Their feet have suffered blisters, cuts and scrapes, but the pain and discomfort has all been worth it for avid bush walkers Rachael Andrews and Marc Williams.

This March the Tauranga couple will be taking on the 19.4km Tongariro Alpine Crossing in an effort to raise $7000 for local charitable trust Homes of Hope. But their point of difference is they'll be doing the trek in true Kiwi fashion – they'll be doing the crossing in jandals.

'Rach's done the crossing three times already, so to do it again we needed a point of difference,” explains Marc.

'So we thought it would be quite cool to knock it off in jandals. Then we thought if we're doing something out of the box like this, why not try and do some good at the same time?”

A big part of their decision for raising funds for Homes of Hope was the fact they were a local charity working to help local children 'which is pretty cool with us”.

'Homes of Hope had to turn away more than 30 children in need last year as their facilities are running at full capacity,” says Rachael. 'That's our main driver to get involved, raising awareness and some funds in an effort to provide much needed care for even more children.”

While some may baulk at the idea of attempting the crossing in jandals, the challenge has the duo more excited than nervous. But they're also sensible, saying they'll be taking shoes along with them in case anything untoward happens during the trek.

In preparation, Marc and Rachael have spent much their spare time out in the bush pounding the trails and have so far knocked off about 200kms, which they've done in jandals and/or bare feet.

Marc says as a result of their practice, you can pretty crack walnuts on the soles of their feet.

'We're taking it serious, we're not a couple of yobos who think we can just go do this. We're putting in the hard yards, there's been some cracking good blisters and a few plasters, but not too bad.

'Rach and I are extremely excited. We wish we could go now, but obviously we want to raise as much funds and awareness for Homes of Hope that we can. So in that regard we don't mind waiting.”

To keep up to date with Marc and Rachael's efforts, or to make a donation, visit givealittle.co.nz