Crossing the Antipodes by foot

New Zealand by walk, this is the plan and my dream! Travel the 3,000km that separate Cape Reinga from Bluff, the north and south ends of the country.

Writing in one sentence sounds easy doesn’t it? But it will be 4 months minimum of effort and adventure to achieve it! Walking an average of 25 km daily, sleeping and camping along the route and with a backpack on the back hoping it doesn’t weigh much more than 8kg. Ever since I discovered the “Te Araroa” track I told myself that someday I would, but someday it’s too long, so I decided I had to do it now!

Everything is almost ready ... all I need is the material I'll need for the expedition! And that’s when this whole project begins. Collaborators who help me carry out this adventure in exchange for rewards, having 40 days to reach the goal.

(You have a summary of what, why, how and when in the video)

About the rewards

This will be my way of thanks to all collaborators involved in this passionate project :)

• Poster size A2 from the corners of New Zealand so you can take a piece from the other side of the world. You can choose from four different models, these are my four favorite photos I took during my stay here.

Here are the four poster models:

In order from left to right at the top: On the way to the fjords of Mildford Sound. Driving the west coast of the south island.

In order from left to right below: Boy playing in Wharariki Beach. Sunset at Tahunanui Beach (Nelson).

• Cloth bag so you can carry whatever you need :) Did you know that our antipodes (Spain) are New Zealand? And so the design came out.

• Acknowledgments: thanks for all your support is the least I can do, so your names will be included in the acknowledgements of the final video I'm gonna make. If you don't want your name to appear you can always put a nickname and continue feeling that you are part of this project:P

• Postcard from New Zealand. I will send you a direct postcard from some point along the route. Writing to you in my own handwriting the joys and not so joys of the adventure!

The rewards that can be collaborated from anywhere in the world are the acknowledgments and postcards.

For what I'll use your contributions?

The contributions will be used to finance all the material needed for the trip + the campaign costs (production + shipments).

Here you have the material list that I will need with all its costs. Remember that it's a 5 months track, I start from scratch, since when I came to NZ I never imagined that I would end up doing this.

Schedule

Not knowing yet a specific day, the month of December 2020 if all goes well I'll be on the track! Why can’t it be later or sooner? Considering the route can take 5 months... the winter in the south hemisphere would catch me and it would be dangerous to do the route. It is recommended to start during October-November, but I'll start it as late as possible in order to save as much as I can until then.

Who I am

My name is Mercedes. The truth is that is hard for me to describe myself, but they recently gave me the best compliment they could ever have told me, and I think it describes me very well right now: "Tough girl in a tent with no roof" (there's a story behind). That's how I am, always willing to take risks and take a small or big step to get where I want to be!

After graduating I didn’t see myself at home, but discovering the world. I was lucky to get the working&holiday visa from New Zealand and here I am! The plan was to come back after a year, but this place has caught me.

+ Info

If you want to stay tuned about the adventure you can follow me at merce.maso.

For any questions you can contact me at my email [email protected], either about the project or if you plan to come in the future and need + info. Write to me :)

To Achieve the last Te Araroa steps depends on me, but with your contribution, no matter how small or big is being, it will help me to be able to do the first step. Thank you so much if you got here.

A deep and infinite gratitude, from the bottom of my heart!