Trek recorded snap by snap

Photographer and film-maker Atila Madrona has been cycling around the coast of New Zealand since the beginning of this year and documents his travels with his phone. Photo / George Novak

Spanish photographer and film-maker Atila Madrona has made it to Tauranga after cycling from Dunedin, up the west coast of New Zealand, to Cape Reinga before heading back down the east coast.

The 26-year-old started his journey on January 1 and hopes to make it all the way around the country in time to be back home in Spain by October 10 for his sister's wedding.

Mr Madrona was working in the communication department for Microsoft in Spain when he decided he wanted to take on a one-year cycle trip in a new country.

"It's beautiful, it's wild and it has many different surf spots all over the country. I've already gone 6500km in seven months."

New Zealand was one of the furthest countries from Spain and has an official perimeter of 16,000km which could be broken up into 50 to 60km a day so he decided to take on the journey.

Photographer and film-maker Atila Madrona has been cycling around the coast of New Zealand since the beginning of this year and documents his travels with his phone. Photo / George Novak

Equipped with a gas cooker, tent and his surfboard, he cycles from town to town to find the best waves, the biggest Kiwi smiles and document his experiences on his website.

Mr Madrona puts a new photograph online every day and a new video blog (vlog) every Tuesday morning to show his experiences. He said his best experiences so far were in rural, coastal towns including areas such as Cape Reinga, Marokopa and Port Waikato.

Heavy rain for two weeks along the west coast of the North Island was one of the worst parts of the trip, he said.

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To follow his journey online head to: dontfollowthisbike.com