Kayak pair set a record
%26bull; Kiwi first to row across the Tasman
With a flotilla of kayaks and boats guiding them, and the crowd pressing around, they landed on Ngamotu Beach, New Plymouth, at 12.20pm.
Thank you so much New Zealand. You guys rock. Kia kaha, they yelled together.
Exhausted by 62 days at sea and a gruelling 3300-kilometre journey, and spurred on by thoughts of a juicy steak at the end of their adventure, the best friends embraced.
This is bloody strange, but I am liking this feeling, Mr Jones said of the reception.
He said it was tough being caught in currents that swept them in circles part-way through their journey. It was obviously frustrating being stuck in the cabin and going around in circles after two weeks in the Tasman, but we always knew we were going to get here. It was just a matter of time.
Their journey started at Forster, in New South Wales. After arriving to jubilant scenes yesterday, they departed in an ambulance, heading for a hospital checkup.
On weary legs that had not stood on land since their November 13 departure, they saluted their reception a far cry from their original plan to arrive in Auckland before Christmas.
The landing was a record-setter as well as a personal feat of endurance it was the first two-person kayak crossing of the Tasman Sea.
Family were foremost on their minds as they touched land. Give me a hug, Mr Jones said to his father, Roderick, amid tears of happiness as champagne corks popped around him.
Vivienne Castrission jumped a barrier and into her 25-year-old sons arms as he landed. Im really, really excited, she said. The tears havent stopped.
Ushered up the beach with a powhiri and a rendition of Waltzing Matilda the men were handed bottles of beer as they spoke of a gruelling odyssey. Its phenomenal. We had an incredible time, Mr Castrission said.
He paid homage to fellow Australian Andrew McAuley, who perished while trying to kayak across the Tasman by himself last year. Andrew was an amazing adventurer. We have only got a small, small idea of what Andrew went through out there.
Some nights when we were out there, we had each other to hold through the difficult moments.
Mr McAuleys widow, Vicki, congratulated them last night, saying her husband would have been proud: I think they would have been feeling very sore and sorry for themselves at many times during their voyage. Im glad they reached the shore safely. Congratulations to them, well done.
However, it was a moment tinged with sadness for the New South Wales woman. It came almost a year to the day since her husband embarked on his ill-fated crossing of the Tasman on January 11 last year.
Mr Jones, 24, recalled the biggest challenge of the trip being caught in currents halfway across the Tasman Sea that threatened to turn them back.
Clary Castrission had been out to see his brother and Mr Jones earlier in the morning, and told the men there were going to be just a couple of locals waiting for them on shore.
I had no idea it was going to be this big, James Castrission said as he stood with his Australian flag pinned around his shoulders, tears welling in his eyes.
- Taranaki Daily News and staff reporter
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Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 6:05 pm under