Last year two adventurers in Australia, James Castrission and Justin Jones, decided to take their kayak for a paddle . . . a fourteen-hundred-mile paddle, to be exact. They would attempt the first crossing by kayak of the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand.
Their morale can't have been helped by the news that a solo kayaker, Andrew MacAuley, had disappeared during his attempt. On February 13th last year he sent out a garbled distress call. After an intensive search his empty, overturned kayak was discovered. Pictures on his camera proved that he'd seen the coast of New Zealand - but something must have gone tragically wrong. His body was never found.
Nevertheless, Castrission and Jones didn't allow MacAuley's death to damp their enthusiasm. They left on November 13th last year and have been paddling ever since. They've had all sorts of problems, from weather that delayed them far beyond their schedule (forcing them to ration their food) to pumps and desalinators that ceased to function: but on Sunday morning, January 13th 2008, they made it at last.
They were welcomed by several thousand cheering spectators, complete with local Maoris chanting a haka. Of course, a Maori friend tells me that they were probably singing "Welcome to New Zealand - now go back to Australia!" :-)
My hat's off to you, guys. That was one hell of an achievement. Thanks for keeping the spirit of adventure alive for all of us - and I reckon your success is a fitting memorial to Andrew Macauley. Wherever he is now, I hope he knows about it and has the chance to hoist a cold one in your honor.
For those interested, there's a whole lot more video and photographs on the expedition's Web site.
Peter
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