British adventurer and world record holder arrives in NZ

Media release

October 5 2012

British adventurer and world record holder arrives in New Zealand to continue next record-breaking mission

British adventurer Mike Perham, who in 2009 was the world’s youngest person to sail solo around the world, hit New Zealand shores today in his next record-breaking quest to become the first person to solo circumnavigate the world by land, sea and air.

The driving challenge, which is the second of three challenges, takes Mike through over 20 countries in a campervan from New Zealand owned and operated business, Spaceships and is expected to take four-and-a-half months.

Mike has been driving his Spaceship campervan across the world to raise money for the international disaster relief charity, ShelterBox, whose New Zealand based response team assisted Cantabrians after the February 22, 2011 earthquake.

Mike says he is excited to arrive in New Zealand where he hopes to meet with Christchurch Mayor, Bob Parker and the Shelterbox Response Team who assisted after the earthquake.

“This journey around the world raising much needed funds for Shelterbox has been very humbling as I’ve not only got to meet the amazing people who have assisted in the recovery but also the victims who have lost so much after disaster has struck. The stories I’ve heard so far about how they have coped after the news disappeared off our TV screens are just phenomenal.

“In Thailand I visited a family outside of Bangkok that was hit hard by the floods last year. The mother gave birth to her child as the floodwaters were rising. Soon after, ShelterBox arrived on the scene and began to distribute boxes and midi tents out to the families. This meant the family had a clean and private area to bring up their baby and the box even became a crib for the little girl,” says Mike.

While driving his Spaceship campervan across the world, Mike has had some interesting experiences. He has cooked on open fires burning horse dung and driven on hair-raising roads with seemingly no rules. Border crossings have also proved challenging with Mike often becoming an object of curiosity for the local police. In the Ukraine alone he was stopped eight times.

While in New Zealand, as well as visiting Christchurch, Mike will stop in Queenstown, Hokitika, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne and Auckland, before heading to the United States, Canada and Europe and then returning home to the United Kingdom where he is expected to arrive in November.

To follow Mike’s adventure visit http://www.spaceships.tv/where-in-the-world-is-mike/

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