After finishing 13 years of school Olly Dow, Thomas Winter and William Dunn are embarking on an 800km human-powered "once in a lifetime" expedition.
Tauranga school leavers Olly Dow, Thomas Winter and William Dunn are set to embark on an epic adventure across the North Island.
On Wednesday, the trio will embark on a three-week, 800km multisport journey from the East Cape to Cape Egmont in the west.
The trio anticipated facing good times, bad times and challenges on their Cape to Cape journey, on which they aimed to raise $50,000 for the Child Cancer Foundation.
Olly, 17, came up with the idea at the beginning of 2024 and, since then, the Tauranga Boys College Year 13 student has been working tirelessly to turn it into reality.
As an avid outdoor adventurer, Olly explored many different route options before settling on a plan in early February. Friends Thomas, 17, and William (Will), 18, joined the team in early March.
“It was one of those stupid ideas, I just drew a line and it was one of those things where I thought, ‘no that’s crazy’, then slept on it and woke up and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“It just kept getting bigger and bigger. At first, it was just going to be a fun trip but now it’s so much more than that, we’re trying to raise $50,000 for the Child Cancer Foundation.”
He said Cape to Cape was a great example of pushing the limit of what he thought he was capable of.
Passionate outdoorsman Olly Dow is the driving force behind Cape to Cape.
“It’s kind of cool to be able to push the boundaries. It’s like a personal challenge most of the time seeing what you’re capable of with these endurance types of events.
“I’m excited to just see how it plays out, and how we cope, it’s a pretty massive feat,” Olly said.
The Cape to Cape journey will mostly be cycled, with some walking and paddling thrown in.
The trio will start at the East Cape Lighthouse and cycle on State Highway 35 around East Cape to Ōpōtiki before heading south into the wilderness of Te Urewera.
They will follow the Whakatāne River upstream to Ruatahuna Rd then cross over into Whirinaki Forest, where they make their way south towards the top of the Kaimanawa Range. They planned to march to Cascade Hut before crossing over Umukarikari Range via Waipakahi Hut.
The team hoped to walk the Tongariro Crossing with supporters before cycling west through to Whakahoro, then jumping in canoes to paddle to the Matematonga Track before continuing west on foot.
On the 19th day, Dow, Winter and Dunn aimed to cycle to East Egmont in Egmont National Park before climbing to the summit of Mt Taranaki the following day.
To finish, on the western side of the Egmont National Park, the boys will get back on their bikes to cycle to the endpoint at Cape Egmont Lighthouse.
Thomas also a Year 13 at Tauranga Boys College, is involved in the local Tauranga mountain biking club and is among the best riders in New Zealand for his age.
Mountain biker Thomas Winter has been riding since he was 6 years old and loves the culture of the sport.
Thomas had said he had been riding since he was 6 and started racing when he was in Year 9.
“I just had my most successful week. I finished up fourth at nationals for under-20 boys and I guess it’s pretty cool because you get to race all around the country in pretty beautiful places.
“For Cape to Cape we all train individually and we’ve done a couple of missions but I don’t think there is a proper way you could fully train for something like this, there are so many variables.”
Thomas said the boys asked experts who had done similar trips for advice to piece together the best strategy for the team.
He said he was anticipating “quite a lot of stress on the body” but believed the team’s strong support network made the adventure achievable.
Will, a Year 13 at Ōtūmoetai College, said he had been around bikes most of his life, and six years ago immersed himself into mountain biking.
When asked to describe the Cape to Cape experience in three words, Will said the experience would be “purposeful, fulfilling and fun”.
Will Dunn races in road cycling events and the sport has given him many opportunities like coaching, mentoring other riders and giving back to the community.
“It will be such an awesome experience to look back on once we reach the finish line, travelling across the North Island with two other awesome guys and getting to see many places which are unknown to us at this point.
“The satisfaction from start to finish and the memories created along the way will be the real highlight for me.”
The team said they chose the Child Cancer Foundation – which supports families of children with cancer – because it was an important cause they felt connected to.
Will said although the trio were at the end of high school and moving into the real world, they were still kids.
“Many affected by childhood cancer are never able to indulge in adventures such as our own, so why not use our own expedition to make a positive difference in their lives?
“This is what turned a simple line across the North Island into the upcoming event of Cape to Cape,” Will said.
Olly, Thomas and Will are asking for the community’s support to reach $50,000 and get behind them by donating through their Givealittle page.
Kaitlyn Morrell is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.
