“You do a very steep ascent up some scree and come down the other side. It’s basically pretty close to rock climbing,” he said.
“The golf bags had a bit of a clunky descent,” he said of his cargo, which weigh up to 15kg (33lbs) each.
Dougie said his mum, who lives in Lower Heyford, Oxfordshire, was “probably having kittens when I tell her some of the things we’re doing”.
“But luckily when you’re in some of these remote places you don’t get signal for a week – so I tell her oh if you don’t hear from me for 10 days then you can start worrying,” he said.
Having spent a week recuperating with friends in Christchurch, Dougie is now preparing to tackle the highest section of the trail, which will see him pass New Zealand’s tallest peak, Mount Cook, before heading south to complete his six month adventure.
He has taken on the challenge in the hope of raising NZ$50,000 (£22,000) for two charities close to his heart: a New Zealand-based organisation called Kids Can and the UK mental health charity Mind.