KEY POINTS:
Aussie adventurer Andrew McAuley has been forced by cold weather to abandon his bid to become the first person to kayak from Australia to New Zealand.
Mr McAuley set off last Saturday from near Port Arthur in Tasmania, heading across the Tasman Sea for Milford Sound.
But after completing just 80km of the 1600km journey, cold weather and fierce winds forced the 39-year-old to paddle back to Maria Island, off Tasmania's east coast. The transtasman journey has been unsuccessfully attempted twice by other kayakers.
