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GAINING TRAC Cat & Phil’s trek of Cat and her dad Phil (left) are teaming up with comedian Mike (below) on a drive to promote mental health in rural communities.
A CHANCE MEETING KICKS OFF AN EPIC 2700KM QUEST
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pon boarding a flight from Auckland to Christchurch, professional speaker Cat Levine found herself seated between a politician and mental health advocate Mike King. It was an easy choice of who to strike up conversation with. “Mike seemed more interesting,” she says with a laugh. They quickly got chatting, connecting over a shared passion for helping youth, and the chance encounter with the comedian couldn’t have had better timing. A year on, Mike, who is
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recovering from a serious motorbike crash, is joining forces with Cat and her dad, retired farmer Phil Aish, as they begin a month-long Tractor Trek from Bluff to Cape Reinga in the lead-up to mental-health fundraiser Gumboot Friday on April 3. The trio will focus on rural communities, which face concerning rates of poor mental health and suicide, while raising awareness and money for counselling for any young person in need. “On that flight, Mike showed me texts on his phone from kids who had reached out to him, saying how much his talk
New Zealand Woman’s Weekly
at their school had helped them,” recalls Cat (45). “We exchanged numbers and I had a deep sense that something positive would come from meeting him. “Then later that week, Dad told me he’d just finished The Resilient Farmer, a book by Blenheim farmer Doug Avery about his struggles with mental health. “Dad said, ‘I know what I want the 2020 Tractor Trek to fundraise for – rural mental health and suicide prevention. But I don’t know what charity to align with for that.’ So I replied that I’d give my new best friend Mike a call!” Weekly readers might remember Phil, whose original Tractor Trek in 2016 was borne from his desire to give back to
the hospice that had cared for his dying wife, Janice. Feeling that it was time for something new to get behind, he searched for a cause deserving of support. “Gumboots, tractors, farmers… It’s such a perfect alignment,” says Phil, who has 16 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. “I’m nearly 81 and if I can drive a tractor from one end of the country to the other, and one person, whether young or old, can realise there is hope, I’ll do it.” When asked if he’s known other farmers who’ve felt isolated, there’s a long pause. “Not that they would tell me,” he says, admitting he had his own dark days after Janice
