Travelling the length of the country is by no means new, but two men are on a journey to cycle, ski and hike from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island.
Kiwi Laurence Mote and Australian Huw Kingston are only a quarter of a way through their three month challenge, called Alpine Odyssey Aotearoa.
Their goal was to raise $75,000 for a project in Vanuatu, building classrooms out of shipping containers.
“Vanuatu has lost about 150 classrooms in the last two years due to storm surges and more intense cyclones. Children have a right to education even after these disasters,” Kingston told 1News.
Mote and Kingston have confronted obstacles of their own throughout 15 years of friendship, with Mote being legally blind.
In 2013, he was stung by a bee and went into anaphylactic shock, then suffered a stroke.
“I had to learn how to walk and talk again, so day one of my recovery was cycling,” he said.
“I’ve lost my central vision, I have a lot of trouble with street signs and I have fatigue as well.”
The pair have made a stop at the Cambridge Velodrome, trying to get in some fast laps with their travel loads in tow.
It was also a god excuse for Mote to spend time with his niece, two time Olympic champion Ellesse Andrews.
Andrews said Mote encouraged her to get on the bike as a youngster.
“I remember always riding around with him as a kid. I’ve always felt so safe mountain biking down tricky sections if I was following his lines,” she said.
“It’s really fun to be here together.”
Mote and Kingston were now taking on the Timber Trail, an 84km cycleway in Pureora Forest Park.