The journey from a wheelchair to a mountaintop takes millions of tiny steps. But such is the expedition to reach Sealy Tarns, having conquered a track known as the “stairway to heaven”, on New Zealand’s highest mountain, Aoraki/Mount Cook.

Our group of 17 is an anomaly: predominantly women, around half older than 50, among much younger hikers. But we’re part of a growing global trend. Most of the pilgrims on Europe’s famed Camino de Santiago are women, with one in 10 over 65.