Caged man has two weeks to go

For prolific world record breaker Alastair Galpin, suspended in a cage outside Rainbow's End theme park, it's one week up and two to go.

At 11am on Wednesday he will have endured his first seven days - 168 hours - living in a Portacom portable toilet hanging from a crane some 20 metres above ground at the Manukau City site.

Galpin, who holds 38 Guinness World Records and several with the international Record Holders' Republic, is aiming to set a record for 'Most Radio Interviews While Suspended In A Cage'.

The 35-year-old ex patriate South African is promoting the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand's message about the high social cost of gambling, especially from poker machines. The Problem Gambling Foundation and Auckland Cranes are the principal sponsors of his record bid.

It's a case of so far so good, says a cheerful Galpin who has received calls and emails from a curious media as far away as Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Australia as well as numerous local enquiries. While the record bid involves radio interviews, Galpin is keen to talk to all media.

The launch last week was reported on TV One, and has been registered on USA Today.com.

"I haven't washed for a week," he says. "But I actually quite like being caged. I'm in a world of my own up here. Even the seabirds are flying below me. I'd like to be even higher. If I'm gonna be up, take me up, up, up."

While suspension has left him "a little dizzy - I think it's my new permanent state" - this is not stopping him from working on final papers for a Bachelor of Science in Human Geography at Auckland University.

The adventurous Galpin's exploits to date include hitch-hiking through Africa, travelling the length of the Senqu River in Lesotho (270km on foot, 110km on horseback) and walking across the Republic of Ireland "in fancy dress" to raise funds for Friends of the Earth.