World adventurer makes stop in Sackville

In the past four-and-a-half years, she's suffered severe frostbite, pneumonia and broken ribs. She's been hit by a bus, threatened by a crazed axe-wielding man as well as wild animals, ran out of food, been mugged at gunpoint, and has endured temperatures of 76 degrees below zero.
But none of this has broken Rosie Swale-Pope's spirit; in fact, her adventurous soul has only persevered through these harsh, incredible conditions as she continues her trek around the world on foot.
First meeting up with her along the highway near Memramcook last Wednesday afternoon and then talking to her again the next day in Sackville, I was immediately struck by Rosie's strong character and courage; she is an inspiration to everyone she meets, even though she would modestly deny that she's doing anything extraordinary.
"None of this is as hard as what it's like for someone who is battling cancer . . ." she says while taking a break from her run.
Rosie speaks from experience. Her husband Clive died unexpectedly from prostate cancer in 2002 and she draws inspiration in knowing that her expedition is raising awareness of the disease all around the world.
"I felt like I had to do something to try to help in a small way. And this is the way I did it because it was my way of giving something back for my long life."
More than anything, her husband's death has taught her about how precious life is.
"Life can be so short and you have to grab life, do what you can while you can, and try to give something back," she says.
As she travels the globe, Rosie is raising awareness and funds for several charities including the Prostate Cancer charity, the Siberian Railway Cancer Hospital at Omsk, and the Kitezh Community for Orphan Children orphanage.
Rosie kicked off her trek over four years ago - on Oct. 2, 2003 on her 57th birthday - from her hometown in Tenby, Wales. Her journey has taken her across Europe, through Holland, Germany, Poland and Moscow, and then along the Trans Siberian Railway route, where she has crossed some of the most remote and rugged (and cold) wilderness terrain in the world. She then journeyed to the Bering Strait, down to Alaska, the US, and is now in Canada.
Her mission, she says, is to do a complete circle of the earth on foot, covering the maximum possible distance on solid land.
Her solo expedition has been mainly self-supported and the 61-year-old pulls all of her equipment along behind her in a bright yellow cart, which she has affectionately dubbed Sarah the Icebird. The buggy also doubles as her sleeping quarters.
Rosie has endured bitter cold temperatures in the Arctic that most people have only heard about; so the -30 degrees that she experienced during the first week of January following the four back-to-back snowstorms in New Brunswick was nothing out of the ordinary.
"It was rather cold last week when there were four storms in a week and I had icicles for earrings; the cold's always trying. But minus 30 wasn't nearly as cold as it's been for me on this journey . . .
Having a nice warm buggy to curl up in when she's tired certainly helps, she adds.
"I am cozy and warm as if I'm in the Hotel Sheraton in my cart . . . it's almost tropical in there."
Rosie has traveled through most of her destinations in the winter, including almost 7,000 miles of Russia and Serbia, and says she wouldn't have it any other way. Although it's the coldest and hardest way to travel, she says it's also the most fascinating.
"This is the time when you really see the reality and learn about how these people are living their lives in these places during the most harsh conditions."
This is most on her mind as she races towards Halifax to begin the last leg of her journey, where she will trek through Greenland during the island's darkest, coldest days of winter. From there she will move on to Iceland, Scotland and England before returning home to her front doorstep in Wales.
What will help keep her warm during these days are the great stories and exceptional acts of kindness from the people she has met along the way.
"There are such great people everywhere," she says, "people like Barb (Wheaton, from Sackville) who brought me wonderful things like chocolates, and many other things it would take to long to list, including smoked salmon. She's such a wonderful woman."
(She accidentally left her last can of salmon outside her buggy where it was eaten by coyotes). "So this time I'm definitely going to put up the 'restaurant closed' sign for the coyotes," she jokes.
While she prepares for the last 3,000-plus miles of her 20,000-mile trek, Rosie is motivated by people like Gerald Bagnell, the general manager of Nalunaq Gold Mine, who recently arranged for her to fly directly to Greenland next week; and to her sponsors DHL, who have not only freighted precious cargo to her all around the world but have also agreed to send her buggy to Nuuk.
"The magic that this journey runs on continues . . ." she says.
She knows the last part of her journey will be trying and notes that her lengthy reports she has been contributing to her website (www.rosiearoundtheworld.co.uk) every week will have to be put on hold for a while.
"The next part is going to be very, very hard. It's going to be very tense and I have to concentrate very hard to be able to do this last section successfully. It will take everything I've got," she explains, noting the weather in Greenland will be 55 degrees below freezing and she will be out of network range so won't be able to send messages via her blackberry.
"So I'll be living the story rather than writing it."
She does promise, however, that "no matter how tough things get," she will let everyone know she is safe and where she is.
And although most of us are completely astounded by Rosie's story, adventure is certainly nothing new to this 61-year-old grandmother.
In the early 1970s she, along with her husband and two young children, sailed around the world in a 30-foot catamaran. She has crossed Chile on horseback, run across the Sahara, and completed a 1,000-mile solo run across Iceland.
Already she has written five books and is currently working on a sixth while she journeys around the world.
Rosie, spurred on by her boundless energy and her love for the world, says her book will not only relate the tales of her harrowing adventures but will also detail the many and varied people she has met along the way.
"The cold, the bears and the wolves, and the naked man with a gun, and the man with the axe is nothing compared to the life-changing impacts of thousands and thousands of 'so-called' ordinary people who lead amazing lives that I've encountered in Canada and the US and Siberia and other places."