After a weekend of excellent progress, round New Zealand kayaker Tim Taylor is today positioning himself for the return to the mainland.

By mid morning, Tim was crossing the entrance to Port William on Stewart Island's northern coast heading for Saddle Point at the island's northern tip.

Tim Taylor.

His original estimate of four days good paddling to round Stewart Island is proving accurate – he just had to wait longer than he wanted to get the good paddling days, being stuck at Doughboy Bay on the weather coast for four days last week.

Tim set out from Tauranga on November 27 to become the first person to circum-kayak New Zealand in a single voyage.

He was then expecting to take four-five months to complete the marathon coastal paddle along an estimated 5000km of New Zealand coastline.