For much of Kazushi ‘Kaz' Noiri's epic journey from Bluff to Cape Reinga he's walked the streets and roads alone.

But it was a different story on Wednesday for the 29-year-old Otago Polytechnic nursing student who is currently walking the length of the country to raise money for Arthritis New Zealand.

Arriving in Pyes Pa on Tuesday, where he stayed for the evening, Kaz then set off from Aquinas College towards Welcome Bay accompanied by 20 Year 9 students early on Wednesday morning.

'All of the students volunteered to take part, in fact, we had 40 students in total put their hands up to be involved so in the end we had to pick names out of a hat on Monday,” says Aquinas College Year 9 Dean Paula Skelton.

'Some of the students would have had personal reasons for getting involved, a grandparent with arthritis for instance, but some just love getting involved and helping out. Service to the community is a huge part of our school, we always have service days and projects going on.”

Kaz began his epic walk on World Arthritis Day, October 12, with the goal of completing the 2244km journey from Bluff to Cape Reinga in 66 days. Over the course of his journey he clocks up anywhere from 17km to 63km – or about three to 13 hours – of walking each day.

According to Arthritis NZ, there are more than 140 types of arthritis and 620,000 New Zealanders have a diagnosis of the chronic condition with no known cure, which includes 1000 children and young people under the age of 20.

Kaz's goal is to raise $5000 for Arthritis NZ and you can help him accomplish this by making a donation via his Everydayhero fundraising page along with keep up to date with his progress.