Tim Taylor's quest to be the first person to kayak around New Zealand in a single voyage is over with him abandoning the effort owing to ‘violent' sea conditions at Cape Reinga.

He set off from Tauranga on November 27 last year to be the first person to make the journey in a single voyage.

Tim Taylor at 90 Mile Beach, looking out at the waves which have defeated his attempted to be the first person to kayak around New Zealand in a single voyage. Photo: Lyn Taylor.

Close to seven months from his departure and kayaking around the country in a clockwise direction, he has become stuck in the far north.

He has waited for nearly three weeks at the lower end of 90 Mile Beach to paddle up the beach and around Cape Reinga, and has now given-in to the conditions, returning home to Tauranga on Saturday.

Tim says far north residents have told him he may not get the extended calm conditions he needs for rounding the cape until July or August.

'The trouble with this area is that I'm switching between two coasts and two different water masses in a very short space of time and as a general rule, it's fair to say that you don't often get calm weather on both coasts at the same time,” says Tim.

'This area can be an extremely violent place, with huge currents and both standing and breaking waves.

'There is not a single commercial skipper who does not respect this area because even in a big boat they know that it could destroy them in seconds given the chance – so yeah, a real fun place in a kayak.”
After three weeks on the beach he was also worrying about fitness, something he can keep up with in Tauranga, but not at Ahipara.

'Facing an area that is so extremely tough, I wanted to be at or near my peak or else I would just be asking for trouble,” says Tim.

He has not given up on completing the rounding – it is just that now he cannot do it in a single voyage.

'It's just another stage I hadn't planned for,” says Tim.

'There's nothing I could do about it – it's just something I have to live with.

'My rule was to stay on the trip and to be wherever I was, and not going backwards and forwards.”

A previous kayaker took several seasons to make the trip that Tim originally hoped to complete in a single voyage.

He was beaten by the weather. Since departing Tauranga he has spent nearly half his time unable to paddle at sea because of bad weather.

As summer receded, Tim was also encountering winter weather and shorter days, which reduced paddling time.

North of Ahipara, the 90 Mile Beach is 85km or two days paddling on a lee shore exposed to the Tasman Sea in winter.

At the top of the beach are three capes where the Tasman meets the Pacific Ocean, followed by a 40km paddle down the east coast to Hohoura.