Aussie kayakers make trans-Tasman history : "They completed their epic paddle just after midday local time (10:00am AEDT), 61 days after setting out from Forster on the New South Wales mid-north coast."
I sometimes wonder why people put themselves so at risk like this. Kayaking across the Tasman is an extraordinary feat of strength, courage, endurance and it demonstrates the indomitable human spirit. People do it to see if they can. People do it because it will make them feel invincible and you only have to look at James Catrission and Justin Jones to know that their happiness at achieving this cannot be replicated in any other way and is boundless. They were briefly interviewed from time to time as they kayaked and I was glad, because it kept them safe but it also showed just how focused and determined they were in a very understated fashion. Their families are going to be so relieved and are probably crying buckets of tears because they would have worried themselves sick every moment of the journey. They would know just how much these two mean to them. NZ gave them a fantastic welcome and people were preparing yesterday to bring them in that last stretch. It is such an honour they sent out Maori war canoes too. Even James McAuley's widow was there and that was a significant and big hearted thing for her to do. Her husband went missing 70 km, I think it was, off the shore last year when his kayak capsized as he tried to break the trans Tasman record solo. They found the kayak but he has been missing and they have assumed he is dead. That was only the beginning of last year, so it is a great thing for her to put her personal pain aside and welcome these two who have achieved what her husband almost achieved. She understands their spirit and the significance of it.
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