BARRY COMING IN THROUGH THE SURF AT SUMNER BAR ( PHOTO THROUGH A TELESCOPE!)
JUSTINE APPROACHING SUMNER 
MATT & PAUL – THE GREETING PARTY
WE DID IT!! It’s not really sunk in yet but at about 4pm this afternoon Barry and I pulled our kayaks up the beach at Sumner and completed the circle around the South island.
We had a bit of a worry this morning when we listened to the 7.30am forecast and it said there was a gale warning for our area with 35 knot winds from the SW predicted for the afternoon. We’d previously been told it was due to be NorthWesterly which would be pretty much behind us so we were having a fairly relaxed start ( we waited until it got light before we got up!!). As soon as the words ‘gale warning’ were spoken, we stepped up a gear and got on the water as soon as possible and started paddling hard south. Fortunately it was still Northwesterly while we were on the water and we surfed south at over 8km/ hour. We made it to Sumner around 3pm but before we could put our feet up, we had to get in through the surf at the Sumner bar – just to make sure we couldn’t relax completely until the end! We made it through the right way up, with a few exciting surfs and paddled the last 1km in flat water to where we launched 67 days ago! We were met by Paul Caffyn, who drove for 3 and a half hours from Greymouth specailly so he could spray champagne over us and smear pavalova over our faces, as is becoming the tradition for people who circumnavigate the South island. It was great to see him. Matt MacKenzie was also there to greet us – he’d spotted us through a telescope 10km outside Sumner and took the photos of us coming in. He also had a great array of fresh food to give us which was great, thanks, and we’re staying with him now! Ian Smith made it down to give us a beer and a congratulations which was great ( and my head was starting to get light with all the celebrations!!)
JUSTINE AND BARRY COMING INTO SUMNER
We’ll both write more tomorrow and post a few photos. For now, we’re going to get clean and go out for some food and a few more beers with Matt! Hopefully Paul will send us a couple of his photos that he took when we arrived aswell as we didn’t take any!!Oh yeah, and the alarm is definately being turned off tomorrow morning!! 
THE VIEW UP THE COAST FROM INSIDE SUMNER INLET
Comments
30 responses to “FULL CIRCLE!!”
Congratulations to both of you,good thing the nw winds where there.
Nice one! Look forward to hearing the stories!!
congratulations!!!
well done you two!
i hope that you’re both enjoying a well earned rest.
take care,
jake
Congratulations!!We’re over the moon for you,the only thing now, life will be a little boring without your daily blogs.
Our computer went on the blink yesterday so I’ve been like a maniac trying to fix it myself, ready for your landing. Anyway I’m quite pleased with myself and here we are at last, congratulations again. You enjoy the rest of your holiday. By the way we hope this isn’t an APRIL FOOL message,you really have finished haven’t you.
Love from the old folk xx
Wahooey! Many many hearty congratulations from myself and family. You were really tanking along, and it must be a great feeling to have accommplished something so enormous. Will miss following your exploits and posting up the blogs, but it’s probably as well, some of the witty titles were beginning to get a bit groan worthy :)
Take some time to let it sink in!
Congratulations!! Well done!! been checking on your progress each day when i’m in work. Ave a great few weeks chilling out n relaxing now.
See you soon
Love
Jenni xx
Fantastic news!!! Well done to you both. And a new record to boot! Congratulations, I am sure the beer is tasting very good right now.
Cheers
Harriet
Fabulous effort Justine and Barry. Well done!
Geoff in Tassie
Congratulations on your double trip! I’m glad the two of you made it safely around. Hope to share experiences soon in Anglesey!
XXX,
Freya
congrats guys!
haleluya!!!
Fantastic stuff – and a really speedy trip round.
Have some good celebrations in Christchurch, and a decent break before you head back to the northern spring.
Well done!! Congrats!
Congratulations to both – very happy for you; but now I’ll miss checking for updates.
Enjoy your down time
s in NS Canada
Congratulations on a great trip and for giving us such a fun blogging experience! While I’m sure you’re elated knowing you’ve done it, the rest of us will miss following your adventures. Would you mind going around once more…? LOL
Cheers!
Wow – Great job!!!! You have to keep blogging you tourist time for a couple weeks so we can decompress now. How many hours of video did you shoot? There will some fun viewing for you when you’re 65 eh?
Cheers Tom Sharp
Well done to both of you from everyone at Garmin Europe.
A great achievement!
Hurrah! Congratulations both of you, although I don’t know what to do when I log on now. I’ll miss reading about your adventures.
Party Well, and hope to see you both soon.
Jim K
Congratulations!!!
Looking forward to see you both again and go for a paddle?
Axel
Huge congratulations and well done
Congrats to you both! It’s been a real blast following your journey!
Good effort Justine & Barry! Now for North Island???
Congratulations to Justine and Barry and thank you for giving us the possibility to follow day after day all your great adventure.
Congrats from Nova Scotia!
We’ll miss your reports but anticipate the footage.
Congratulations to both!
It is better to leave earlier than rush the whole way.
Great JOB
Nice one guys, I look forward to meet you sometime. Babs is off trekking with Belinda right now, but said she would meet you in Ohope at the KASK meet. It was fun to watch you follow up after her and experience the same weather delays etc.
Cheers & beers James.
Congrats! Its been fun following you online, can’t wait to see the footage & photos –
Andy, Dana, Don, Lofty, Gaz, Graeme, Debbie & Fei ( PaddlerZone )
Congratulations, Barry & Justine!!
Marcus
Congratulations! You did it! So what’s next? ;^)
Enjoy your time off and have a smooth ‘reentry’ transitioning back into “normal” life. I look forward to seeing you both in Anglesey!
Very many congratulations on such a fantastic achievement.
We have all really enjoyed following your progress and seeing the beautiful photos of New Zealand-hope you have a great time exploring more of the country and sampling some good food and drink!
Thanks also to Alex for posting all the blogs for us to read.
All the very best Barry and Justine from all at the Parkgate Woodpile.