Official Start Date:

Official Start and Finish Point:

Waimarino Adventure Park on the banks of the Wairoa River, Tauranga.

Reason...Waimarino is the home of kayaking in Tauranga, if not the whole of New Zealand. It is where I first began my journey into this amazing sport and it just feels right that my expedition should start and finish at a place that means so much to me. 

I will not have considered my trip finished until I have set foot back on the launching ramp!

Direction:

I will be kayaking in a Clockwise direction around the country.

Reason...the ocean currents generally flow around New Zealand in this direction so every little bit of help counts 

Distance:

An estimated journey of 5281 kilometres, including Stewart Is.

Info: I initially estimated this distance by simply running a piece of string around a school-room map of the country, then measuring the string. But with my final planning I have now revised this to the above distance which sould hopefully be more accurate. I still accepted that my estimation will probably be out by around 500kms as it will easily be affected by other factors such as exploration, landings, and weather.

Estimated Time:

I am predicting that under perfect conditions my trip will take 99 days. However I will enevitably encounter bad weather conditions, injury, and possibly sickness. I would like to think that 5 months is a reasonable goal and so I hope to be finishing sometime in April 2011. If you wish to check out my daily plan click here and if you are able to offer any assistance when I am in your area it would be greatly appreciated.

Motivation: what gets me up in the morning.

My motivation is a continually evolving element of this expedition. In the beginning it was based solely around the aim of being the first person to ever complete this trip. This will always be my number one desire but now that I have fully commited myself with training and preparation my motivation has broadened and evolved. I now have 3 distinct elements that keep me driven...
1. Personal
 - to set the record of completing the first continuous solo circumnavigation of New Zealand by a kayak.

2. Social
- to profile the unique coastline that we have available to us as New Zealander’s.
- to share my trip with as many individuals from around the world as possible by using conventional and modern media sources.
- to be a role model to young New Zealander's by showing what can be achieved under completely drug and alcohol free conditions.

3. Financial
- to represent my sponsors with pride and professionalism.

The strength of my desire to complete these aims keeps me passionate for the trip. It also gives me direction and something to aim towards when times are tough.