Josh Dean and Will Finlayson left Bluff on Sunday with their Masport Meteor strapped to the roof of their car.
By the time they reached Wanaka on Monday afternoon they had mown two lawns - one in Bluff and one, a near cliff-face, at Fernhill, Queenstown.
They earned nothing from the Bluff job and "a few beers" from the Queenstown assignment and are hoping fundraising efforts will pick up as they go north.
Mr Dean said they bought the mower from the tip in Invercargill for $15 and put it on an online auction site where his mother picked it up with a $150 bid.
The car they are travelling in - the 1982 Ford Laser that starred in the New Zealand movie Two Little Boys - is also for sale and has already attracted a $500 bid.
Their goal is to raise $5000 for the SPCA by the time they reach Cape Reinga, where they plan to mow the lighthouse lawns.
Both are information technology students keen to publicise a website they spent six months creating as part of a Southland Institute of Technology course.
They spent Monday night in a tent in the rain at the Wanaka camping ground and were yesterday mowing their way towards Christchurch.
