A Fiordland school principal has circumnavigated Lake Te Anau by kayak, battling Fiordland rain, wind and sandflies, and enduring weariness and loneliness, in a creative attempt to help raise funds for a new school hall.

Te Anau School Principal Grant Excell's motivation was prompted by a need to replace his school's hall to accommodate a roll that has ballooned by over 13% since 2018.

With a givealittle page set up, Excell set out on 31st January, retracing as close as possible, the shoreline of the South Island's biggest lake.

North Fiord, day 5 of Grant Excell’s trip around Lake Te Anau. Photo: Grant Excell.

Nine days later he returned, recording almost 320km. The official shoreline is 327.29km.

“I was never more than 50 metres from the edge of the lake, and most of the time I was about 3 metres from the shore,” Excell said.

Focusing on his surroundings and what he was doing was also enough to occupy his mind on the long hauls in the kayak.

“I just enjoyed where I was and what I was doing. We live in the most beautiful place."

"By following close to the shore you can see the sun playing on the sand and rocks under water, you can see leaves on the trees. The vegetation along the shore is so diverse."

"When you go fast across the lake in a boat you miss most of it,” Excell said.

On his trip he hardly met any other humans, but saw a lot of birds, fish and deer.

At the end of day 5, his family came for a visit and stayed with him at Glaisnock Hut.

“I got a night with my kids, which set me up mentally for the rest of the trip,” Excell admits.

One of the challenges was dealing with armies of sandflies, but Excell was well prepared.

Grant Excell in his sandfly hat. Photo: Long Haul for the School Hall Facebook page.

He calls it his artillery against sandflies, which included a sandfly hat gifted by a friend (Ashley Drain), track pants located for quick cover up, fly spray, two kinds of sandfly repellent, windbreaker (“Like the trackpants sandflies can't bite through”) and vitamin B1 tablets that he started taking two weeks before leaving.

“But the top prize for sandfly defence goes to two robins that ate the sandflies off my feet at Camp Bay,” Excell says.

“Because the weather was so changeable, I got to see the lake in different moods. When it rained the waterfalls were stunning."

"Day 8, from Happy Cove to Te Anau Downs, was my most challenging and exciting one. There was a strong Norwest wind which tested my paddling technique and my ability to stay in the kayak. That day really made my trip."

"Coming into the harbour of Te Anau Downs was the most exhilarating part."

"My parents met me there and I stayed at Peter and Frauke Chartres’ house, as camping is not permitted at Te Anau Downs.”

An important aspect of lake kayaking, especially on solo trips, is safety. Following close to the shore is not only much more interesting, but also a lot safer than crossing large expenses of water.

Excell was well equipped too.

As well as his inReach device, which is capable of tracking his progress via GPS, sending text messages and receiving weather updates, he also had a Personal Locator Beacon and a VHS radio.

His father checked on him four times in his jetboat to make sure everything was going well.

He had a survival kit and emergency food rations. His favourite thing to eat on this trip was Billtong (dried beef).

As for training for this trip, Excell says he paddled one or two hours a day for a few weeks, then did 30 km/day for 4 days in a row on Lake Manapouri.

“When I finished that, I felt confident about my ability to compete this trip. I then had a 10-day break from kayaking,” he says.

Excell is not sure whether he is the first person to circumnavigate Lake Te Anau in a kayak.

If there was someone before, this was not publicised.

However, he is happy with what he has achieved and with his contribution to the fundraising for the school hall.

At the time of writing, donations on his givealittle page totalled $23,000, well over what he expected to raise from his endeavour.

Excell is also expecting another $5000 to come from a local business.

Principal Grant Excell's homecoming prompted an emotional beachfront waiata, performed by pupils and teachers of Te Anau School. Photo: Supplied

“One of the biggest thrills was coming home and seeing 300 kids waiting for me on the lake shore, welcoming me with a waiata,” Excell said.

This is a memory he’ll never forget.

CLICK HERE to contribute towards a new hall for Te Anau School via their Givealittle page..

Te Anau School's new hall is expected to cost $2 million (up from an original estimate of $1.6 million).

The cost is to be shared equally between the Ministry of Education and the school.

That’s a lot of sausage sizzles to organise, so small country schools have to get creative with their fundraising.

To date Te Anau School has raised $600,000.

A brief day-by-day account of Grant Excell’s trip

Day 1, 31 January – 49.9 km

Started at the pontoon at Bluegum Point and went south, past the Yacht Club, the Control Gates, around to Brod Bay, on past the Dome Islands at the entrance to the South Fiord, and all the way to the end of the fiord.

“This was my longest day; 49.9 kilometres in 8.5 hours. I camped at the end of South Fiord. There were a lot of sandflies there,” Excell says. 

Day 2, 1st February – 36 km 

Out of South Fiord and turning north, paddling to a camping spot at Deadman’s Point, near the entrance to Te Anau Caves. 

Day 3, 2nd February – 37.8 km

Paddled past Te Anau Caves and on to the Middle Fiord.

“I saw lots of fish, mostly trout and eel. Stayed at the Junction Burn Hut in the South West Arm of the Middle Fiord.”

Day 4, 3rd February – 46 km

“It was pouring down, but it was nice and warm and not windy. The waterfalls were stunning. I went around the North West Arm of the Middle Fiord and finished at the entrance to the North Fiord, where I camped.”

Day 5, 4th February – 18.9 km

Paddled the length of the North Fiord to the Glaisnock Hut.

“My family came to visit me in my parents’ jetboat. I got a night with my wife and my kids, which helped me mentally for the rest of the trip. I knew I had about 130 kilometres to go, so I split it roughly into four 30 km sections.”

Day 6, 5th February – 31.1 km

Kayaked around the North Fiord, then turned north towards the top of Lake Te Anau. Lots of rain on the way. Camped at Safe Cove.

Day 7, 6th February – 33.9 Km

From Safe Cove up and around Worsley Arm, past Worsley Hut and on to the Glade Wharf at the start of the Milford Track, then turned around to the east shore of Lake Te Anau. Camped at Happy Cove.

Day 8, 7th February – 31.4 km

Happy Cove to Te Anau Downs. Very exciting kayaking today! Waves and wind were fun!

Day 9, 8th February – 33.5 km

What a way to finish with all of the tamariki and teachers from Te Anau School there to welcome me home! Beautiful waiata to come home to!