Tim Taylor was not able to complete the whole project in one go, though did finish his objective that he started in 2010 this year, Good Job Brother, Hats off to yah!
was. On my plan I had indicated that I was going to take 2 days to do
this final stretch back to Tauranga but that ‘get home itis’ had well
and truly infected me and I made the decision to risk it all and just
see if I could make it After all, if I did make it I wouldn’t exactly
need any energy reserves for the next day. With a really dodgy forecast
this was a bit of a gamble but I was on home turf now and I knew that I
could take certain risks along this stretch of coast and get away with
them.
Out on the water I made myself one hard rule which was that I
would only stop on the hour for my designated snack stop. Nothing else.
Knowing I had a long day ahead of me, I put on my ‘tunnel vision
goggles’ and really just chewed up the miles. I rigidly kept to my no
stopping rule which was hard because I was passing some beautiful
coastline and because my body was often screaming in pain (particularly
my legs). Passing Whangamata not long after 10, I knew I could make it
back to Tauranga. Out to my port side (left), I had the Bay of Plenty’s
silent sentinel, Mayor Island, watching my progress and occasionally I
could see the top of the Mount come into view between swells. These both
gave me a huge boost mentally.
I was out from the Bowentown Heads
at around 3pm and after dodging the bar area, I really cranked up the
pace. From the Heads to the Mount is a distance of 25km and the closer I
got, the faster I went. It was as though the view of the Mount was
spurring me on and I was amazed that my body could actually keep up with
this pace after such a long day. Out from Karewa Island, I could see
something heading towards me and I said to myself “if its kayakers who
have come to paddle with me, they had best be prepared to paddle hard
because I’m not stopping now!” Luckily it was a boat and it turned out
it was some old friends who had come out to guide me in. Bob Ockwell had
guided me out of the Tauranga Harbour when I first left on this journey
and when he pulled up alongside he said “I told you I would meet you
when you got back.” I just replied, in a cheeky fashion “there’s a
definite lack of fishing rods on that boat haha.”
By the time I
came into the Tauranga Harbour I was buggered. I still had to paddle up
to the Wairoa River and as the tide was almost fully out this was an
extra distance of about 15km. It also meant that I had to paddle into an
outgoing tide for the last hour. Getting a final spurt of energy, I
powered up the harbour, overtaking a bunch of yachts that were racing
(there wasn’t much wind so they were going pretty slow). Finding the
Wairoa channel is always a problem at low tide as floods each year often
change it or completely fill it up with sediment. This time was no
exception and I ultimately had to drag Waverly through a series of
shallows before I found the deeper water. I was now on my home river and
I allowed myself to relax and just enjoy it. I met old family friends
Mark and Marie McGarver, who had paddled down to join me, and together
we paddled the final few kilometres of my journey. Passing under the
train bridge we were greeted by camera flashes and cheers. I stopped for
a few minutes before heading the final distance up to the main bridge.
It was now completely dark and a simply amazing evening in its own right
but the welcome I got totally blew me away. There were dozens of people
cheering me in and I was a bit shocked by it all…this had just been a
kayaking trip to me so I never expected that sort of reception when I
got home. So I have to say a MASSIVE thanks to everyone who welcomed me
in. I will never forget the cheers, the handshakes, and all of the big
hugs that I got…I was totally in awe of it all.
The final tally
for the day was 87.5km for 13 hrs 45mins. It was the 3rd longest day
distance wise that I have ever done but it was the longest I have ever
done time wise and I was completely buggered. It was a great way to end
an awesome trip. For the record, I spent a total of 112 days on the
water for the entire expedition, covering an average of 49.4km per day.
My longest day was 95.8km and the total distance I paddled was 5529.3km.
I
would just like to say another MASSIVE thanks for all of the support
that I have received during this whole expedition. I met hundreds of
people, received hundreds of emails and I was always blown away by the
level of love and encouragement that I received. Like I said, this trip
was a just a big kayaking trip to me and I always thought I was just
doing something that I do best i.e. If I didn’t do it I just wouldn’t be
working to my potential and I would ultimately be letting myself down. I
never realised how much this trip would mean to other people so I am
really stoked that I was able to give you all something. Your support
and encouragement was your way of being part of it and I can confirm
that it definitely helped so thanks for coming along for the journey.
The
next big thanks are to all of my sponsors. I was blessed with an
amazing group of sponsors who had my back all the way through. The gear,
the financial support, and the physical support that they provided was
crucial and I could never have done it without them. Please consider all
these brands when you next come to buy a bit of gear or have your next
adventure because I can recommend all of them. All of the equipment that
I used has been thoroughly thrashed, abused and otherwise treated
badly…and all of it survived. So if I can’t break it then no one can!
Most of these companies are NZ locals so help another Kiwi out and give
them some business.
So what’s for the future? Well my next
big project is starting my very own kayaking business. This will be
based around my second big love, kayak fishing, and I hope to be taking
people out on their own little kayak fishing adventures around the Bay
of Plenty. I figure I may as well try to get paid for kayaking haha.
Keep an eye out for ‘NZ Kayak Adventures’ coming to a shore near you and
on this website as I will be using it for both the business and for any
new kayaking adventures. There will also be the book, which I hope to
get sorted over the next few months. I guess you all will know about the
adventures that I’ve had but this will be the definitive version and it
will have all of the photos, so keep an eye out for that too.
As
always, I will be available through the usual channels if you ever want
to get in touch but until then everybody, get out and enjoy a slice of
NZ and enjoy what this amazing world has to offer.
Paddle hard.”