Miss Charles, 22, who graduated late last year with an archaeology honours degree, will fly to Europe this month to tackle the epic Camino de Santiago trail, as both a personal challenge and in support of charity The Little Miracles Trust.
Miss Charles will walk the network of ancient pilgrim routes making up the Camino de Santiago, a Unesco World Heritage site, covering about 800km across France and Spain.
She plans to then continue on to Sagres Point in Portugal — once known to ancient mariners as ‘‘The End of the World’’, making a total of 1000km.
‘‘All going to plan, the walk should take me about two months,’’ Miss Charles said.
In preparation for her first great walk, Miss Charles has been training hard — hiking the hills around Dunedin with a backpack and wearing in her trusty walking boots.
‘‘I will be setting off by myself, but I am expecting to meet other walkers along the way — there is a large infrastructure around the trail, which I believe attracts about 200,000 people each year.
‘‘People describe the Camino de Santiago as a physical, spiritual and emotional challenge — I am really looking forward to the experience.’’
‘‘This is a charity that is very close to my heart, and I’ve seen its incredible impact as a volunteer during my studies at the University of Otago,’’ she said.
The Little Miracles Trust supports the families of premature babies in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) or Special Care Baby Units (SCBU) — up to 5800 New Zealand babies each year.
‘‘A long time ago, two of my best friends spent time in a NICU, so I am incredibly grateful for the support the Trust was able to provide,’’ Miss Charles said.
‘‘And so, I decided to make walking the Camino de Santiago an opportunity to highlight this amazing charity.’’
Once she has completed her epic trek, Miss Charles plans to return home to Dunedin to pack up and prepare for a new adventure — moving to the north of England to embark on a masters degree in Archaeology at Durham University in September.
‘‘In my studies so far, I have focused on threats to cultural and heritage sites from conflict, wars and climate change, with a special interest in Egypt and the near Eastern region — all of which is very topical,’’ she said.
‘‘I am excited to be furthering my studies at Durham University and ultimately aim to become a working archaeologist, hopefully based out of the United Kingdom, Europe, or Unesco.’’
- Olivia Charles’ Givealittle fundraising page will be open throughout her Camino de Santiago walk and can be found at https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/miracles-on-thecamino-de-santiago
