For thirty nine days during a cold and blustery winter in 2004 Jack became the first person with / without Haemophilia to complete cycling and sea kayaking the length of New Zealand.
Highlights of the journey included; a solo sea kayak crossing of the notoriously dangerous Cook Strait and on route paddling across the North Island's Lake Taupo.
Plenty of people joined Jack for some cycling along the way as well as hitting one of the worst snow storms the Deep South had seen for years. He also met the Prime Minister at the time Helen Clark during the trip outlining the huge issues surrounding the Bad Blood scandal from the early 90’s.
Much media publicity was generated on Jack’s adventure and his awareness campaign for Haemophilia and Hepatitis C in New Zealand. A fantastic journey!
Auckland Islands Sea kayak expedition
In April 2007 Jack Finn became the first ever to complete an epic sea kayak adventure down the eastern coast of New Zealand’s subantartic ‘Auckland Islands’.
Located some 400kms south of Stewart Island these islands have some of the harshest weather conditions on the planet, as well as some of the worlds rarest species including albatross, whales, and yellow eyed penguins amongst many more.
Having battled subzero temperatures and gale force winds Jack was forced to stop the sea kayak attempt at circumnavigating the islands due to a back bleed as an unfortunate result of living with Haemophilia. This was a journey of a life time to discover not only a lonely, isolated part of the world but also where many lives had been lost during many shipwrecks some hundred or more years ago.
Much media publicity was generated on Jack’s adventure and his awareness campaign for Haemophilia and Hepatitis C in New Zealand. A fantastic journey!
