This summer, Victoria Bruce and her seven-year-old daughter Emilie hope to become the first solo mother-daughter duo to walk the length of New Zealand.
Their journey on the Te Araroa Trail is part of Victoria's healing from a breakdown - and also a way to raise money for Federated Mountain Clubs and the Mental Health Foundation.
You can follow their journey on Victoria's blog and on Instagram.
Emilie tells Kathryn Ryan that in her backpack she's carrying "about eight things" - her 'hut shoes', 'hut diary', water bottle, stuffed kiwi, stuffed tui, sunglasses and togs and the tent.
"And Mum's carrying everything else," laughs Victoria.
She had the idea of walking the trail to restore her well-being and connect with nature. Emilie immediately thought it sounded cool.
So far, it's been a very healing journey, Victoria says, and a great way to connect with her birth country and meet some good people.
Walking Ninety-Mile Beach and canoeing down the Whanganui River have been a couple of her highlights so far. For Emilie, seeing two baby weka chicks was pretty special.
On the trail, Emilie has been learning about ecology and botany, Victoria says.
And "anywhere art", Emile adds.
"And I do my hut diary every day to keep special memories."
Victoria and Emilie set off from Cape Reinga on 2 October but had to skip the top half of the North Island because of lockdown.
Once they've walked the length of the South Island they'll head back up to do walk that.
Kathryn Ryan caught up with Victoria and Emilie a couple of days before Christmas, which they planned to spend in the Richmond Ranges.
