Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer.

Kiwi striker is the real deal

The English Premier League is arguably the most difficult football league in the world and New Zealand striker, Chris Wood has earned a huge amount of admiration for his goal scoring feats this season. Wood has played for a number of English clubs over the years but he has come into his own at Nottingham Forest. At the halfway point of the competition Forest are currently third and Wood has amassed a tally of 12 goals – putting him six behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

Wood is a down to earth professional with little fuss about him and his ability to consistently put the ball in the back of the net illustrates his value to Nottingham Forest, as well as to the All Whites, which he captains.

After today’s win against Wolverhampton Wanderers (where he put his name on the score sheet again) Wood was forthright about the reasons for his team’s current success. “It is about consistency and doing what we have been doing extremely well already this season. Not letting up halfway through. We need to keep going, It is all about confidence, belief and responsibility, and a team that works to all of our strengths. It is not the same every week, we try to tweak things to get better.” (Source: “Chris Wood scores again as Nottingham Forest stretch win record,” 7th January, www.rnz.co.nz).

5 stars – fantastic to see a home grown boy do so well in such a difficult league!

Runner completes great walks in incredible time

New Zealand’s great walks are internationally renowned for their beauty and distinct landscapes and flora. I’ve walked a few of them over the years. Generally they are an enjoyable hike over a few days, with overnight stays in huts.

Recently, one Kiwi ran ten of our great weeks in an astonishing nine days to raise money for the New Zealand Nature Fund.

Aucklander, Romain Groleau ran the equivalent of 12 marathons in a little over a week and said his body was coping well, despite his impressive exertions.

“I’m still a bit tired and recovering from the big effort and going back into the real world. I was a little bit disconnected for these nine days I was on the trail, so reconnecting and recovering.

“You run the trail and then you travel to the next one, and you need to keep on schedule, I probably slept less than five hours a night. So that was tough. And then the logistics, getting from one trail to the next, some of them require quite a bit of travel because they’re not close to each other.” (Source: “Runner completes 10 Great Walks in nine days,” by Michael Beckmann, 7th January. www.thepress.co.nz).

5 stars – an incredible effort and a fabulous way to raise money for a worthy cause as well. Great stuff!

Boy found after wandering into lion infested game park

This a a hair raising tale with a very, very happy ending. Tinotenda Pudu, 7, went missing from his village in northwest Zimbabwe and was found five days later in Matusadona National Park after a concerted rescue effort over new years.

“The search for the little boy was impeded by heavy rainfall in the northern region, which made it difficult for rangers to spot his footprints. On December 30, footprints were discovered in an area of the park and Tinotenda was found in the early hours of the next day.

“Tinotenda is thought to have walked through 49 kilometers (around 30 miles) of lion-infested terrain during his five-day ordeal, surviving on wild fruit and ground water.

“’It is estimated that he walked through the harsh terrain of the lion infested Matusadonha National Park for 49 kilometers from his village to the point where he was found,’ Zimbabwe Parks said in a statement. ‘During this period, he survived on wild fruits and would dig a small hole along the dry riverbank to access underground water to drink, a technique that is well known in drought prone areas.'” (Source: “Boy, 7, found alive in ‘lion-infested’ Zimbabwe game park after going missing for five days,” by Rosa Rahimi, 6th January, www.edition.cnn.com/world).

5 stars – not only is this a story with happy ending – it also shows the skills to survive picked up by a small boy in a challenging part of the world.