New Yorker heads to New Zealand as he flees Donald Trump's America

A New Yorker has flown on a one-way ticket to New Zealand to escape Donald Trump's America.

Gary Belis told The Daily Beast he chose New Zealand for its location alone - 9,000 miles from his home soil.

"It is as far away as I can get from Donald Trump," he said.

He said he did not want to be in the US "for one minute of his presidency".

The 64-year-old told Fairfax he left the US on the day before Trump's inauguration but he is now not sure it is far away enough.

"As soon as people hear my American accent they want to talk about Trump and I came to New Zealand to get away from it all," he said.

"I may have to tell people I'm Canadian."

Belis said he had a summer rental in Cape Cod off the coast of Massachusetts and when he renewed his lease he put a clause that if Trump was elected that the contract would end and he would get his deposit back.

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"Then the election happened and I exercised that clause and began to put my ducks in order to make this happen."

The 64-year-old has been following Trump "very closely for a quite some time".

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Belis reviewed Trump's book, The Art of the Deal, for Fortune Magazine almost 30 years ago.

He said he didn't like the book very much and Fortune Magazine received "a very nasty letter" from Trump who demanded Belis be fired.

"A year after that Fortune ran a positive on him and he wrote another letter to the editor of Fortune. Trump praised the reporter and said Fortune had come a long was since publishing the worst review ever."

Belis said Trump's inability to take criticism was "quite frighenting".

Meanwhile, hours after Trump's inauguration, hundreds of women have carried out protest marches across New Zealand.

In Wellington women took to the streets with cheers that could be heard throughout the city.

American-born Green MP Julie Anne Genter joined investigative journalist Nicky Hager and climate change activist Aaron Packard at the Love Trumps Hate event on Saturday morning.

Ms Genter, who was raised in Los Angeles, said she left the US 15 years ago in part because she was unhappy with the political system under the last Republican president George W Bush.

"It seems to be involved in politics (in America) you needed big money, a big ego and the desire to win above all," she said.

"I got involved in politics because I know the policies made by the government of the day affect everyone's lives, they affect their opportunities, they affect the environment that we all share and benefit from, and if we aren't involved in that conversations the decisions that are made are not going to reflect our values and the things we care about.

Protesters carried banners, signs and wore anti-Trump t-shirts.

One carried a picture of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars with the caption "A woman's place is in the resistance".

Another put a spin on the president's campaign slogan calling on people to "Make America Kind Again".

"Today isn't just about Trump, it's about saying we reject the politics of hate and division wherever it rears its ugly head, and instead, we're working for a politics of inclusion, of respecting difference, and of co-operation," Ms Genter said.

Green co-leader Metiria Turei attended another event in Dunedin while Labour's Jacinda Ardern spoke at a the Aotearoa Against Trump Event in Auckland.

Other speakers came from the trans community, the union movement, the Mexican community, the Palestine solidarity movement, the feminist movement and the climate justice movement.

"A key message of Aotearoa Against Trump is that Trump's victory is an attack on many marginalised communities," Auckland organiser Sam Vincent said.

"We will make it clear that Aotearoa stands for justice and does not support a Trump presidency."

He added that Aotearoa Against Trump is pro-Clinton as an alternative.

Police indicated they "will respond appropriately to any issues that may arise," including traffic disruptions.