Going the long way round for a good cause

Rhys Lawrey, riding a Triumph Tiger 800XC to raise money for the Prince's Trust.

A British thrillseeker on a world record-attempt trip around the world has arrived in New Zealand.

Twenty-three-year-old Rhys Lawrey, riding a Triumph Tiger 800XC, is raising money for the Prince's Trust by trying to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe by motorcycle.

He's also trying to visit the most capital cities by motorcycle.

He has travelled 30,000km and visited 21 countries in 133 days.

He has survived erratic Chinese driving, baffling backwater bureaucracy, border guard bribe attempts, crashes on sandy Turkmenistan roads and getting lost in Albania.

Now Mr Lawrey, who was born in England but grew up in west Auckland, attending Green Bay High School, will spend six to seven weeks travelling through New Zealand.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing," he said yesterday from Christchurch.

"I haven't gone to university or anything, but to do this at my age is the greatest opportunity to learn things you could never imagine in a classroom or by watching TV."

He was met at Christchurch International Airport on Friday by members of the Triumph Owners' Motorcycle Club.

Mr Lawrey left London on May 3 with the goal of travelling 80,000km, visiting 73 countries, 52 consecutive capital cities, and crossing six continents by June next year.

On the way, he is raising money for the Prince's Trust, which helps disadvantaged young UK people change their lives and get into work.

The stand-out feature of his travels was the opportunity to experience different cultures, he said.

"It's the greatest pleasure of travelling."

China, where he spent a month, had been the biggest eye-opener.

"The west doesn't know 100 per cent what it's like in China, and it's mind boggling," he said.

"They are just the friendliest people. I had the best border crossing I've had there, and with the broad range of food and culture, it's just so much to take in, I loved it."

A crash on a sandy Turkmenistan road resulted in a few bruises but it was the bureaucracy there that gave him his biggest frustration.

It took almost 12 hours to clear border control, where officials operated without computers, writing by hand and using stamps.

"They're not very welcoming to tourists," Mr Lawrey said.

He has raised 266 ($518), and while he had expected to have "a little bit more" by this stage, he said he didn't have a target, and was grateful for every penny donated.

He hadn't focused on gaining donations through Asia, he said, because he was "just trying to survive". But he would increase the donation drive through Australia, New Zealand and the US.

Mr Lawrey will leave New Zealand in early November bound for Los Angeles.

Go to
www.justgiving.com/2moroRider