AN ABERYSTWYTH man has completed a 3,000km trek across New Zealand to fulfil a long-held ambition.

Dafydd Llyr Pearson, 28, shared the experience of his five-month expedition with friends across the length of the country following the Te Araroa trail online.

He completed the epic walk which he describes as a “challenge unlike any other” on 10 April after setting off last November.

Te Araroa is a walking trail the length of New Zealand which runs from Cape Reinga at the tip of the North Island, to Bluff and the very bottom of the South Island.

Meaning ‘The Long Pathway’ in Maori, the trail takes in the entirety of New Zealand – ranging from beaches, farmland, cities, bush, remote valleys, hot springs, mountain passes, canoeing the Whanganui river, and even a few volcanoes along the way.

Dafydd, who went to Ysgol Gymraeg and Penweddig schools before attending SOAS University of London, said: “I visited New Zealand in 2007, completing the Routeburn and Milford track, two of the ‘Great Walks’. “I loved every-rain soaked, mud squelching second and was desperate to return to explore the country further.

“A few years later, I heard about the Big Three American walks – The Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail and I’d been desperate to take a season off to undertake a big hiking adventure since.

“Once I’d read about Te Araroa, which officially opened in December 2011, I set my sights on one day making it there.”

Dafydd, whose family home is in Rhyd y Bont, Penparcau, said that the expedition was a “challenge unlike any other”, and was “hard” with some days “wet and miserable”.

But he said it was “all worth it” once he made it to the end.

Read all about Dafydd’s adventure in this week’s CQ features section of the Cambrian News, south editions, in shops and online Wednesday