Trekking country for charity

After losing everything in the recession Pete Langford decided to trek the length of the country and raise money for charity.

Mr Langford, originally from England, has lived in the Northland settlement of Paparoa for the last 10 years.

After his business folded he decided to turn his misfortune into an opportunity to do something he has always wanted to do and travel the 2500 kilometres from Bluff to Cape Reinga on horseback.

"I'm one of the casualties of the recession ... I pretty much lost most of what I'd worked for so thought now might be a good time to go and do that ride.

"It's a lot of freedom if you look at it in the right way," Mr Langford said.

Mr Langford set off from Bluff on November 11 last year with his two horses, Twoshoes and Cloud, one to ride and one to carry his pack.

"I used to ride horses as a child. When I came to New Zealand I got back into riding and always thought it would be quite a cool thing to do," he said.

He rides for five days and then has a two-day rest. He usually spends the nights sleeping in a tent.

Last Thursday he made it to South Wairarapa and after taking a few rest days near Martinborough, he was set to head off again yesterday.

He is hoping to raise about $70,000 for a range of charitable organisations, all of which provide emergency air services.

"I thought, right, if I'm going to do this I'll set it up so other people benefit, so I tied it in with raising money for the rescue helicopters.

"I wanted to choose a charity that maybe doesn't get as much of a piece of the funding pie and it also needed to be a charity relevant to New Zealanders.

"These guys are out literally saving lives on a daily basis," Mr Langford said.

The trusts he chose to raise money for are: Life Flight, Philips Search and Rescue Trust, The Northland Emergency Services Trust, The Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and The Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter Trust.

He has had a few hairy moments along the way and hit some quicksand coming across the Rakaia River near Lake Coleridge in Canterbury.

"It had me scared at the time.

"[We] just clipped the edge of it so we managed to get out with out any real dramas but it's not what you expect," he said.

When Mr Langford finishes his trek he will join his partner in Dargaville and get back in to "mainstream life again".

He expects to reach Cape Reinga in July.