decided to leave paid employment and embark on the 675 km journey from Cape Palliser to the top of the East Cape to raise awareness of the New Zealand Government’s plans to sell off huge areas of our sea bed for deep sea oil prospecting.

In describing the transition from his job to the upcoming journey, Ralph said - “I was getting a little tired spending the majority of my time behind a desk and wanted to take a broader approach to protecting our beautiful environment.”

That approach will see Pete Ralph leave Cape Palliser on a paddle board on Waitangi Day (6 Feb), and up a stretch of coastline, that he feels needs more protection. In looking at the issue that has inspired the Cape to Cape journey, Ralph says - “Deep sea oil in NZ is something that has never really made sense to me. Why would we put our most precious asset, our oceans and beautiful coastlines, at risk of permanent catastrophic damage all for a quick buck. A quick buck that most New Zealanders won’t see a cent of. On top of that it’s a big step in completely the wrong direction in terms of climate change. For me it is something that has never made sense and is something that we should really stop from happening.”

Pete Ralph is calling on the Minister for the Environment to give people back the right to have their say on the matter and make exploratory drilling for oil and gas a publically notifiable activity, saying - “It seems odd that something that happens on land like subdividing or putting in a new road is publically notifiable however exploration drill which could potentially have a huge impact isn’t.”

He estimates that he will make 228,000 paddle strokes to propel himself up the East Cape in a pursuit that that he is a relative newcomer to, paddling for little over a year. Ralph said - “I’ve surfed all my life and have done a fair amount of rowing so that certainly helps. I just brought a board, watched a lot of YouTube videos, filmed myself paddling and just started getting on the water as much as possible.”

He has come across dolphins, penguins and sharks in his paddle training and is expecting to see many more on the journey. When asked about encountering sharks on the journey – he said “I’m not really afraid of sharks. My board is pretty big so hopefully they don’t get too friendly.”

On the safety of the trip, he said “I’ll be keeping a very close eye on the weather.

I’ll have a number of communication devices with me and am confident I’ve taken all the necessary safety precautions and I’m ready for what’s ahead.”

He will also have his Dad on the ‘Cape to Cape’ adventure, in the support van that travels up the coast with him. Pete said - “he’s an old sailor so is the perfect person to help read the weather forecasts and marine charts. He’ll be head photographer and chef and will hopefully be serving fresh fish caught off the home built kayak.”

ends

Add a comment