NZ Underfoot nearly halfway on 2900 km hike

NZ Underfoot nearly halfway on 2900 km hike of New Zealand

New Zealander Alice Smith and Americans Dennis Behan and Lane Schaffer, are nearly halfway through their 5 month journey hiking the length of New Zealand.

Known as NZ Underfoot, the group left Cape Reinga on September 22nd and is now making their way down to Wellington, arriving on approximately Saturday the 23rd of November.

Averaging 25 km’s a day the group have already covered 1348.50 km’s in the short time.

As part of the hike Alice, Dennis and Lane are raising money for Project K and a similar charity in America.

Along the way they have been encouraging the public to visit their website www.nzunderfoot.com and make a donation to Project K.

Project K founded by Graeme Dingle and Jo-anne Wilkinson is a unique youth development programme that uses the wilderness, local community and one-on-one mentoring to teach and inspire teens to reach their full potential.

Smith said “We have received a lot of positive feedback about Project K along the way. A farmer whose daughter had been a Project Mentor let us camp in his paddock for the night and gave us a $50 donation and a boatie, whose daughter was a Project K Graduate, gave us a lift across a river. It’s really great to see their enthusiasm about the programme.”

The groups are aiming to finish in Invercargill in February 2008 and are mapping progress on their website.

ENDS

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