Australians arrive in NZ by kayak

The adventurers had been at sea for 62 days
Two Australians have become the first people to paddle to New Zealand across the Tasman Sea in a kayak.

The 62-day, 3,300km (2,050-mile) journey from New South Wales did not go exactly to plan.

Strong winds and tides meant James Castrission, 25, and Justin Jones, 25, were swept in huge circles, and had to abandon hopes of reaching Auckland.

Instead, they landed at New Plymouth in the west of New Zealand, greeted by a fleet of Maori canoes and a beer each.

"NZ, thank you, thank you, you guys rock," said Jones, acknowledging the 2,000-strong crowd which gathered at Ngamotu Beach to welcome the pair.

See map of the kayakers' journey

"This is bloody strange, but I am liking this feeling," he added, as he downed the beer.

Too rough

Castrission described the final leg of their journey as "absolutely mind-blowing".

"From when we saw [Mount] Taranaki 114km out to sea, all the way in, we've just been buzzing," he said.

The pair's specially-designed kayak was hit by powerful winds as it crossed the Tasman Sea, forcing them to spend three weeks longer than planned at sea.

That meant the record attempt became not just a test of endurance but a matter of survival, with their food supplies and energy reserves dwindling, says the BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney.

Some days they stayed inside the kayak's tiny cabin and put out a sea anchor, when the conditions were too rough for effective paddling.

Their transponder - to warn larger ships of their presence - stopped working in early December, and they were reduced to tiny navigation lights at night.

The two adventurers were a little unsteady on their feet when they came ashore, our correspondent says.

Their leg muscles are thought to have deteriorated over the past two months because of inactivity - but otherwise they looked and sounded in good shape.

Castrission and Jones paid tribute to another Australian kayaker, Andrew McAuley, 39, who disappeared while attempting the same crossing solo last February.

His kayak was later found, but his body was never recovered; his camera showed that he had come within sight of New Zealand before he vanished.

"We have only got a small, small idea of what Andrew went through out there," said Castrission.

"Some nights when we were out there, we had each other to hold through the difficult moments."

After a celebratory chorus of Waltzing Matilda, the pair were taken for medical checks.

Click to return

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Crossing The Ditch expedition
Kayaking
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites