The man who kayaked solo across the Tasman to raise money and awareness for asthma sufferers had to spend the night in hospital with his son, who was suffering from asthma, right after he arrived in New Zealand.
Scott Donaldson left Australia on May 1 from Coffs Harbour and arrived in New Plymouth last night.
He had attempted the voyage once before, but it had to be abandoned at a late stage for safety reasons.
Speaking this morning to TVNZ 1's Breakfast programme, Mr Donaldson said his legs were feeling a bit like "Forrest Gump" after sitting down for so long.
The thought of his family kept him going, he said, as storms pushed him off course for days at a time.
"The hard part was lying in the cabin going backwards for days on end - getting rattled about by storms - that's pretty hard to cope with," he said.
"You've got to use different techniques of motivation."
After arriving and jumping out the kayak, he had to go to hospital for the night to be with his son, who suffers from asthma.
"We're doing this for Asthma New Zealand and Asthma Australia so all very relevant," he said.
A Givealittle page is raising funds for his boat and equipment and also for Asthma New Zealand for education.
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