“I don’t think so, Tim.” PHOTO: GRANT DYSON
PEOPLE BY GRANT DYSON Delayed Gratification
TIM TAYLOR’S NEW ZEALAND CIRCUMNAVIGATION ON HOLD In mid March, he crossed Cook Strait for
Twenty-four-year-old tractor driver and for- mer wine-maker, Tim Taylor, launched his bid to be the first to continuously circumnavigate New Zealand solo, in November 2010. Taylor started kayaking at the age of 12
outside the east coast port city of Tauranga, New Zealand—a sort of Kiwi Santa Cruz, known for its surf beaches. In his teenage years, Taylor progressed to top-level competi- tion and was selected for the national white- water slalom team. “Since those younger days,” he says, “I have
gone through university, worked and traveled around the world. But I never let go of the idea to kayak around New Zealand.” So, he left Tauranga November 27, travel-
ing clockwise around New Zealand’s daunting, wave-pounded coastline to take advantage of tidal flows, covering an estimated 60–100 kilo- meters daily, around 5,500 kilometers overall. “I call the kayak my day job,” he told one
newspaper along the way. “It’s very much like going to work each morning. What I really en- joy is getting on dry land and meeting people.” While the trip placed tremendous physical
demands on Taylor, some of his biggest chal- lenges were mental. He suffered the worst low of his journey at the halfway mark on New Zealand’s southwest coast where poor weather forced him into his tent alone for four days. But despite repeatedly running into impassable conditions, he achieved impressive paddling rates, clocking 96 kilometers on his biggest day.
the second time—returning to the North Is- land to begin what he hoped would be the final chapter of his trip. He was philosophical about missing his original target of completing the trip in three and a half months. “It was based on everything going 100 percent to plan. You can’t afford to think about delay—you can only do what you can do.” By the beginning of June, his support crew
reported that while he had come within two day’s paddling of
the northernmost part of
New Zealand and 800 kilometers from com- pleting the circumnavigation, he was once again weather-bound. After more than two weeks stalled near
Cape Reinga, where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet, Taylor admitted defeat and made the decision to return home, conced- ing that the conditions required to complete the expedition are not expected to return until spring. “This can be an extremely violent place with both standing and breaking waves,” he ex- plains. “There is not a single commercial skip- per who does not treat this area with respect.” After dedicating 18 months to the expedi-
tion, Taylor is not prepared to give up. He plans to continue training in hopes of finishing the remaining leg in August. After contemplating his battle thus far, Taylor says, “I’m now firmly convinced that I have to get things finished.” For more info on the expedition, visit
www.nz-
kayaker.com.
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