And she says the finish line is not in sight.
Avid walker Namakau Nalumango, 67, first started her project to get to know Dunedin after retiring and a run of poor health.
She said most days she walked for about three-four hours, covering more than 20km.
"While I’m out there, I talk to people, I sit at the bus stop.
"I’ve become an expert at talking to total strangers. We talk, and then I tell them about my project, and I encourage them to walk. So that’s my work."
Zambian-born, Ms Nalumango visited family in Africa in 2023 but on the trip caught Covid-19, which became long Covid.
"I stayed with my relatives in large households with many people and eating from the same table and having people to talk to," she said.
"But then when I came back to Dunedin, to my granny flat, I found myself falling into such a deep hole of loneliness."
Two weeks after returning to Dunedin, she woke up determined to start walking to "find some healing for myself".
One way she saw more of the city was by walking the routes of Dunedin’s public buses.
From the bus hub, she took any bus to the end of the line, where she would find the nearest dairy, talk to the staff and buy something, before walking back to the hub.
"I have now walked 29 local bus routes."
Although she initially intended to walk for two months, Ms Nalumango recently marked 700 days since she began her project — she estimates she has walked 10,000km in that time.
"I could tell you today that there are very few people who know the city as well as I do.
"Finding a plaque saying ‘Welcome to Caversham 1883’ ... they had no idea that this welcome would be received by a girl from an African village."
Her walking objectives — "connecting with people, getting to know my city, exercising" — kept her going through snow and shine.
People were the best part of Dunedin and she hoped to write a book about her walking feats.
She would be doing the 5km walking event at Sunday’s Dunedin Marathon, wanting to lend her support to the marathon’s charitable work.
