A sense of adventure still exists inside the youth of today – it just needs a bit of coaxing, according to two Australian men who made history kayaking across the Tasman Sea.
Justin Jones and James Castrission were the first people to kayak from Australia to New Zealand and were in Blenheim last night to speak at a charity auction fundraiser for Project K, a leadership and life skills programme for secondary school students.
The pair entertained a full house at the Marlborough Convention Centre with a compelling presentation of their journey.
They talked of their mothers' anguish on learning of their plans and a long build-up with many setbacks before they even got on the water.
The first half of their paddling trip was quicker than they expected, but just as they were beginning to feel confident of success they found themselves caught up in a mid-Tasman whirlpool fighting the current. They decided to paddle back toward Australia to break free of the whirlpool's grip before heading south.
They talked of riding out massive waves, dealing with sea sickness and going to sleep with just centimetres of fibreglass between themselves and a couple of sharks rubbing against their boat. Lighter moments included a few too many details about sponge baths in close confinement.
And the best moment of all? When they saw Mt Taranaki on the horizon after two months at sea.
Mr Castrission said taking risks in life was important even though other people may not agree with your decisions.
"We live in such a risk-averse society that when people decide to take risks it's usually frowned upon," he said. "Our trip was about risk mitigation and all about doing it safely."
They had several back-up plans for things that could possible go wrong, which came in handy when their solar-powered desalination unit broke down and they were able to pull out a labour-intensive, but trip-saving, hand pump.
The pair came ashore in New Plymouth on January 13, 2008, after rowing 3318 kilometres from Australia in 62 days.
Mr Jones said he thought Taranaki had painted its foreshore weird colours when it first came into sight. Then he realised the colours were thousands and thousands of people who had come out to welcome them.
Mr Castrissian praised Project K because of its focus on the outdoors.
"The outdoors played a big part in who we are today.
"It lets kids discover themselves," he said.
Harcourts Marlborough staff ran an auction of items donated by mostly Marlborough businesses before the adventurers spoke raising about $17,000 for Project K.
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