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A Manly-based filmmaker intrigued at the sight of a lone woman walking long distances along Whangaparāoa Road was inspired to write a song, and make a video featuring it, to honour her.
David Blyth said he first noticed the woman during the pandemic and after several years of wondering about her, he met her near Manly Beach about a year ago.
After their meeting he was inspired to write lyrics and singer-songwriter Andrew McLennan turned them into a song, which he sings on the video David subsequently made.
“When I talked to locals and neighbours, I was surprised that everyone knew of the walking girl on Whangaparāoa Road, she is a local celebrity in our community of car commuters.”
David said he created the video to “celebrate someone in our community who in a way brings us together”.
The woman, Tracey Antunovic of Manly, told the paper she walks for a number of reasons.
“I don’t have transport, so I just walk everywhere. And for me it just helps me, with my mental health, my fitness, everything. I just love it.”
She said she walks to Ōrewa and back, to Silverdale and back, or to Gulf Harbour and back – “wherever I need to go”.
She very rarely takes buses – only if the weather is really bad – as she prefers to walk, and feels restless if she hasn’t done so for a few days.
Tracey said she gets responses from many people – even in the supermarket people stop and want to talk to her.
As she walks, she listens to YouTube playlists of Christian music, and goes “into my own zone”. The choice of music arises from her involvement with a church, after a woman stopped her walking five or six years ago and invited her to attend.
“The church has been really good for me. I like to surround myself with good people now, because I’ve had some not so good people in my past and they haven’t been good for me.”
Tracey recalled having coffee with David after they met, and their conversation leading to David writing a song about her and getting Andrew to sing it. The video was made some weeks ago “and he just posted it online and we’ve had a really good positive result”.
Although she doesn’t read the comments reacting to the video, she understands that “everyone says some really nice things about me, and also about the song”.
The video can be found at: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1021353085
