23.12.2007 Sun, Day 60/ 42
Day off, bad weather.
24.12.2007 Mon, Day 61/ 42
Day off, bad weather.
25.12.2007 Tue, Day 62/ 42
Day off, bad weather.
26.12.2007 Wed, Day 63/ 42
Day off, bad weather.
27.12.2007 Thu, Day 64/ 42
Day off, bad weather.
5 days of x-mas bad weather days at Paul Caffyn’s – we had the pleasure to host Gordon and Morag Brown for two days, too, with their two lovely kids Eilidh and Iain. They enjoyed being captains of their own kayaks in Paul’s pool…and I keep on going on Friday with the middle section only…
Actually, I fibreglassed the stern section to the middle section now, to be sure the kayak stays in one piece on the last landings and launchings ;-)) Victurus Vicero!
The seas will be settled down a bit for the approximately last seven paddling days, if everything goes well as planned!I’m ready to be done!
28.12.2007 Fri, Day 65/ 43
Woodpecker Bay, 50 km. 2030 km.
TV3 filmed yesterday & launch today, good run out of Grey River. Still roughish sea. Nice sunny SANDFLYFREE camp here.
There will be some footage about my trip on New Zealand’s Saturday TV3 news. My new paddle will arrive tomorrow. Thanks to Epic!
Update by Paul Caffyn:
Freya cleared the Greymouth River bar this morning – 28 Dec 2007 – at approx. 8.45am.
Intermittent breakers on the bar but Freya managed a clean run out to sea without getting her hair wet.
Big seas, but no wind so swell will subside as the day wears on.
29.12.2007 Sat, Day 66/ 44
Westport, 45 km. 2075 km.
Good weather, seas warm, and easing a bit. What else do I need?
Westport good tailwinds all day easy landing Paul met me again to bring my new paddle.THANKS!
A BIG THANKS to Epic as they sent me a new midsize wing quickly and without problem to New Zealand, as I had to sacrifice my old one to the gods of the Tasman Sea…
30.12.2007 Sun, Day 67/ 45
Little Wanganui, 60 km. 2135 km.
Flew with new epic wings up the coast. What a treat the last days! Lovely landing in river & camp. 3 to 4 more days…
31.12.2007 Mon, Day 68/ 46
Big River, 80km. 2215 km.
14hrs long, but beautiful paddle. 4hrs solid headwinds at noon! No southerlies… No satellite signal at night, sorry!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! THANKS FOR ALL THE GOOD WISHES FOR 2008! MAY THE GODS OF THE SEVEN SEAS BE WITH YOU.
Maybe cut across tomorrow. Body and mind are on the “home run”!
01.01.2008 Tue, Day 69/ 47
Editor’s note. I received a phone call from Freya, while she was still on the water. Instead of stopping at the point shown on the map, she has instead paddled through the night and was well into her crossing with about 45 kilometers remaining to complete the final leg of her circumnavigation. That makes for a very long “day” of approximately 165km! She was feeling strong and very excited to be so close to her destination. Hopefully her next communication will be that she has completed her epic journey! – Greg
01./02.01.2008 Tue/ Wed, Day 70/ 48
Okiwi Bay Finish, 165 km. 2380 km.
The Final Day
What an amazing experience and finish! The previous day’s scenery was the best of my whole trip, one lovely remote sandy beach besides the next, between rocks shaped in an endless row of caves and arches. I was able to paddle through three of the biggest arches on New Years day, which I suppose brings luck to me! The swell was low that day, and I could have landed anywhere without much trouble in the surf!
I knew especially this last stretch of coastline could be very difficult and would have proved to be the last challenge of the trip with no sheltered landing since Little Wanganui River (Karamea), but I felt lucky to paddle on a sunny day with quiet waters to fully enjoy this last leg of the trip. Just some moderate headwinds to deal with on the start – nothing to complain much about!
Fighting tiredness was the downside of a long push. In Iceland, Greg Stamer and I had paddled through one night for 22 hours. I was interested to see how my body could cope with a longer session without landing in New Zealand.
From dusk, I paddled without my headlight switched on until about 1am, navigating for 1.5 hours along the breaking surf off Farewell Spit by sound only. Mostly between 1am and 5am, I regularly had to collapse on to the front deck, taking 30 second powernaps.
Or I stretched out on the rear deck, using my helmet stuck under a net on the deck as a pillow and closed my eyes for some seconds. For some minutes, I just paddled like that, lying on the rear deck and having my favourite star combination in the sky for navigating, perfectly in view! And it was good to occasionally lift my backside off the seat sometimes, as it started to feel quite sore after so many hours paddling. I would always then take care to slowly raise my body back into the paddling position, to avoid damage to my spine.
Occasionally I drew too close to the surf zone, got caught by breakers, and I had to brace into them. Most breakers washed my PFD off the front deck but it remained clipped with a carabiner to my spray skirt loop. The waves were sensual to move with, up, down and sideways. Nothing seriously breaking or being violent that night! Warm waters anyway, a flat beach with no obstacles threatening. Just in case I would have been washed up and stranded on the beach, I would not have cared!
