Three women and six horses left reality behind in November last year.
Blyth Cruickshank, Jade Gilling and Michelle Kreegan, all in their early 20s, have been travelling on horseback from Blenheim to Queenstown.
The mastermind behind the island-long trek is Ms Cruickshank, of Hawkes Bay.
‘‘I'd never seen the South Island and wanted to see it on horseback.''
Ms Gilling, also from Hawkes Bay, said Ms Cruickshank had travelled around the North Island on horses.
Ms Kreegan has made the biggest effort to take part, coming all the way from Canada.
‘‘I turn into a pumpkin in May. That's when my visa runs out,'' she said.
For the first six weeks the team mainly camped out.
But as they rode into the high country, farmers put them up.
Ms Gilling said they always offered to work on the stations they stayed at but farmers usually told them it was not necessary.
‘‘The people and the high country have been amazing,'' she said.
Although their trip has already taken about four months, they are not finished living off the grid just yet.
The women estimated they would make it to Bluff or Invercargill in six to eight weeks, but were fairly flexible.
Once they reach the bottom of the South Island they will put their six companions on a horse truck and send them back north.
Then they, too, will return to reality.
All of the women left their animal-oriented jobs for the venture and are already planning another one for next year, this time in Argentina.
