A former US Marine who walked 1800km from Cape Reinga to Lake Tekapo fundraising for wounded veterans spent his time on the road day-dreaming about French fries.
Russell Sproul, 28, said he would have done the walk regardless, but decided he could kill two birds with one stone by fundraising for the Wounded Warrior Project, a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing services to US army veterans.
Before leaving he had raised almost $1000.
"I was going to do it anyway, but I figured, why not dedicate it to my fellow brothers in arms coming back from war?" he said.
Mr Sproul was stationed for 19 months in Okinawa, Japan, between 2004-09 as a combat engineer doing "urban breaching", which involved anything from building runways and urban demolition to sweeping for land-mines.
He had previously walked the Appalachian Trail, hiking a distance of 3508km. He said the trail spanned over 14 US states.
While Mr Sproul admits to not being particularly sporty, he said he loved hiking and the outdoors. He has completed numerous hikes in America since 2006, including some in Japan and Australia.
He decided to hike the length of New Zealand after doing Mt Wellington in Tasmania.
"I did some research, and New Zealand just looked better," he said.
Mr Sproul passed through cities and towns such as Auckland, Hamilton, Bulls, Fielding, Palmerston North, Wellington, Havelock and Christchurch, but said his favourite point of the trip was the Tongariro Crossing.
"There's really nothing like that anywhere else," he said.
"You get these blue, emerald lakes and you've got volcanoes. Not just one volcano, but many."
One thing Mr Sproul noted was the ever-changing scenery in New Zealand.
"You can walk a little distance and you're in mountains or beaches," he said.
Mr Sproul made the trip without a cellphone or watch, saying too many people were glued to their devices.
"What's a holiday where I have to keep up with everyone?"
He was not worried about needing his phone to call for help, saying: "If I'm going to get lost, you can always find your way out."
Without even an iPod to listen to while he walked, Mr Sproul said he often sang to himself, or thought about food.
"Sometimes I just wish I had something else in my pack to eat," he said, "like French fries or chips."
He also spent his time planning a book he was writing, called Shenanigans.
Sleeping arrangements weren't a problem for Mr Sproul, who carried a tent with him and would either sleep in that or under the stars off the trail, or in a backpackers' when he was in town.
Sometimes he would knock on farmers' doors to ask if he could sleep on their property, and would occasionally get invited inside and given a meal and a hot shower.
Mr Sproul showered about once a week while on the trail and had grown an impressive hiking beard on his travels.
He said the hospitality in New Zealand had been "pretty good". One service station employee had loaded him up with free snack bars, and a couple who gave him food and "Christmas bread" walked a short distance with him.
When he wasn't crossing an entire country on foot, Mr Sproul worked as a commercial diver, doing underwater construction, salvaging, and inspections.
He said he would like to live in New Zealand, and would consider coming here to work.
Wanganui was the second-to-last stop on his journey. He would be catching a bus up to Auckland and flying home over the next few days.
Once back in America, Mr Sproul planned to walk from the border of California and Mexico to Canada, crossing 200-300km of desert in the process.
Anyone wanting to donate to Mr Sproul could go to woundedwarriorwalk.com