Mark Jones kayaking Fiordland... again
'Tis the season for paddling expeditions: Mark Jones back kayaking Fiordland.
Kia ora, team! Happy New Year. I think we're still well within the allotted period for that sentiment. Merry Christmas, not so much. Unless that's your surname.
(Side note: I worked with a Christmas once and she frequently won the 'Best Name To Have At A Christmas Party Award' at the team Christmas Party. The award did occasionally change hands, with Yule and Noelle also getting a look in.)
Summer adventures for me are currently house-sitting on Auckland's North Shore and producing at Sport Nation radio. On one show, Stephen McIvor and I spoke with Mark Jones. Remember him? He's the Kiwi dude who once traversed Fiordland alone. Then, last year, he and a mate tried to kayak the southwest coast.
It was a journey directed by the weather and they ended up talking a slightly shorter journey than planned, though with a promise to return. And that's precisely what they're doing right now. Like, right now. As I write this from a cosy, Auckland suburb, Mark and Hannes are facing the full might of the Roaring Forties head-on.
If you’re interested in this truly wild expedition, you can head over to Mark’s Facebook page and follow the action-filled updates from there. It will make an early-morning SUP session at Milford Beach seem like a nap.
Oh, and here’s his latest movie about last year’s expedition:
This was originally sent out as a newsletter, with a second section on my journey across the South Island with my Little Blue Boat. You can read that section of the newsletter here:
Across the South Island with my Little Blue Boat
I recently went on an adventure. Finally continuing on from my 2022 packraft traverse of the North Island, I flew to the South Island and picked up the journey from there.
great！