But last week there was still plenty of time for reminiscing.
Graham began his journey from Bluff with a mate, who got as far as Hamilton with him before heading back to Wellington to find work, and so replenish the coffers, while Graham found work as a window dresser in Christchurch. His mate met a girl while in Wellington and wasn't keen to resume the expedition, so Graham carried on alone.
He got rid of a fair bit of the gear that two people had needed, and modified The Blob, but he was still pushing about 50kg. Going up hill wasn't easy, and down hill could be tricky too, until he fitted bicycle handbrakes.
Gorge a challenge
The Mangamuka Gorge was still a real challenge though, Graham resorting to packing his gear into a rucksack, carrying it some distance, leaving it on the side of the road and returning for the empty cart, repeating that process a number of times until he got to the top.
He received some valuable assistance in Kaitaia though, Awanui businessman Charlie Hutley giving him a new tracking wheel (off a lawnmower) for the rear of the cart.
Ninety Mile Beach wasn't a problem, Graham said, although it took him three or four days to reach Te Paki Stream, sleeping in the cart overnight.
Upon reaching the stream he went ahead to reconnoitre. If he hadn't learned by then he realised that evening that dusk in New Zealand doesn't last as long as it does in Wales, and his cart took some finding again in the dark.
The stream itself was memorable too. Once again he had to unload The Blob, carrying everything ahead on his back then returning for the cart, zig-zagging over the soft sand, using boards to prevent the bicycle wheels from sinking, until, at the end of a very long day, he reached Te Paki Station and a very welcome bed.
It was all worth it at Cape Reinga though, and not only because it represented the end of an amazing journey. There he met the three lighthouse keepers and their families, and the school teacher, Brownie Hemana, and some of his seven pupils.
Brownie told Graham he was delighted to meet him, and assured him that if they did not meet again in this world, perhaps they would in the next.
"I'm not a religious man," Graham said on Friday, but I do wonder sometimes if we will meet again."
Brownie had died, at the age of 48, when Graham returned to New Zealand 20 years later, but five years ago he managed to find his children in Auckland, one taking him back to the Cape and showing him her father's grave.
The Blob, meanwhile, was gifted to what is now Motat, in Auckland, were it was subsequently destroyed by vandals. Graham is now turning his mind to building a replica and taking it up Ninety Mile Beach once again.
He was back on the beach on Sunday, Claude also taking him back to Cape Reinga, this time without having to push anything in front of him.
Last week's memories also included a few close calls, one when a worker's hut blew off the back of a truck and smashed into the road right in front of him, another when a car lost a wheel that went flying over his head, and a third when a boat parted company with the vehicle that was towing it, again within close enough range to have wiped him out.
Great way to see NZ
And why did he do it?
"There's a bit more to it than this, but basically to see the country and meet the people," he said.
He had enjoyed great hospitality, met countless friendly people, and unlike most travellers had had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery.
"I had hours and hours of scenery, day after day. It was a lovely way to see New Zealand," he said.
He was given cups of tea, and on one occasion a haircut. He had even sold his a tartan shirt to a jockey who wanted it as his racing colours.
Now about to turn 78, he shows no sign of slowing down. He spent time in a gym while he was in Kaitaia (perhaps overdoing it a little - he was complaining of a sore hip, but was still expounding his philosophy of 'Use it or lose it') and was talking about putting the four books he compiled in New Zealand on the internet.
The books are liberally sprinkled with photographs but none of the words are his - they were written by the people he met, and who he believes will be interested in reliving their part in his experience, along with their children and grandchildren.
"It was a very important part of my life," he said.
Now he's keen to go again
It was the roar of the surf more than anything else that took Graham Sweet back 53 years when Claude Ilton delivered him to Ninety Mile Beach on Sunday morning.
The beach itself hadn't changed much either, he said, as he gazed northwards into the mist and recalled pushing off with The Blob from precisely the same spot at Waipapakauri Ramp in May 1964.
He and Claude were about to set off for Cape Reinga, in the luxury of Claude's four-wheel-drive this time, and he was enjoying every moment.
On his way to the Ramp he had called in to visit Johnny Jones at Lake Ngatu. "I took a photo of him as a child with his parents (and siblings) in 1964," he said, "and today I've taken another photo of him in exactly the same position."
This time he used his cellphone rather than the old Box Brownie of 1964, which he still has.
"The front door step has been painted since last time."
And now, he added, he was keen to make the journey up the beach again, pushing a replica of The Blob. The original was donated to Motat, where it was destroyed by vandals, Graham saying Motat might like to construct another one in recompense for not taking greater care of it.
