Circum-New Zealand kayaker Tim Taylor is closing in on East Cape on the third day of his attempt to be the first person to kayak round New Zealand in one voyage.
He departed Tauranga on Sunday afternoon, heading along the coast. His progress can be tracked from minute to minute on his website, www.nzkayaker.com.

Tim Taylor is making good progress three days into his around New Zealand in one kayak trip challenge.

Mid-morning Tuesday, Tim was crossing Pipitea Bay, heading for Waihou Bay, where he is planning a rest stop.
Tim spent his first night camping on a beach on Monday night, just north of the Motu River mouth. He earlier stayed at Pukehina and Ohope.
Tim's expecting to take 3-6 months to complete the 5500km voyage.
He plans to paddle for six hours each day, pulling ashore for lunch and camping each night. He'll carry a GPS device called a SPOT to monitor progress on a special Google Earth page on his website.

Tim plans to call into most major coastal towns along the way and is inviting the public to share some of the experience with him.

'I'm counting on local people's support and encouragement to help stay motivated,” says Tim.
He intends keeping the site updated throughout the voyage, sharing his impressions of the New Zealand coastline through his blog, photos and video.
West Coast kayaker Paul Caffyn is credited with being the first person to paddle around New Zealand's three main islands. In the late 1970s, he first took on the South Island with friend Max Reynolds. The following year he completed a circuit of the North Island and finished it all up with Stewart Island and Foveaux Straight.

Paul Caffyn also notched up the first circumnavigation of Australia in a kayak during 1981 and 1982.
More recently there's been a flurry of activity around New Zealand by both men and women kayakers, but no-one has undertaken a complete trip around the whole country.
A large part of his motivation for the epic trip is simply that 'it's there to be done,” says Tim.