What helped me paddling through the night was I really enjoy paddling with closed eyes for long distances, being able to dance blind with the waves, and if necessary navigate by sound despite any wave conditions! One hour after I passed the Farewell Spit lighthouse, I could no longer hear the sound of waves breaking on the sand, and heard only silence. I knew I had reached the end of that very long spit. Now the open waters of Tasman Bay lay ahead and the start of a long 85km crossing.
It was the best decision I could have made, just to keep going through the night! It was such a lovely tranquil night after an already calm day without much swell – millpond seas, a clear sky with attractive new southern star pictures for me to look at and to navigate with, and some fascinating bioluminescence effects in the water!
This natural phenomena of bioluminescence while paddling through the night was like a one day delayed personal New Year’s eve fireworks, endless entertainment almost all night.
On each paddle stroke, tiny waves created by the kayak bow stirred lines of glowing sparkles. Droplets splashed over my kayak, sticking to my paddle and gear, and glowing for some seconds until the next splash of glowing water.
And then the dolphins – three times for about 10 minutes, four to six dolphins played with my boat, leaving glowing traces of water behind them! I could always follow exactly where they were, by their glowing white trails in the sea beneath the sparkling starlight.
Once I felt I had to fight tiredness more than being distracted and kept alert by the bioluminescent entertainment, I switched my headlight on, trying to keep my body and mind awake- more or less successfully.
The rising sun at 5am gave my body some relief as it marked my usual waking up time. I was able to paddle temporarily a bit more strongly after a few breakfast cereal bars.
I was successfully fighting my usually early morning need for a ‘big’ toilet walk. In case I had to go, I had planned to jump into the warmish water and strip off my pants. Peeing was no problem anyway with my funnel and hose female urinating device.
I began noticing sore rub spots on my backside after sitting in the cockpit seat for so long. I was wearing a warm combination of fuzzy rubber pants over fleece pants, which gave me a kind of a slight nappy rash.
While approaching my final destination, I entertained myself with cell phone calls to family and friends, and was very happy to be in range and touch again.
I had called Paul at 9pm the previous night to let him know my estimated arrival time and to inform him about my planned night paddling. It took him a while, and about three times, asking, “So, where are you staying tonight?” to realize I would keep paddling after reaching the tip of Farewell Spit.
I would arrive in a decent time, by doing a night crossing, rather than sleeping for some hours and ending the crossing at 11pm or even midnight. Paul was happy to organize a ‘welcome party’ with plenty of friends paddling with me for the last kilometre. Thanks to all of you coming out to greet me!
Fiona and Martin Fraser prepared a Pavlova, with sliced kiwifruit, chocolate flakes and lashings of whipped cream on top. Luckily it was decided not to throw it in my face, but rather to allow me to eat it and share it around- the champagne sprayed by Paul was messy enough already! Thanks for the hot shower at David Oldham’s house; he also provided the launch for the press and TV reporters, too!
The TV3 crew flew in by helicopter at 2pm, but couldn’t spot me on the water. They landed and joined the motorboat crew to film me on my last kilometre, together with the press reporters. JKA from the Christchurch Press was not kayaking but was in the boat with cameras. So good to have a paddling photo reporter amongst the kayaking friends!
But a big thanks to Paul Caffyn organizing the welcome party! He was my great public relations manager and local trip organizer throughout the whole trip, driving me around, supporting me with local knowledge and hosting me for quite a while!
I ended up (so far) with 8 different newspaper articles during the trip, some published in various papers all over New Zealand. Two times the trip got reported on the TV3 news, and a radio interview followed today. Without his contacts I probably wouldn’t have bothered.
A big thanks to Karel Vissel, who supported me with reliable, regular weather text messages on my Sat-phone and provided some blog updates.
A big thanks to Greg Stamer, who updated my blog regularly.
A big thanks to all my sponsors who supported me with generously with great gear for that trip and beyond! I’ll write a gear list soon.
A big thanks to my partner Werner organizing things at home and with my shops, and to be patient waiting for me at home, together with our loved son Helge.
A big thanks to my shop managers Ilona Sierks and Andrea Hoehn who kept my shops running smoothly with the great support of all my about 30 loyal lovely girls working for me!
A big thanks again to all people I’ve met on my trip, who supported me mentally and practically with offering their homes and hospitality to me, encouraging me with supportive e-mails and comments!
And a big thanks to all people following this blog and supporting me with lovely comments! I still owe you a trip report of the days from Riverton on the south coast to the finish! So much writing in one rush can’t be done that fast, sorry. Actually I always felt pretty impolite when I got into people’s houses, being hosted for a night or two, and I ‘urgently’ had to jump on the computer, to update this blog rather than talking to my hosts – sorry about that!