A 5530km voyage into the New Zealand record books was completed by Tauranga kayaker Tim Taylor with a quiet paddle into the gathering dusk on the Wairoa River last night.

The quiet pace on the incoming tide was understandable after the 85km paddle from Tairua on Wednesday that sees Tim's solo circumkayak of New Zealand completed.

He's the first person to attempt the trip as a solo voyage.

He's only the second person to have kayaked round the country and Stewart Island; he's the youngest, and the quickest.

The still of the evening was shattered as Tim and escort rounded the final bend before the Wairoa River Bridge where Tim came ashore at the ramp sometime after 8.30pm.

Family and friends were shouting their appreciation and a bottle of bubbly was waiting for him on arrival – Tim's been a non-drinker while on the mission.

Tim was met by his parents Paul and Lyn, who have been his shore support team during the voyage, which started out from the Wairoa on November 27, 2010.

Tim's original plan was to paddle round the country in one solo voyage, but he spent about half the six month voyage trapped on beaches waiting for bad weather to pass, and got closed out at the Ninety Mile Beach last June by the onset of winter weather.

Since then, he's been waiting for the weather window of calm weather on both sides of Cape Reinga to make the paddle round the top, something that presented itself mid-February. Finishing off the voyage has been a two-week paddle for Tim.

The other paddler to kayak round New Zealand is Paul Caffyn who made the voyage in several stages in the late 1970s.

Paul paddled round the South Island in 76 days in 1978.

He started off with Max Reynolds and completed the voyage solo with ground support. He could travel light and met up with ground support each evening.

Tim's voyage was completed in about 112 paddling days pushing a much heavier boat.

In voyaging mode Tim carries his camping gear, food and water for several days.

Paul Caffyn completed the North Island section in 1978/1979 in 86 days with ground support. Paul and Max Reynolds kayaked round Stewart Island in August/September in 1979.

Paul originally slagged Tim's announcement of his intent to kayak round New Zealand, but changed his tune by the time Tim passed is front door on the West Coast.

Tim and Paul met in Greymouth last March.