Six-metre swells and aches confronted Cared Blackham during his 10 weeks paddling the North Island’s eastern coastline in support of both the ocean and mental health.
The Mārahau kayaking guide set off from Tapotupotu Bay near Cape Reinga with Whangārei brothers, Connor, Drew and Kurt Stewart, on 6 March, and beached at Wellington’s Eastbourne - more than 2000km away - on 19 May.
The quad’s voyage was to propel funds for the Mental Health Foundation and the ocean conservation charity, Live Ocean.
More than $15,000 has so far washed in.
While the voyage was not always the languid atmosphere that the avid kayakers were used to, Cared says the “emotional” welcome party of more than 200 people at his home suburb to mark the finish provided a “huge relief”.
“We arrived at Eastbourne and a local school kapa haka group was singing us in, and once I got closer it was pretty emotional,” he says.
“It was a huge relief all over, I didn’t have to worry about looking at the weather anymore or what the plan was for tomorrow, or even cooking dinner that night.
“There were friends and family, lots of people from the local Eastbourne community where I grew up.”
Cared says the welcome party also included Minister for Ocean and Fisheries, Shane Jones, and Hutt South MP, Chris Bishop.
The quad decided to attempt the more than 2000km kayak following their graduation from NMIT’s outdoor adventure tourism course, and make it bigger than themselves.
Cared says he and the Stewart brothers’ mental well-being had flourished during their outdoor-based course, and they wanted to empower others to get outdoors so they too could improve their mental well-being
He says with an initial cause for their journey set, the Mental Health Foundation, they also noted the importance of conservation and its relationship to kayaking.
“Conservation through the ocean is pretty important and we see conservation in general is an important contributor to us all getting outside, we can’t get outside if we don’t look after it,” he says.
“We spoke to Live Ocean and we thought they were a really cool cause to raise money for because they put a lot of money into research and development for conservation in our oceans, particularly here in New Zealand.”
Cared says the quad carried food, water and sleeping gear, trolled for kahawai for extra food, and made around 20 stops along the coast for overnight rest.
Coastal supporters provided them with fresh supplies every five or six days.
The quad encountered pounding swells at North Cape, Cape Runway and along the Hawke’s Bay coast, and all felt the physical toll.
Cared says the overall journey though was “life changing”.
“We learned lots, it was a massive learning curve, there were many things that we came across that we hadn’t thought about or faced before,” he says.
“I think we’ve inspired others, and that our message has been made clear, and people understand what it was all for, so for me, that’s a purpose done.
“We’re keeping the Givealittle open for another month or so as we travel around some schools and do some interviews here and there... hopefully we can get closer to $30,000 by the time we close it.”
