When asked to wander the Italian countryside for a worthy cause, Wodonga’s Pauline Stanyer didn’t hesitate.
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“No, not at all,” she said.
“It’s a walk in Tuscany, 10 days all up, it didn’t take me too long to say yes.”
Mrs Stanyer will hold a garage sale on Saturday to raise money towards Trek for Support, a Breast Cancer Network Australia initiative.
In June she will join a group of 16 trekking along Via Francigena, an ancient road and pilgrim route to Rome, taking in sights that include the walled town of Monteriggioni and two UNESCO World Heritage sites.
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A friend who has fought breast cancer invited Mrs Stanyer, 70, to take up the challenge.
“When I was working I was also a breast care nurse,” she said.
Before retiring five years ago, she was based at Albury-Wodonga Private Hospital.
“Just helping patients through mainly their initial pre and post operative care,” she said.
“And at some point I was doing their chemotherapy as well in the early days of breast care being something that came into the fore.
“So I’ve had a lot of connection with people with breast cancer and thought I would like to give something to them.”
This won’t be her toughest physical challenge, having walked towards Everest Base Camp in Nepal three years ago.
“We were stopped by an earthquake,” Mrs Stanyer said.
“We were almost there, that morning, we were all but there.”
A frustrating near-miss?
“Oh yes, to think that I haven’t actually got to base camp, I haven’t put my hand on that rock,” she said.
The Tuscany trek will be undulating rather than mountainous, with Mrs Stanyer’s preparations including lots of walks.
“I’m so looking forward to it, just getting out and doing something like this again,” she said.
As well as the garage sale, Mrs Stanyer is part of the online Every Day Hero fundraising page for Breast Cancer Network Australia’s Trek for Support Tuscany 2019.
The garage sale on Saturday, 8am to 3pm, 15 Peacock Avenue, Wodonga, includes tools, fishing gear, household items, sausage sizzle, raffle and chocolates.
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