When a teenager hits Auckland for the first time, it's usually for shopping or some sort of entertainment.
But Meagan Bell's first trip will be a lot more strenuous - running up the 1103 stairs in the 51-floor Sky Tower in a full firefighting outfit with 25kg of kit.
Will she succeed?
''I'm really motivated. I'm not planning on failing.''
Meagan (18) has been a member of the Kakanui Rural Fire Party for two years, right from the time she was legally allowed to join at the age of 16.
She would have been there earlier if it were allowed.
Her father Tim has been a member of Kakanui Fire for 23 years and is deputy chief fire officer.
It was as much her desire since she was small to be a firefighter as it was the wish of her ''hero dad''.
She also wanted to do the annual Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge in Auckland.
When she competes in May, she will the first woman firefighter from North Otago to do so and one of the youngest overall.
''It was in the back of my mind as one of life's goals; it sounded so cool,'' she said.
The opportunity came last year when Steve Renton, of Macraes, asked if she wanted to go to Auckland with its team for the event on May 23 this year.
He managed to get her included among the 750 entrants.
Now it is down to the training.
Meagan has a personal trainer - her boyfriend Blake van Rooy, who shows her no mercy on cardio and weight machines at the Waitaki Community Recreation Centre.
Meagan started training in November after being confirmed as a starter in the competition.
''I can't cheat at anything,'' she said.
Meagan will also start training with the Macraes team, and is looking for somewhere with lots of stairs to practise while wearing full kit.
In the meantime, she needs to raise money for the event which goes to Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand, a national charity that supports patients and their families who are living with blood cancers like leukaemia and related conditions.
Each entrant has to raise at least $1000. Meagan is aiming high, for $4000 or more.
''I'm going to push for as much as I can. It's for a really good cause.''
In addition, she needs to find sponsorship or pay her own way to Auckland.
A donation of firewood for a raffle has started her off and she is looking ''at anything to raise funds''.
She has set up a Facebook page - 2015 Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Climb Meagan Bell - through which donations can be made to her fund.
