“There’s actually three of us, and I think it’s going to grow as time goes on,” Gascoigne told The Country’s Jamie Mackay.
“There’s myself, and John Gregan, he’s a farmer from South Canterbury, and Jeff Spark, a farmer from Rangiora, that’s come on board as well.”
Most people who travel the length of New Zealand stop at Bluff, but Gascoigne said he’d deliberately decided to go further.
“Everyone else stops at Bluff; we’re going over to Stewart Island because I reckon the Stewart Islanders get a bit peeved that they get forgotten all the time,” he said.
“So hopefully we’re going to finish up on the 31st of March with a big party at the local hotel in Oban.”
With Southland farmers battling sodden spring conditions, Gascoigne said he could relate.
“I really, really feel for the guys in Southland because I know what it’s like,” he said.
“I was in a similar situation 11 years ago – just that constant wet, you know, pulling on wet weather gear every day and just lying awake at night listening to that rain on the roof.
“Honestly, it just became all-consuming for me; I couldn’t think of anything else.”
Before long, he found himself caught in a cycle of negative thinking.
“What I’ve learned is when you’re so focused on that problem, your brain feeds you more examples of what’s going wrong, and it just becomes a vicious cycle, and you can just spiral downwards – that’s the situation I found myself in.”
Looking back, Gascoigne said the experience taught him some valuable lessons.
“What I’ve learned about how my brain operates is, these days, there’s still a lot of good stuff happening around, but you just can’t see it, and everything gets on top of you.
“The quality of your thoughts is what dictates the quality of your life.”
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He found it helpful to look for the good things in life.
“You might have two people living with exactly the same circumstances and environment, and one’s absolutely hating their life, and one’s absolutely loving it.
“So what I’ve learned to do is just to train my brain to take notice of the good stuff as well, and it just helps put things into perspective.”
He’s shared his observations online and encouraged others to participate through the #3GoodThingsFarmer challenge.
“I’m doing 60 days of noticing three good things each day and taking a photo or video of it, and I’m posting it on social media.
“It’s just a good habit to get into. I’m doing it for 60 days because it takes 60 days to break a habit or create a habit.
“So it’s just all about training those neural pathways in your brain to look after yourself.”
Gascoigne had advice for those who were social-media-shy.
“You’re carrying your phone everywhere, so take a photo or three photos of things that made you happy or you’re grateful for,” he said.
“They don’t have to be big things. Might be just well-fed calves after they’ve had their milk … or just the coffee you have at the start of the day.
“Just save three photos on your phone and make yourself accountable that you have to do it each day, and you don’t have to share it with anyone.”