Thursday 30 April 2009

Baa

The legs felt a bit sore towards the end of yesterday's walk, but I'm happy to report that they feel fine today. Nothing like a hot bath and a quick massage to cure a bit of leg fatigue. Since it was rather chilly (it only got up to around 13 degrees), I decided to wear my new Icebreaker Bodyfit200 Mondo Zip top (Black) over my Columbia Mountain Tech T-shirt (Night Train). Rain was forecast, so I also wore my Kathmandu Gore-Tex rain jacket (Ocean). Things got a bit sweaty at times underneath all those layers. However, a quick sniff when I got home detected no stinkiness whatsoever.

One thing I forgot to mention about the new top the other day is that it has a baacode. No, that's not a misspelling. Each garment has a tag with a unique baacode which you can type in at the Icebreaker website to find out which farms in New Zealand supplied the wool used to make your particular garment.

This admittedly cute initiative goes to show just how much energy and money companies are putting into PR and "corporate responsibility" these days. The Icebreaker website has several pages complete with videos devoted to environmental ethics, manufacturing ethics, and animal welfare.

And in case you were wondering, the wool in my top was sourced from four farms: Walter Peak Station, Mount Nicholas Station, Olrig Station, and Lindis Peaks Station. Unfortunately there were no photos or names of the actual sheep who so kindly donated their wool. Although the following question and answer from the FAQ suggests some people have sought just such information.
Q: Why can't we trace the fibre in our garment back to one sheep or one station?

A: Making a good quality Icebreaker is a bit like making a good bottle of wine. We need a good mix of merino fibre, which means sourcing fibre from different stations to create the perfect blend. On average, merino sheep from about five stations will have grown the fibre for each garment you trace through Baacode.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 260km
Days left until departure: 17

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