Passing Mark Kerr in the street it would be easy to mistake him for any other ordinary bloke.
And he was until three months ago when he handed in his resignation at his job in cruise ship tourism, packed a bag and set out to walk the length of the country.
Starting in Bluff the Auckland man has so far travelled 2000km, dropped 17kg and raised $5000 for St John New Zealand.
Stopping in Rotorua, Mr Kerr visited St Michael's Catholic Primary School, where he asked the pupils why they thought he was doing the walk.
The children's answers ranged from "for exercise" to "raise money" but Mr Kerr's answer was much more simple.
"It's because I can. Where else in the world can you walk the whole length of a country."
Speaking with the Rotorua Daily Post, Mr Kerr said the decision to do the walk was somewhat spontaneous and he hadn't done any physical preparation.
"I'd read about the Te Araroa Trail then in December I had an epiphany - I just knew I was going to walk the length of New Zealand, when I couldn't think of any solid reasons not to do it, I handed in my resignation and that was it, I was off."
He said no one moment of his journey stood out above the rest.
"I have seen so much of New Zealand's wonderful scenery and met so many locals, I couldn't pick one thing or one moment that has stood out to me.
"The thing I've struggled with most is probably leaving the security of normal life, knowing where you'll be sleeping and eating. But what I've learnt, so far at least, is it always works out and so that's become exciting - waking up in the morning and not knowing what the day has in store for me."
Mr Kerr estimated he had about two months of walking left.
"It's been incredible. I've been to the smallest towns that people don't even know exist. I can't wait to see what the next couple of months have in store.
"If you don't grab these opportunities, you miss out on seeing these beautiful places and meeting these beautiful people."
He said he had picked St John to fundraise for because it was a New Zealand charity every Kiwi either had personal experience with or had close family and friends needing their service.
His goal was to raise $7000, enough to buy two new first response bags, but said any more than that would be great.
"Making this journey has been amazing, but for me the most important part is highlighting St John's and the work they do."
To follow Mr Kerr's journey go to www.markwalksforlife.com.