A peace campaigner walking the length of the North Island is passing through Tauranga.
Ian Upton, who arrived in Tauranga on Monday, started his march from Cape Reinga on May 5. He expects to arrive at Parliament in Wellington on June 28.
There he planned to submit a petition to the Government calling for billions budgeted for national defence to be redirected into social welfare organisations.
Mr Upton said he walked about 31km a day and had worked out it would take him a minimum of 840,348 steps to reach Parliament.
He arrived in Tauranga via the Kaimai Range. He had suffered his first minor injury of the hikoi - a leg strain - while clambering along the outside of a rail bridge.