KEY POINTS:
Two weary Australian kayakers paddling to New Zealand are struggling to break free of a swirling Tasman Sea vortex.
The pair, James Castrission, 25, and Justin Jones, 24, halfway to their destination, have travelled in an almost complete circle in the past 10 days.
Thirty-one days into the voyage, the pair yesterday were close to where the whirlpool of ocean currents grabbed their 9m kayak on December 3. They were 1093km from their starting point of Forster, on the New South Wales coast, and 1002km from their destination, Auckland.
Low on rest, the kayakers have made the heartbreaking decision to paddle 50km in a southwesterly direction, away from New Zealand, in order to escape the current's pull.
- AAP