Rhys Lawrey, who was born in England and attended high school in Auckland, is trying to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe by motorcycle.
He should reach 40,000km - or about halfway - when he arrives Auckland next week.
Mr Lawrey (23) had already ridden his Triumph Tiger 800XC through Europe, Asia and Australia before he started his New Zealand leg in Christchurch last week.
He made it to Mount Cook Village on Saturday and arrived in Queenstown yesterday afternoon.
''It's a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing. 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.''
Mr Lawrey, whose next stop is the United States, has survived erratic Chinese driving, baffling backwater bureaucracy, border guard bribe attempts and getting lost in Albania.
So far he has only had one crash - on a sandy Turkmenistan road - which left him with a bruised leg.
Mr Lawrey spent his 23rd birthday in Kunming, in southern China.
''I took a day off to take it all in and have a nice Chinese dinner with the locals,'' he said.
He was using the trip to fundraise for the Prince's Trust, which helps disadvantaged young people in the United Kingdom.
